MORGANTOWN — The current iteration of the Morgantown City Charter was approved April 29, 1977.
Among the municipal powers and responsibilities outlined in the document are details explaining exactly when and how the city is to conduct elections — on the last Tuesday in April each odd-numbered year.
As it turns out, the final election conducted to those specifications may have been held Tuesday on the 48th anniversary of the charter’s passage.
A bill passed by the state Legislature and signed into law last week by Gov. Patrick Morrisey requires municipalities to align their standalone elections with county-run primary or general elections by 2032.
With that in mind — coupled with a perceived change in the majority opinion on city council following Tuesday’s election — is it safe to assume Morgantown has conducted its last stand-alone election?
That remains to be seen.
“I do not believe that we will do it any earlier than we are forced to,” Councilor Danielle Trumble said.
While the question of moving the city’s election has been raised periodically going back a decade or so, it’s never really gotten any traction until about two years ago.
Trumble initially called for a charter review immediately following her re-election in 2023, citing the elimination of the city’s standalone election as the number-one issue raised by voters.
Ultimately, moving the election was one of a handful of charter changes taken up by council — but the body voted 4-3 in October not to put the question before the city’s voters.
Trumble was joined by Dave Harshbarger and Brian Butcher in backing the charter change as a ballot question. She cautioned at the time that the city should make the jump proactively as it was only a matter of time before the West Virginia Legislature required it.
Six months later, that requirement is in place, along with the 2032 deadline.
Trumble said the scenario currently being discussed by city administration would have the city conduct its own elections in 2027, 2029 and 2031. In this scenario, candidates in the 2nd, 4th and 6th wards would run for special, three-year terms in 2029, and candidates for the other four seats would run for three-years terms in 2031 in order to move the city from odd to even year elections.
“I think plenty of municipalities have proactively done this, and it was not quite the big deal that we are making it out to be. I know there’s a lot of talk about making precinct lines match with the city boundaries and things like that, but, you know, the other municipalities in Mon County have already figured this out,” Trumble said. “I don’t know why it’s going to take us another seven years to figure it out.”
Ultimately, the question of when and how to move the election will be up to the city council. It would seem — based on campaign comments from newcomers Jodi Hollingshead and Mark Downs — that the votes are there.
Proponents point to the promise of increased voter turnout and the elimination of election expenses.
Those opposed to the change, like outgoing 2nd Ward Councilor Bill Kawecki, have long expressed concerns that city issues would get lost in the partisan noise of county, state and federal politics.
Hollingshead, the incoming 2nd Ward councilor, has a different take.
“That’s up to us. It’s up to us to make sure we’re educating voters and getting out there and registering people to vote and stating our causes and letting people know about us,” she said. “That’s our job. That’s on us.”
