Comments on: How do you support Metro government when you don’t know what it is?

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:48:36 +0000

The simple fact is this: if WV hadn’t been run in the ground by the Democratic party over the past 60 years, our economy would actually be viable. Our cities (save for Morgantown and Martinsburg, God bless them) wouldn’t be dying. They would be growing, thriving places. Metro government wouldn’t be seen as some kind of savior.

Come 2010, WV is going to not have a single city over 50,000 in population. It’s a disgrace. 1.82 million people, and no single city over 50k?

Charleston is desperate, and rightly so. They are bleeding people, tax base, and revenue. Huntington is practically dead. Parkersburg is in a slow bleed that shows no real signs of stemming. Wheeling? Weirton? Man, how they have fallen. All over the state, cities are barely holding on.

I don’t know what the answer is, but it surely can’t be Charleston swallowing up the rest of the Kanawha County.

By: aaron

aaron — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:14:51 +0000

Reducing local municpalities is dangerous to freedom. When you empower less people over you lives you are one step closer to tyranny. I have a voice in my town, but if my local govrnment is gone, then that is lost. America is being sold out fast to socialism. This is socialism…it is not the answer to freedom and representative government.

This is a move toward bigger government with more authority. It like losing states rights under Lincoln, we are losing local government rights.

Not surprise that republicans are supportive since they destroyed states rights under Lincoln.

By: Austin C. Moore

Austin C. Moore — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:18:24 +0000

Danny Jones and Charleston want more authority and revenue. There is no way Charleston would go for the deal if they didn’t receive the most benefit. Is there any possibility that with the restructuring of the charter that Mayor Jones could run for re-election depending on how the charter is revised? Has anyone considered this. Jones only cares about himself. He is self-serving. I’m glad John Miller gives him headaches. At least one public servant is speaking out for the people.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:45:21 +0000

I’m still trying to figure out how St Albans is represented by South Hills liberals like Bonnie Brown (I know she lives in SC), Corey Palumbo and morons like Danny Wells.

By: Mikey

Mikey — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:09:01 +0000

King Jones decrees:

$ 2 a week user fees from the paupers in the new Charleston Kingdom ranging from Winfield to Gauley Bridge

600 new Metro Cops to run radar and issue tickets to enrich the Kingdoms treasury.

“Off with their heads” was heard from the Kings throne when asked about what to do with the conquered lands leaders.

Knighthood for Lord Carper for his assistance during the crusades.

By: Stephen Smoot

Stephen Smoot — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:00:21 +0000

It makes sense only if government overall can be streamlined and if every region sees the benefit. It sounds like someone, somewhere is thinking in terms of a mini-federal system for Kanawha County where all the old cities and towns retain some rights. However no one should sign off on such a drastic change until the plan gets laid out for full public consideration.

If West Virginia had a rational tax, regulatory, and judicial system that gave business a reason to come here, the state’s cities would not be in such poor shape.

By: Russ Snyder

Russ Snyder — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:52:11 +0000

The City of Fairmont tried this recently….and Vic is right. The people that live in the unincorporated areas of the county did not want to be annexed (that’s what we’re really talking about here) by the city. All of the arguments Charles made were valid here - only on a smaller scale. You can add Zoning and other property use restrictions to his list. The city is going bankrupt and is desperately looking to extend its tax base. There is no way that we small government Republicans should be supporting this type of massive growth in government.

I got scared before it failed and moved to Harrison County to ensure that I didn’t get caught in the middle of this mess.

By: stewart

stewart — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:37:53 +0000

Charles hit the nail on the head. Someone from South Charleston voting for metro gov’t is like someone with a healthy stock portfolio voting for Obama…just doesn’t make sense.

By: B.K.

B.K. — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:22:37 +0000

Well, I honestly don’t know enough about the pro’s & con’s of the issue to have a solid opinion, (although Mr. Bolen makes some excellent points), but if metro government means more people voting against King Danny and Prince Carper, it certainly has its appeal.

By: Charles Bolen

Charles Bolen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:15:53 +0000

Charleston has less than 50K of Kanawha’s 200K residents.

All three Kanawha commissioners live in Charleston, inspite of 75% of the County’s population not living there. Why?

All four mag districts intersect in Charleston. Until this is changed, the residents of Eastern Kanawha, Nitro/Cross Lanes/Saint Albans, Elkview/Clendenin, and Sissionville will continue to get shafted by King Kent and Co.

Why should the folks in South Charleston, who have voted for responsible govt for decades be forced to share the burden of Charleston’s disasterous mismanagement of its police and fire pensions?

Why should little old ladies on fixed income in Saint Albans be bailing out Charleston. Let the 1,000 plus attorneys and 1000 plus doctors with a Charleston home address bail their own city out.

Why should SoChas sacrifice its outstanding city services and allow a Charleston dominated metro-goverment ran by the likes of tax and spend socialists like Danny Jones and Kent Carpter destroy their quality of life.

If I were a resident of Nitro/St Albans/Cross Lanes/Sissionville, I would be trying to secede from Kanawha and forming my own smaller functional county rather than remain part of the train wreck.

The push for metro government is an admission that the Kanawha County Commission and City of Charleston are abject failures and they must bring in more residents to share in Charleston’s misery.

DC Metro is one of the nation’s fastest growing regions inspite of the fact that DC itself is a failure as a city. Kanawha County can flourish without its residents assuming Charleston’s considerable pension debt.

If we want to revitalize the Capitol City’s economy, perhaps we should start by lowering taxes and reducing regulatory burdens imposed at a certain Golden Domed Building on Kanawha Blvd.

All West Virginians already get a heavy dose of misery inflicted by politicans in Charleston every winter, let’s not impose an extra dose of misery to 150,000 Kanawha Countians wise enough to live outside of Charleston.