11 candidates vying for six at-large seats on Charleston City Council | Kanawha Valley

Here’s a look at the big candidates:

Ceperley, former president and CEO of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, is seeking his third term on the council. He said earlier this year that, if re-elected, he wants to help the city become a better environment for entrepreneurs.

“We have to stop thinking we’re going to bring in a big investor,” he said. “I think we need to create the environment where we have small businesses that will pollinate the whole city.”

Ceperley helped create the city’s first business improvement district in the Slack Plaza area, and helped the Charleston Area Alliance with a pilot program offering grants for women- and minority-owned businesses. .

Pharr, development director for the Charleston YWCA and a part-time commercial real estate agent, is running for his second term as an at-large council member. According to him, if re-elected, one of his main goals is to promote youth tourism. Youth sports tournaments help businesses and restaurants in town bring in revenue, he said.

Pharr said he also wants to work for revitalization, development and making the city more inclusive. Pharr said he would also like to see the size of the city council reduced from the current 26 members, something he proposed last year.

Solomon is a social worker, harm reduction advocate and founder of the overdose prevention group Solutions Oriented Addiction Response.

Solomon is associated with Charleston Can’t Wait, a political organization that promotes a platform that includes decriminalizing cannabis and establishing a 24-hour overdose prevention site, including a safe injection site.

Beyond that, Solomon said he would support establishing an abortion care fund to help Charleston residents who seek abortions travel out of state to receive the procedure.

Cook, director of advocacy and public policy for the Mountaineer Food Bank, is seeking her second term as an at-large council member.

“I’m very passionate about Charleston and making Charleston a better place, but I also feel like I bring a great skill to the table,” he said. “Charleston still faces some very pressing issues that are in many ways interconnected, and I want to be a part of the solutions.”

Issues include homelessness, a drug epidemic and a struggling economy, he said.

Cook said the city’s role in addressing the issues is to be a “connector across silos” — connecting organizations that address each of the issues.

Tucker is an information technology professional who lives on the West Side. He said he will run for city council to bring a different perspective to the group.

If elected, Tucker said he would focus on the city providing more transparency and responsible spending. He also said the overall size of the council could be “cut.”

To grow the economy and provide jobs, Tucker said the city needs to look outside of tourism and get some pointers from the state’s Economic Development Office.

“There are all kinds of economic announcements, but Charleston isn’t getting anything,” he said.

Malone operates a marketing/public relations consulting business. He served on the city council from 1995 to 1999, and previously worked as the director of the mayor’s Office of Economic Development under Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin.

During a candidate event earlier this month, he said he was leaving the role after two years because he and Goodwin were “not seeing each other anymore.”

“I’m running for city council because I want to contribute and I want to improve things,” Malone told Terrace Park East residents. Malone said Goodwin doesn’t focus on crime prevention and “is too short on criminal vagrants.”

According to him, if elected, he will propose regulating panhandling.

Bsharah, a lawyer who lives in South Hills, said she is running for council to contribute to the area she loves. If elected, Bsharah said he would work on economic development and addressing the city’s population decline.

“I think Charleston needs to look inside, look at its land use regulations, look at some of its tax structure, and just look at the issues that might be prohibitive of businesses coming into Charleston as opposed to coming out of other areas of Kanawha County or going to Huntington,” he said. “The city needs to focus on making it an attractive place for business.”

Bsharah said increasing the number of jobs would help address homelessness.

“I think if we can continue to grow the economy and sustain it, that will allow Charleston to continue to have the resources to help deal with that issue,” Bsharah said. “This is a national issue. Everyone is trying to figure it out. “

Pepper, a Charleston attorney, was appointed to the city council last year to fill an at-large seat left by the death of Councilman John Kennedy Bailey.

Pepper said earlier this year that he would run for re-election to continue the work that Bailey wanted to do.

Before his appointment to the council, as chairman of the city’s Green Team, he worked on an energy benchmarking bill that was passed in August. Pepper said he wants to continue working on the benchmarking process.

Pepper was the lead sponsor of a bill, passed in February, that strengthened the city’s vacant structure registry. He also promoted a bill, passed in August, that legalized the use of motorized scooters on city streets.

Sadd, a lawyer, served as an at-large city councilman from 2002 to 2005. During a recent campaign event, he said he would run to help balance a possible left-leaning city ​​government.

“I think there’s a direction some people are running that’s more to the left and more extreme, that’s taking politics and policies in the city of Charleston to the left in a direction that’s not balanced with the real rights. for the most part. ,” Sadd said.

Sadd said he believes in a multi-pronged approach to public safety, including enforcing laws and putting money behind law enforcement.

Persinger, president of the general contracting firm Persinger & Associates, and the current councilman representing Ward 14 in the South Hills, is seeking an at-large seat. He did not return messages seeking an interview.

Taylor, an attorney, served as a city judge from 2005 to 2010. Taylor said earlier this year that she would run for council to make Charleston a place her children want to live.

“They’ve been around, they’ve been to other cities, they’ve been to big metropolitan cities — Columbus, Lexington, Raleigh, Nashville, and just them, the cities are more vibrant, there’s more things to do. for them there,” he said. “And they think that’s where they want to continue their career. But I think we, while on a smaller scale, we can offer them the same lifestyle. “

Taylor said her time as a municipal judge helped shape opinions on how the city should respond to homelessness.

“I believe the first step is to be kind, and try as much as possible to coordinate with local non-profits and other community members to provide [unsheltered people] with services to heal them to the level that they can heal,” he said.

The following Charleston City Council races have more than one candidate:

Ward 1: Democratic incumbent Patrick Jones and independent challenger Sheena Griffith

Ward 2: Republican Jay (Doug) Hughart and Democratic incumbent Bobby Haas

Ward 6: Democrat Michael Ferrell and independent Michael Farmer

Ward 8: Democrat Kathy Rubio and independent Malyka Knapp-Smith

Ward 9: Democrat Mary Beth Hoover and independent Gail Michelson

Ward 10: Democrat Chelsea Steelhammer is running unopposed, but incumbent Keeley Steele, who lost the Democratic primary to Steelhammer, has registered as a write-in candidate.

Ward 11: Republican Patty DeLuca and Democratic incumbent Shannon Snodgrass

Ward 13: Republican Frank Annie and Democrat Justin Williams

Ward 14: Republican Ashley Switzer and Democrat Patrick Salango

Ward 15: Republican Harper Gardner and Democratic incumbent Sam Minardi

Ward 18: Republican Pam Burka, Democratic incumbent Bobby Brown and independent Dana Skerbetz

Ward 19: Republican Brent Burton and independent Brady Campbell

Ward 20: Republican Joey Spano and Democratic incumbent Chad Robinson