I opened my campaign for City Council here in Morgantown yesterday. During my campaign for a seat in the House of Delegates last year, I made lots of friends, old and young, in the progressive community. Many people told me I would do better in the city than in the larger delegate district.
The Council has had some accomplishments in the last two years. With a decline in funding from the state, the city has raised money through levies for schools, transit and the library. There is now a three dollar weekly tax on people who work in Morgantown, not the best idea, but absent other funding methods, necessary. That tax and the levies have helped maintain our standard of living. Many of our notoriously bad streets have been repaved, the library (where I am on the Board of Directors) has increased hours and given employees a much-needed raise. The Council negotiated a deal with West Virginia University to get some tax money from the University's public-private partnerships.
Within the Council there have been two factions, one of which tried to have the other removed from office. That was a waste of time, and may have caused our last City Manager to leave. The Council voted unanimously for a new city manager, a good sign that the factions are able to work together.
I want to continue the good things in Morgantown. It would be great if we could get more money from WVU, from corporations and the state, and then be able to get rid of the weekly tax on workers. That will be difficult. I have friends in both Council factions, and I would hope to serve as a bridge between them, if the factionalism continues.
Morgantown, as home to an internationally acclaimed university, is not like other towns in West Virginia. We have a large Muslim population, including students and doctors. My dermatologist and allergist both have Arabic names. The University now has an LGBT Center, and has worked to make LGBT students safe and accepted on campus. I served on WVU's LGBT Equity Commission for more than two years.
In the West Virginia Legislature last year, and now with the new administration in Washington, our acceptance of diversity is under threat. I attend meetings of an interfaith group in town, and with my spouse, Rabbi Joe Hample, of Tree of Life Congregation, have attended meetings, along with many others from a variety of religious organizations, to support the resettlement of refugees. I spoke before the Council, with the full support of the Morgantown Library Board of Directors, in favor of a City Council bill to ban firearms in municipal buildings.
Morgantown is the progressive capital of West Virginia. In today's world, we have to compete with other college towns like Ann Arbor, Michigan, Charlottesville, Virginia and Athens, Ohio, for the best students and teachers, artists and tech firms from all over the world. I want to make sure we are able to do that.
Contact me at rebnermwv@gmail.com or on Twitter @BarryLeeWendell.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Lynchburg and Campbell County, Virginia
I'll be teaching at Osher Life-Long Learning at the end of January, and I have meetings scheduled and things to do. When the weather report showed a sudden few days of warm weather after single-digit cold here and a foot of snow in The South, I decided to run off to my next county, Campbell, Virginia. I have been to the counties around the independent city of Lynchburg: Amherst to the north, Appomattox on the east and Bedford, west. If you've been following along, you know I've been visiting counties in alphabetical order within 300 miles of Morgantown. Lynchburg is separate from Campbell County, one of Virginia's thirty-nine independent cities. It was once part of Campbell County, mostly south of the city.
I had my doubts about this one, as Lynchburg is the home of Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, of the so-called Moral Majority, and now presided over by his even worse son, Jerry, Jr. Wikipedia says Liberty University is the second-largest employer in the area, after the local health-care company. And yes, there are crazy home-made signs in town about sin, and billboards from Seventh-Day Adventists claiming that changing Sabbath to Sunday was the work of the anti-Christ. I didn't go to Liberty University. It's at the south end of Lynchburg, where there is a jumble of neon and your basic chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I don't need to leave town to see those.
Considering that Morgantown and Lynchburg were once in the same state, it was hard to travel between them. The peaks of the Appalachians run between the two cities, northeast to southwest, and most of the roads follow that. But Lynchburg is nearly due south and a little east of Morgantown. Google Maps suggests going on back roads through Garrett County, Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and rural Virginia to finally hit Interstate 81. No interstate highways go near Lynchburg, although US 29 (Jerry Falwell Parkway) is a four-lane road. I traveled the way Google said to without major problems. There was almost no snow in Preston County, West Virginia and Garrett County, Maryland, shocking for January. The temperature was above 40 F. Farther south in Virginia, the ground was covered with snow. The big southern storm had passed through and dumped eleven inches of snow on Lynchburg.
I arrived about 4:30 at my motel, the cheap brand from my usual chain, but the one closest to the city center. Joe and I stayed there in 2009, on our way from my sister's near Washington, to Johnson City, Tennessee, where he had an interview for a position after ordination.
I looked for restaurants nearby, using my phone, when I awoke from my nap, and found a street of fast food restaurants. There was also a neighborhood Chinese place, which is where I went. It was just a mile from the hotel, so I thought I would walk. I didn't count on a combination of ice and puddles on the streets, a lack of sidewalks, or a steep hill on the way. The neighborhood was mixed by race, but that never bothers me. It was run by a family: the husband cooked, the wife took my order and money and the son, who looked to be about thirteen, delivered the food to my table, while his brother, about ten, played games on a device. The parents spoke to each other and to the kids in what I assume was Chinese; the kids spoke English to each other. This is a common pattern. I had the "diet plate," steamed chicken and broccoli with white rice and a little brown sauce on the side. The menu was heavy on shrimp and pork, mostly fried. People on the street were friendly enough. I tried saying "Hi," and most said "Hi" back.
Thursday the twelfth, my big day for exploring, the temperature was expected to hit 65 F., nearly a record. Some schools were still opening late in local counties, because there are steep hills and roads covered by trees where there was still ice. Over the course of the day, almost all the snow and ice melted.
I set out with my usual list of ten historic places (Lynchburg has forty on the National Register, Campbell County, fourteen). I randomly picked eight from the city and two in the county, plus two historic courthouses, a synagogue, a park, a university and a shopping mall. I managed to get to all of them. It was a beautiful day, ultimately, according to the car, 68 F.; the newspaper said the high was 66.
Lynchburg has a beautiful downtown, in the process of being renovated. A prosperous city before and after the Civil War, a port on the James River upstream from Richmond, a railroad center in the middle of tobacco country, and the last capital of the Confederacy for a few months in 1865, it retains much of its old charm. On the bluff above the James west of downtown are the toniest old houses, in the Rivermont District. I found Virginia Episcopal School, and Randolph College in that area, and a park along the river.
There were signs in Rivermont saying "Peake for State Senate." I found out that there had been a special election Tuesday, the day before I arrived, in that state senate district, and Peake was the Republican nominee. He won, but he was surprised, as a native of Lynchburg, that he did not win a majority of the votes in the city. I would tell him that this year, in a city that is thirty percent African American, and with a larger than I expected gay community, a Republican could not win. What makes The South different from the Northeast or West Coast is that rich people will admit to being Republican.
I didn't see any specifically gay places, but there was a church with a rainbow flag, and the Unitarian church downtown had a sign saying it was welcoming to LGBT people.
I had lunch in a renovated warehouse downtown, now a kind of marketplace. Although there was a shop selling tea in bulk, none of the several restaurants in the space had iced tea.
I visited Rustburg, the county seat of Campbell County, and not much of a town, and the town of Brookneal, near the retirement home of Patrick Henry. I stopped there after three and enjoyed some cookies and "unsweet" iced tea at a diner before heading back to my motel. I ate dinner at the mall in town at a stand with pita sandwiches. I had a chicken caesar wrap, not awful. The mall was like the one in Morgantown, but with more vacant stores. They have a Macy's, about to close. Men's clothes were twenty percent off, but an $80 Ralph Lauren Polo shirt for $64 is still not a bargain. I felt sorry for the clerks about to lose their jobs.
Everyone I encountered was polite and friendly, even the late night clerks at the grocery store where I stopped Thursday night for snacks and extra food for breakfast. I drove home Friday on what looked on the map like more direct roads, U.S. 501 from town to I-81 and then U.S. 250 over the mountains into West Virginia. I did save about twenty miles going that way, but with all the switchbacks over the mountains, it took forty minutes more than Google's route.
So here are the pics:
I had my doubts about this one, as Lynchburg is the home of Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, of the so-called Moral Majority, and now presided over by his even worse son, Jerry, Jr. Wikipedia says Liberty University is the second-largest employer in the area, after the local health-care company. And yes, there are crazy home-made signs in town about sin, and billboards from Seventh-Day Adventists claiming that changing Sabbath to Sunday was the work of the anti-Christ. I didn't go to Liberty University. It's at the south end of Lynchburg, where there is a jumble of neon and your basic chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I don't need to leave town to see those.
Considering that Morgantown and Lynchburg were once in the same state, it was hard to travel between them. The peaks of the Appalachians run between the two cities, northeast to southwest, and most of the roads follow that. But Lynchburg is nearly due south and a little east of Morgantown. Google Maps suggests going on back roads through Garrett County, Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and rural Virginia to finally hit Interstate 81. No interstate highways go near Lynchburg, although US 29 (Jerry Falwell Parkway) is a four-lane road. I traveled the way Google said to without major problems. There was almost no snow in Preston County, West Virginia and Garrett County, Maryland, shocking for January. The temperature was above 40 F. Farther south in Virginia, the ground was covered with snow. The big southern storm had passed through and dumped eleven inches of snow on Lynchburg.
I arrived about 4:30 at my motel, the cheap brand from my usual chain, but the one closest to the city center. Joe and I stayed there in 2009, on our way from my sister's near Washington, to Johnson City, Tennessee, where he had an interview for a position after ordination.
I looked for restaurants nearby, using my phone, when I awoke from my nap, and found a street of fast food restaurants. There was also a neighborhood Chinese place, which is where I went. It was just a mile from the hotel, so I thought I would walk. I didn't count on a combination of ice and puddles on the streets, a lack of sidewalks, or a steep hill on the way. The neighborhood was mixed by race, but that never bothers me. It was run by a family: the husband cooked, the wife took my order and money and the son, who looked to be about thirteen, delivered the food to my table, while his brother, about ten, played games on a device. The parents spoke to each other and to the kids in what I assume was Chinese; the kids spoke English to each other. This is a common pattern. I had the "diet plate," steamed chicken and broccoli with white rice and a little brown sauce on the side. The menu was heavy on shrimp and pork, mostly fried. People on the street were friendly enough. I tried saying "Hi," and most said "Hi" back.
Thursday the twelfth, my big day for exploring, the temperature was expected to hit 65 F., nearly a record. Some schools were still opening late in local counties, because there are steep hills and roads covered by trees where there was still ice. Over the course of the day, almost all the snow and ice melted.
I set out with my usual list of ten historic places (Lynchburg has forty on the National Register, Campbell County, fourteen). I randomly picked eight from the city and two in the county, plus two historic courthouses, a synagogue, a park, a university and a shopping mall. I managed to get to all of them. It was a beautiful day, ultimately, according to the car, 68 F.; the newspaper said the high was 66.
Lynchburg has a beautiful downtown, in the process of being renovated. A prosperous city before and after the Civil War, a port on the James River upstream from Richmond, a railroad center in the middle of tobacco country, and the last capital of the Confederacy for a few months in 1865, it retains much of its old charm. On the bluff above the James west of downtown are the toniest old houses, in the Rivermont District. I found Virginia Episcopal School, and Randolph College in that area, and a park along the river.
There were signs in Rivermont saying "Peake for State Senate." I found out that there had been a special election Tuesday, the day before I arrived, in that state senate district, and Peake was the Republican nominee. He won, but he was surprised, as a native of Lynchburg, that he did not win a majority of the votes in the city. I would tell him that this year, in a city that is thirty percent African American, and with a larger than I expected gay community, a Republican could not win. What makes The South different from the Northeast or West Coast is that rich people will admit to being Republican.
I didn't see any specifically gay places, but there was a church with a rainbow flag, and the Unitarian church downtown had a sign saying it was welcoming to LGBT people.
I had lunch in a renovated warehouse downtown, now a kind of marketplace. Although there was a shop selling tea in bulk, none of the several restaurants in the space had iced tea.
I visited Rustburg, the county seat of Campbell County, and not much of a town, and the town of Brookneal, near the retirement home of Patrick Henry. I stopped there after three and enjoyed some cookies and "unsweet" iced tea at a diner before heading back to my motel. I ate dinner at the mall in town at a stand with pita sandwiches. I had a chicken caesar wrap, not awful. The mall was like the one in Morgantown, but with more vacant stores. They have a Macy's, about to close. Men's clothes were twenty percent off, but an $80 Ralph Lauren Polo shirt for $64 is still not a bargain. I felt sorry for the clerks about to lose their jobs.
Everyone I encountered was polite and friendly, even the late night clerks at the grocery store where I stopped Thursday night for snacks and extra food for breakfast. I drove home Friday on what looked on the map like more direct roads, U.S. 501 from town to I-81 and then U.S. 250 over the mountains into West Virginia. I did save about twenty miles going that way, but with all the switchbacks over the mountains, it took forty minutes more than Google's route.
So here are the pics:
 |
| Doyle Florists-H.R. Schenkel Greenhouses, 1920. Once a home of the cut flower industry, empty and owned by the city |
 |
| Agudath Sholom Synagogue, Reform affiliated, west of downtown, building is from 1956 |
 |
| Virginia Episcopal School, a college prep school, 1916 |
 |
| Presbyterian Orphans Home, now Presbyterian Homes and Family Services, 1911. There are more buildings in a semi-circle. |
 |
| Randolph-Macon Women's College, now Randolph College, Rivermont, Lynchburg, 1891 |
 |
| Miller-Claytor House, 1791, moved from downtown to Riverfront Park and restored, 1936 |
 |
| Overlooking the James River in Riverfront Park. The stone wall was built by the WPA in 1936 |
 |
| Carter Glass House, 1827, now Parish House for St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Glass as the co-author of the Glass-Steagall Act, restricting banks. A National Historic Landmark. |
 |
| St. Paul's Vestry House, 1855 |
 |
| Ironwork porches along Court St., Courthouse Hill-Downtown Historic District |
 |
| The Unitarian Church in downtown Lynchburg announces that it is "A Welcoming Congregation" |
 |
| Old Lynchburg Courthouse, now a museum, 1855 |
 |
| Monument Plaza, looking from the Old Courthouse to the James River |
 |
| Monument Plaza looking up from Main St. to the Old Courthouse |
 |
| Tobacco Lofts, a former warehouse now loft-style apartments, Lower Basin Historic District |
 |
| Railroad station along the James River. The train is carrying coal. |
 |
| Centerview, 1871, now a law office |
 |
| Mt. Athos Archaeological Site, Kelly, Campbell County. Part of a plantation that burned in 1876 |
 |
| Campbell County Courthouse, Rustburg, 1848, now a museum |
 |
| Brookneal Historic District, Campbell County, 1875-1925. This was a tobacco, railroad and textile center (Dan Mills had a factory). There is not much activity there now. Patrick Henry lived nearby. |
 |
| Staunton River near Brookneal. The river flows to coastal North Carolina and was once important for trade. |
Thursday, January 5, 2017
How I Cope: A List
Even though I live in Appalachia, and I expected much of the region to vote Republican in the Presidential election, I am still appalled that he won. My method of coping was to find the county in each state most and least likely to vote Republican for President. Not satisfied with that, I picked out the fifty counties (and in some cases cities independent of counties) least likely to have voted Republican for President in 2016. Here they are, alphabetical by state. The city name in parentheses is the county seat, or an explanation of why there isn't one.
Alabama
1. Greene County ( Eutaw)
2. Macon County (Tuskeegee)
Alaska
in a separate category because regions were not broken out, although the state as a whole voted Republican.
I picked Nome as most likely not to vote Republican, because the Democratic legislator was unopposed and there were few write-ins for others.
California
3. Alameda County (Oakland)
4. Marin County (San Rafael)
5. San Francisco (City and County contiguous)
6. San Mateo County (Redwood City)
7. Santa Clara County (San José)
8. Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz)
Colorado
9. Boulder County (Boulder)
10. Denver (City and County contiguous)
District of Columbia
11. Washington (contiguous with the District)
Georgia
12. Clayton County (Jonesboro)
13. DeKalb County (Decatur, county includes part of Atlanta)
Illinois
14. Cook County (Chicago)
Louisiana
15. Orleans Parish (New Orleans)
Maryland
16. Baltimore (independent city)
17. Montgomery County (Rockville)
18. Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro)
Massachusetts
19. Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard)
20. Suffolk County (Boston)
Mississippi
21. Claiborne County (Port Gibson)
22. Holmes County (Lexington)
23. Jefferson County (Fayette)
24. Noxubee County (Macon)
Missouri
25. St. Louis (independent city)
New Jersey
26. Essex County (Newark)
New Mexico
27. San Miguel County (Las Vegas)
28. Santa Fé County (Santa Fé)
29. Taos County (Taos)
New York
30. Bronx County (The Bronx, New York City)
31. Kings County (Brooklyn, New York City)
32. New York County (Manhattan, New York City)
North Carolina
33. Durham County (Durham)
North Dakota
34. Sioux County (Ft. Yates, coterminous with Standing Rock reservation)
Oregon
35. Multnomah County (Portland)
Pennsylvania
36. Philadelphia (coterminous city and county)
South Carolina
37. Allendale County (Allendale)
South Dakota
38. Oglala-Lakota County (no county seat, coterminous with Native American reservations)
Texas
39. Jim Hogg County (Hebbronville)
40. Maverick County (Eagle Pass)
41. Starr County (Rio Grande City)
42. Zavala County (Crystal City)
Virginia
43. Alexandria (independent city)
44. Arlington County (no county seat as it is the size of a small city in area)
45. Charlottesville (independent city)
46. Falls Church (independent city)
47. Petersburg (independent city)
48. Richmond (independent city)
Washington
49. King County (Seattle)
Wisconsin
50. Menominee County (Keshena)
Some of these are big diverse cities (BDCs), some are poor Black counties (PBCs) some are Native American reservations (NARs), some Mexican border towns (MBTs), and a few are liberal college towns (LCTs). Many of the smaller ones have colorful histories, worth exploring.
In my mind, I'm planning a trip to visit all fifty of these places across the country. It's not likely to happen.
My source for this was the state election maps compiled by Politico.
Alabama
1. Greene County ( Eutaw)
2. Macon County (Tuskeegee)
Alaska
in a separate category because regions were not broken out, although the state as a whole voted Republican.
I picked Nome as most likely not to vote Republican, because the Democratic legislator was unopposed and there were few write-ins for others.
California
3. Alameda County (Oakland)
4. Marin County (San Rafael)
5. San Francisco (City and County contiguous)
6. San Mateo County (Redwood City)
7. Santa Clara County (San José)
8. Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz)
Colorado
9. Boulder County (Boulder)
10. Denver (City and County contiguous)
District of Columbia
11. Washington (contiguous with the District)
Georgia
12. Clayton County (Jonesboro)
13. DeKalb County (Decatur, county includes part of Atlanta)
Illinois
14. Cook County (Chicago)
Louisiana
15. Orleans Parish (New Orleans)
Maryland
16. Baltimore (independent city)
17. Montgomery County (Rockville)
18. Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro)
Massachusetts
19. Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard)
20. Suffolk County (Boston)
Mississippi
21. Claiborne County (Port Gibson)
22. Holmes County (Lexington)
23. Jefferson County (Fayette)
24. Noxubee County (Macon)
Missouri
25. St. Louis (independent city)
New Jersey
26. Essex County (Newark)
New Mexico
27. San Miguel County (Las Vegas)
28. Santa Fé County (Santa Fé)
29. Taos County (Taos)
New York
30. Bronx County (The Bronx, New York City)
31. Kings County (Brooklyn, New York City)
32. New York County (Manhattan, New York City)
North Carolina
33. Durham County (Durham)
North Dakota
34. Sioux County (Ft. Yates, coterminous with Standing Rock reservation)
Oregon
35. Multnomah County (Portland)
Pennsylvania
36. Philadelphia (coterminous city and county)
South Carolina
37. Allendale County (Allendale)
South Dakota
38. Oglala-Lakota County (no county seat, coterminous with Native American reservations)
Texas
39. Jim Hogg County (Hebbronville)
40. Maverick County (Eagle Pass)
41. Starr County (Rio Grande City)
42. Zavala County (Crystal City)
Virginia
43. Alexandria (independent city)
44. Arlington County (no county seat as it is the size of a small city in area)
45. Charlottesville (independent city)
46. Falls Church (independent city)
47. Petersburg (independent city)
48. Richmond (independent city)
Washington
49. King County (Seattle)
Wisconsin
50. Menominee County (Keshena)
Some of these are big diverse cities (BDCs), some are poor Black counties (PBCs) some are Native American reservations (NARs), some Mexican border towns (MBTs), and a few are liberal college towns (LCTs). Many of the smaller ones have colorful histories, worth exploring.
In my mind, I'm planning a trip to visit all fifty of these places across the country. It's not likely to happen.
My source for this was the state election maps compiled by Politico.
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