FAIRMONT – Donna Wade is used to being in situations where she has to jump in – quick – to get it done.
Which is precisely what happened Tuesday with Fairmont City Council.
She attended a work session, where she was named to fill the 5th District council seat after Chuck Warner’s untimely death last month.
Then, as council convened for its regular meeting, she was sworn in – and promptly handed a full agenda of items to consider, both for that night and going forward.
“It was a little bit of ‘Hit the ground running,’” she said, “but with my job, I’m definitely used to that.”
Wade is assistant chief of the Marion County Rescue Squad, the ambulance service that covers Fairmont, the county and even beyond, developing on the severity of whatever call comes in.
Officially, the emergency medical technician has been with the squad for 20 years, but she was a volunteer before that.
“I still go out on calls if they need me,” she said. “Sometimes, we get strapped.”
Her inclination toward public service is what prompted her to pursue the council seat, she said.
“I read about Chuck’s passing on Facebook,” she said, and I was thinking that well, maybe, this is another level of service I can bring.”
She’s definitely bringing her EMT eyes with her to council, she said.
The district she now officially represents has its share of blighted properties, she said, including condemned houses and buildings. Council has long championed a vigorous urban renewal program that’s ongoing.
Wade wants that to continue, she said.
“The city’s doing a pretty good job of knocking them down,” the new council member said.
“They’re eyesores, but they also aren’t safe. Some of them are tetanus shots waiting to happen. You have to think about fires or if there’s a collapse. And my God, what if a kid gets hurt playing around one of them?”
Wade will fill the unexpired portion of Warner’s original term through November. Because the Rescue Squad receives no funding from the city or county, there won’t be any public interest quandaries during her run, she said.
Her public interest, she said, is the civic well-being of Fairmont.
She was born here and launched her career here. She’s married to a Fairmont City firefighter and they are also parents.
“I live here. I work here. I’m raising my kid here. I have a vested interest.”
