By Stephen Smoot
Several statewide and regional leaders gathered at Waterfront Group’s Autumn Oak Restaurant at Fisher Mountain last Friday. Although they gathered for the fellowship of the Pendleton County Republican Executive Committee annual dinner, they spoke about service they have performed in their current positions of responsibility.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Roger Dahmer in his role as master of ceremonies led the assemblage in an invocation. He asked, “We pray for leaders who believe in the greatness of America.”
Patrick Morrisey, attorney general for the State of West Virginia, opened by saying, “It’s great to be back in Pendleton County.”
Morrisey spoke of his work in his elected role. While also fighting for consumer protection and other important issues, he has put a priority on protecting West Virginia and its people from what many would consider intrusive regulatory actions by the federal government. He shared that “farming is very important in Pendleton County,” as well as in most of the state.
Morrisey gave an example of his work building coalitions of state attorneys general to band together, share resources, and fight regulations such as the proposed “waters of the United States” rule that would give federal agencies broad powers to regulate nearly any area with even part time flowing water.
He discussed plans to fight the electric vehicle mandates, made without reference to the conditions in rural America. Morrisey gave the difficult terrain and extreme temperatures, as well as lack of infrastructure in Pendleton County, as reasons why the rule is foolish,
After Morrisey came United States representative Carol Miller. Redistricting moved Pendleton County into her district from that of Alex Mooney. Miller apologized for not coming to the area more, explaining its remoteness from both Washington, DC, and her hometown of Huntington.
“We make a lot of hard decisions and you send us there to make hard decisions,” she remarked. Miller shared some “inside baseball,” telling stories from her time in the West Virginia House of Delegates facing sexism, as well as being a “den mother” figure for new delegates in the West Virginia House of Delegates while she served there and incoming congressmen and women now.
One of the issues that she monitors is the upcoming sunset of the 2017 tax cut act, due to sunset next year. Allowing the tax cuts to die would impose significant burdens on all businesses, especially smaller operations.
Attendees also heard from Kris Warner, West Virginia Economic Development Authority executive director. He spoke of the vitality of fair and free elections, then outlined a plan on how to secure them in an age of digital threats.
Next Robbie Morris, economic development director for Randolph County, discussed prosperity and infrastructure, notably focusing on the need for a safer US 33 on the east slope of Allegheny Mountain and expansion of infrastructure, such as water and broadband.
Finally, Bryan Ward, member of the House of Delegates representing Hardy and Pendleton counties, discussed how he and the county’s other delegate, Elias Coop-Gonzales, “tag team” and help each other with constituent service. Few know that helping constituents directly with problems is one of the most important parts of service in the State Legislature.
The event also served as a coming out party for the new restaurant, Autumn Oak, at Fisher Mountain. Many attendees from outside of the area were unaware of the facility, or even that the county had a first class golf course.
Janet Robinson, fiancée of co-owner Mark Adkins, shared that “it’s unbelievable to get this recognition from people coming to the area.” She added that one of the primary goals of the development lies in getting “more jobs and more people to the county” and to “show people how unbelievably beautiful it is here.”
