Residents of Kingston are lucky to have two qualified candidates willing to serve the community as port commissioner. Dan and I have made our decision to support Jerry Kirschner in the upcoming election.

We welcomed Jerry and his wife, Nancy Langwith, when they first moved to Kingston. They immediately got involved with local groups and volunteered their time. It was refreshing to see new faces joining the ranks of long-time Kingston volunteers.

Jerry, chairman of the Passenger-Only Ferry Advisory Committee, spent a great portion of his time working with a committee of volunteers, to bring together a cohesive operating plan for the passenger-only ferry. Jerry utilized the strengths of each of the advisory committee members to craft a plan that works for Kingston.

One of Jerry’s greatest skills is his ability to build consensus from a very diverse group. The resulting passenger-only ferry plan is certainly evidence of his ability to get people to work together toward a common goal.

Jerry gave countless hours of his time making presentations on the passenger-only ferry plan to the key groups around Kingston: Kingston Citizens Advisory Council, Kingston Stakeholders, Rotary, Kiwanis, and special meetings scheduled by the Port of Kingston. The group continues to meet under Jerry’s leadership, evaluating their progress and making adjustments to the plan.

As with all ports, the Port of Kingston is charged with the economic development of our community. Jerry’s work with Eli Lilly, a global Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company, has given him the experience to help formulate and implement a plan that will benefit not only the Port of Kingston, but also the entire community.

We support Jerry’s platform of attracting incubator businesses to our town, forming a corps of retired executives to coach small businesses, and using the SoundRunner to increase tourism in Kingston and the north end communities. We like his vision of a rolling five-year plan for the Port of Kingston and citizen advisory committees to facilitate input from the community.

We feel he is the best choice for port commissioner.

Dan and Nancy Martin
Kingston