Manifesto: Morgantown City Council

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.