By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
Each year, the West Virginia Municipal League meets in a different city around the state for its annual conference. I’ve been fortunate to attend forty annual conferences in a row and this year’s location in Morgantown, West Virginia was also the site for my first conference in 1985. Over 350 local officials attended the conference to attend workshops, listen to speeches and network with their peers about issues facing cities and towns.
Morgantown mayor, Danielle Trumble welcomed the attendees to the “university city” and St. Albans mayor, Scott James finished out his year as president of the municipal league.
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The keynote speaker, Hoppy Kercheval, got things started with a speech talking about how local government leaders see and interact with their constituents in the grocery store and at city hall. He contrasted that with the relative anonymity enjoyed by many state and national political leaders. He also touched on the emergence of the internet and how it has impacted our news and daily lives. Hoppy, who recently retired from his radio talk show has been a popular visitor to the municipal league conferences over the years and it looks like he will continue to be a trusted voice to local government officials throughout the state.
I also enjoyed the remarks from West Virginia State Treasurer, Larry Pack. He took over from John Perdue, who served in the position for many decades. Treasurer Pack was a local government official in Marmet, holding the position of recorder and seems to have a good knowledge of local government. He pointed out that more and more of our citizens live in cities and towns and that in order to grow, cities and towns need to be financially sound and have amenities that attract businesses and homeowners.
It was also good to see my good friend, Spencer, West Virginia Mayor Terry Williams, who has served his entire adult life as mayor and was recently reelected by his citizens. Terry had a health scare during the last year and after heart surgery, is on the road to recovery. He was in good spirits with his new granddaughter, Finley, visiting him during the conference. Another good friend, Savannah, Georgia Mayor Van Johnson was at the conference representing the National League of Cities. Van is the 2nd Vice-President of the National League of Cities and is on the road visiting several state municipal league conferences and encouraging them to attend the NLC City Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah this coming November.
WVML Executive Director, Susan Economou and her entire staff did an outstanding job putting on this event and making sure that the members and their guests got to their meetings and that all the dozens of meals and events went off without a hitch. A popular tradition of the municipal league is welcoming in the newly elected officials to their first conference. The new members are recognized at the opening session and when they are asked to stand, you realize how many new faces are entering local government.
One of those newly elected officials is my good friend, newly elected Bridgeport, West Virginia mayor, Robert Matheny. Robert was a beat officer when I served on city council in Clarksburg and has had an outstanding career, serving as Police Chief in Wheeling and was a two-term sheriff in Harrison County.
After 40 years, the West Virginia Municipal League is one of the most effective local government organizations in the state. Their educational opportunities and the lobbying on behalf of cities and towns often goes overlooked, but their value is unsurpassed. The friendships and relationships I have had over the past forty years at the municipal league is one of the treasures of my life and I look forward to celebrating my 50th consecutive conference that will be here before I know it. Here’s hoping!
