We support James Gatz for mayor of Shepherdstown and encourage others to do the same. As our friend and fellow business owner, Kendra Goldsborough, wrote in the Chronicle’s May 17 issue, Shepherdstown needs a new leader who shows initiative. We echo that view and offer one example of that need.

There have been longstanding complaints from residents and businesses about the empty storefront at 126 East German Street, formerly Tony’s. The storefront has been empty for at least 10 years and the property owner has not sold it, or rented it, despite offers for both.

We run Evolve Shepherdstown, a pop-up space on German Street that is rented to artists, authors and entrepreneurs for short periods of time. In the past five years we have learned a great deal about the desire of people to open businesses in Shepherdstown. Many renters ask about Tony’s — if it is a space available for a permanent shop or gallery in town?

The idea of incentivizing absentee landlords has been discussed with the mayor for many years and he’s expressed no interest in addressing this situation. Other towns have had empty storefronts and have developed solutions; our current mayor has been silent.

This empty space has hurt the town in different ways. For every year this storefront has been empty, the town has lost thousands of dollars in sales tax and people who might have worked there have lost that opportunity. Tourists see, repeatedly, what appears to be a business district that is in decline.

There is simply no reason for there to be even a single empty storefront in this town. The demand is there; the only thing that is missing is the initiative to bring property owners to the table to discuss the issue. We don’t have to accept that “it’s just the way it is” or “there’s nothing we can do about it.” There are things we can do to help people who want to own a business in town and people who want to work in town. We just need leadership with the experience and interest in making changes. That’s why we support James Gatz, someone who will be a catalyst for moving forward on issues like this.

Elise Baach and Jan Hafer, of Evolve Sheperdstown