St. Albans Peoples Party In Need Of A Ward 2 Council Rep For The Second Time In Under 2 Years

A few weeks ago St. Albans City Councilman, JD Adkins resigned from his Ward 2 seat because he has moved out of his ward. It was less than 2 years ago when Ward 2 lost their previous council rep, Xris Hess, for the same reason. Hess and Adkins were members of the St. Albans Peoples Party so at last night's (1 October 2012) council meeting Mayor Dick Callaway asked the St. Albans Peoples Party to submit three candidates for the empty seat. City Council will then vote to install one of those three candidates to fill Adkins' unexpired term.

After a September council meeting Adkins told me "some people don't like change". I was dying to know what he meant but he seemed in a hurry to get to his car so I didn't press him. Here's what's interesting about that parting remark: Adkins doesn't know me from Adam. When he made his comment about some people not liking change, he had no idea to whom he was saying it which gave me the impression he has something on his mind that he'd like to talk about. Perhaps he read my 12 April 2011 post in which I called St. Albans a city a "Callagarchy" where apathy is always on the ballot. 

 Perhaps the reporter who covers St. Albans City Council for the Charleston Gazette, Kristin Ledford, will try to get him on the record. 

In other St. Albans City Council news, there will be a public hearing at 7:15 October 15 at which stakeholders can comment on the management-led buyout of Suddenlink and how this sale might affect St. Albans' Suddenlink TV, internet and phone customers.

I have a comment: Since the West Virginia Public Service Commission does not have oversight of cable TV providers, the City of St. Albans and other affected cities should insist that Suddenlink seat a community action panel where Suddenlink customers can interact on a regular basis with Suddenlink management.

Here is the link to my 12 April 2011 post:: http://higginbothamatlarge.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-words-for-old-problems-in-st-albans.html
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How The St. Albans Peoples Party Should Differentiate Themselves From The Citizens Party

In yesterday's post I said that the St. Albans Peoples Party is back from the dead.

But how will the new, resurrected St. Albans Peoples Party differentiate themselves from the incumbent Citizens Party?

I encourage the St. Albans People Party to start by being more transparent than the Callagarchy has been. Don't conduct secret executive committee meetings at which you hand pick candidates before you have considered the entire universe of possible candidates.

Yesterday I received pseudonymous hate mail from a reader who said I should run for office if I think I can do better than the Callagarchy has done. The hate mailer obviously hadn't read my blog. Had she read it, she would have known that I have consistently said St. Albans needs Gen X and Gen Y leaders who can attract and retain a younger demographic to the city. I'm a baby boomer. It would be hypocritical of me to run.

But I'll gladly and enthusiastically campaign for visionary Gen X and Gen Y candidates who want to make St. Albans city government more transparent and more accountable.

If the newly resurrected Peoples Party wants to send a clear message that they are not the Callagarchy, not the business-as-usual, private club party, they will put up a website, post the names and the contact info for their executive committee, and announce public meetings at which voters can ask questions and even offer to run for office as Peoples Party candidates.

Much of the new Peoples Party executive team has education or law enforcement ties so they will be tempted to go behind closed doors and select candidates from the law enforcement and education arenas without really considering other capable, eligible people. That would be a mistake.

The best way for the newly-alive St. Albans Peoples Party to demonstrate that they are not just Callagarchy Lite is for them to be very public and inclusive about what they do, to reach out to the entire city, beyond their own social circles and beyond their comfort zones. St. Albans is full of capable people who have never been allowed to serve, never been asked to serve. Reach out to them.

While you're at it, reach out to the many people in St. Albans whose contributions to the city have never really been acknowledged.

Don't be like the Callagarchy which, in the April St. Albans Monthly, spends several self-congratulatory pages crowing about its management of the St. Albans water company. Did they give credit to the technicians and the staff who did the work? No, but Callagarchy members Tim Sheldon, Mayor Callaway, Jerry Cogar, Ron Colby and Frank Offutt were prominently photographed.

So, Peoples Party, now that you have been born again, eschew the ways of the past and the ways of the Callagarchy. Give credit where credit is due. Be transparent. Reach out to the entire town, beyond your own friends and family.

Put up a website and fill it with the kind of information prospective voters will want. After you get the website up, don't just send the link to your friends, buy an ad in the St. Albans Monthly and tell everybody where to read about the re-born Peoples Party and how it differs from the Callagarchy. In your ad, print the names of your executives. Print email addresses and/or phone numbers and encourage potential candidates to contact you. Be accountable and transparent to the people from the start.
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Higginbotham At Large is not a candidate for any elected office.
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Once Left For Dead By Its Own Executive Committee, Has The St. Albans Peoples Party Risen From The Grave?

A 2009 news article that started with the words "St. Albans Peoples Party is in need of a few good people to run for office" went on to say that the Peoples Party didn't field candidates in several city council wards and that the Peoples Party executive committee had resigned.

Had that been the last news I received about the St. Albans Peoples Party I would have had the impression that the St. Albans Peoples Party was dead.

There's been a resurrection. The St. Albans Peoples Party is back. Sort of. They have an executive committee. They don't have a website or even a Facebook page but over the weekend I spoke to members of their executive committee and am happy to report that, on paper, St. Albans now has 2 political parties again.

This is important because, in St. Albans, you have to be a nominee of either the Citizens Party or the Peoples Party in order to run for Mayor or Council.

I know that the Peoples Party has already identified a potential mayoral candidate and I've spoken to a Peoples Party candidate who says he's running for council. That's good. If the Peoples Party hopes to become a factor in St. Albans again they need to start thinking about 2013 right now, but I am disappointed that they haven't held any public events or meetings at which voters can find out how Peoples Party candidates would differ from Citizens Party candidates.

I'm also sorry that, as far as I can tell, the Peoples Party executive committee has no Gen X or Gen Y members.

In a previous post I said that St. Albans' crime and drugs problem is an opportunity for Gen X and Gen Y to provide leadership. Let me add that the absence of Gen X and Gen Y voices in St. Albans city government is an opportunity for the St. Albans Peoples Party to reach out to generations of voters who have felt ignored and rejected by the current mayor and council.

I'll have more People Party news in future posts. Stay tuned.

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Higginbotham At Large stopped publishing reader comments because nearly all comments were from "Anonymous" - and Higginbotham At Large absolutely will not publish anonymous comments but send your news, suggestions, comments and hate mail to JosephHigginbotham@gmail.com.

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Higginbotham At Large is not affiliated with any anonymously-published websites or blogs - even the ones that have linked to or quoted from my blog.