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Actually you are wrong. Morgantown is growing at that rate. Mon County has almost 90,000 residents with most of those clustered in and around Morgantown (though most are not in the city limits) and, unlike Kanawha, it is growing. When school is in session there are 115,000 people living right in the Morgantown area. Also, it is in the vicinity of Fairmont, Clarksburg, and Uniontown which are in different counties but are of significant size. And there have been a number of towns in WV that were once over 50,000 residents that have dropped below that level... Huntington, Wheeling, and Parkersburg.
Why would the people of South Charleston have to essentially submit to Charleston control so Charleston can keep getting more Federal funds? That is the reasoning that has killed the idea elsewhere and Charleston is no different. The Sneaky Pete notion of making it a bare majority is not fair to the other communities.
Morgantown is not growing THAT fast. It is certainly a nice progressive and growing place but to act like thousands of people are beating down the door to move there every year isn't accurate. Charleston will likely continue to be the largest city in the state with or without metro government. The fact that it is the state capital leads to some relative economic stability in certain fields. The collapse of the chemical industry was an obvious exception to that statement.
We are not exactly a 'train wreck yet, but to inflate a state bureacracy from 3 billion to 13 billion in 6 years has a little smell to it..and when the hen house guards are the foxes in power...a person has to wonder.
No state owned equipment for highway work..all leased from friendly corporations...what if the lease money is not in the bank next year...ha ha ha
The big picture for us is/was coal...and the coal taxes...Comrade Pelosi gave us the order..."Coal is dirty...no more coal..."
Which is our own fault, we should have diversified our economy more instead of falling madly and deeply in love with coal. It's the same monotonous b/s that got our state in trouble back in the 40's-50's. You have ultra rich coal companies infiltrating our government, and spreading the message to everyone in WV that coal is gods dirt. Coal is obviously going to be a part of the nations energy production in the future, there is too much of it not to be. But we financially cannot afford to be enamored with it. It limits our prosperity, growth and development.
I really don't understand the love affair with coal. Yes, the jobs pay decently well compared to the state average. But Pelosi is right, coal is dirty and it has crippled the state economy for far too long. Perhaps one day we'll diversify our economy, reverse the brain drain, and actually be a place of good, clean and science driven jobs.
Can you give me one 'for instance, of a good, clean science driven job?
Arn't most of those jobs overseas...done with slave labor?
That 13 Billion dollar state budget was inflated with that coal money...very crippling indeed.
That governor that you love so much is one of the 'new coal barons...and the UMWA loves him too.
All his operations are scab non-union operations too...ha ha ha...
TBail- I almost wonder if politicians having the mentality of cementing the population numbers isnt a historical holdover when the capitol was elsewhere and they had to win it back in charleston. It's 2009 for criminy sake, charleston is the capitol, and isn't going anywhere. Population seems to be under counted if you consider how much transient traffic we've got here (hospitals alone keep hotels in year round biz).
Unfortunately it's the mentality of hold everyone else back to make sure they don't surpass you. The state leaders in Charleston are so caught up in maintaining the largest city title that they don't seem to care if they kill the rest of the state in the process. Our leaders in this state are too caught up in titles and maintaining ultimate power. God forbid they encourage some prosperity. This is ultimately seen in the hesitance to give cities more power to govern themselves. If "Charleston" maintains what cities can and can't do, they maintain power. Nevermind the fact that other more prosperous states have seen that this doesn't work too well. Huntington and other cities face different circumstances that could be dealt with better on a local level. Another example is if things were changed to base funding on population, this would allow the larger areas more funding and reward growth rather than allowing whoever is in power to cater to the areas he/she favors. Our education system needs similar funding to a system based on so much money/student. Both of these things would make sure that everyone gets an appropriate share while adjusting to changes in population. Makes too much sense to institute though and wouldn't allow for pet projects/favoritism so it wouldn't be well received.
Some ways I'll always be an outsider and good thing I know that early on. WV'ns by and large seem to have strange ideas about competition, and even competition with your own self striving for excellence is frowned upon. I really can't wrap my head around that mentality, and I'd be characterized for being 'arrogant' in the bargain. Should WVU or Marshall apologize to others when they win? You'd almost expect they were obliged to if you listen to locals.
Makes sense to me when a reluctance to change is about losing intangibles and avoiding a cockamaimey scheme. Otherwise it makes less sense to me. Smile and nod? Loosely translated its what north easterners call bless and release.
We the people steer politicians when we're clear about what we want as general consensus. When voters are vague, no solution applied satisfies anyone. Blaming the other guy only bolsters a perception of helplessness I refuse to abide.
Manchin ran unopposed, along with many others on the local ballot. The constituency really need to look harder at themselves, but when they do they're looking at the wrong thing IMO. Not unlike getting married for all the wrong reasons & wondering why misery is so regular if you look at it from that perspective. If you're unhappy it's within your ability to change perceptions and approaches that don't work anymore. Happy with the box you've made, there is no discomfort. Flyboy is quite an inspiration.
Morgantown's census population of 26,000 is misleading. So much of the Morgantown area is unincorporated. I always wondered why so many areas are not part of the city there. Atleast in the Clarksburg/Bridgeport they annex everything they can. Clarksburg city begins at I-79 although the actual downtown is 3 miles away from the interchange.
What did all that annexation get them? A very dead town!
All you have to do in a wv county is incorporate and then charge 2% B&O tax on every project...and then charge the owner 2% for the Building Permit...on the average, that's $12,000 to $15,000 of air money on a new home...
Water at $50 per month, Sewage at $100 per month...double taxes if it's a rental...double taxes if you live out of state and own it...
No builder in his right mind would build under those circumstances and they don't...they push the client to Taylor County...and the politico's in Taylor County, they just smile broadly and say Welcome!
Most of the unincorporated areas don't want to be incorporated. Then they have to start dealing with city regulations, taxes, parking rules, etc. I suspect they believe a majority of those outside of Charleston will resist too, which is why they want a simple majority instead of the usual 55% necessary. That way Charleston can drag them in kicking and screaming. Why all of a sudden they are so concerned is beyond me. They sure didn't get off their butts down there and do anything for the other towns in WV that slipped below 50K.
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