MORGANTOWN — Morgantown’s 7th Ward is one of two wards that will have a choice of candidates on the ballot in the April 27 municipal election.
Brian Butcher, 33, has lived in Morgantown for about 10 years, the last two of which have been in the 7th Ward. Butcher is married, has two kids and works as an assistant manager of the Xfinity location on Venture Drive.
After years of grassroots activism, Butcher said he’s ready to take on a new role.
“People who are activists that I’ve talked to convinced me that especially in local elections, there’s a lot we can do to help people immediately, on the ground, directly,” he said.
Ben Mayle, 49, has lived in and around Morgantown his entire life. He moved into the city’s 7th Ward eight years ago. A district manager for the West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Company, Mayle and his wife have two children.
Mayle said he never paid much attention to city council until some high profile issues drew his attention in recent years. He referenced the aborted attempt to purchase the Haymaker Forest in 2018 as an example.
Mayle said he wanted to run in 2019, but the birth of his daughter put that on hold. He has no previous elected experience.
“As I started paying more attention, I just didn’t like some of the things council was doing and some of the rhetoric coming from some of the council members. So I decided to step up and be a voice for what I thought would be better for the city,” he said.
Mayle said he spoke to more than 100 residents of the 7th Ward while collecting nominating signatures and walked away with a couple clear priorities.
One, he said, city residents want to feel safe. Mayle said he’s concerned that both the city’s police and fire departments are either suing or have threatened suits against the city, and noted he would be strongly against a reduction in force for either department.
Two, Mayle said the 7th Ward, like much of the city, is frustrated with trash and recycling pickup.
“Our day is Friday and it seems like if you’re not picked up by 11 a.m. on Saturday, you’re just left until the next week. There are parts of the ward where that’s a problem and has been a problem for a long time, but the city won’t enforce the penalties on the contract for some reason.”
When asked about priorities, Butcher said an issue that not only impacts the 7th Ward but the entire city, is a lack of decent, affordable housing.
“I feel like the entire time I’ve lived here that’s been one of the biggest struggles I’ve had. It’s something that people talked about with me every single day, long before I wanted to run or anything like that. The rent’s too high and the houses cost too much,” Butcher said, adding that a lack of affordable housing is pushing people away from the city.
“When you’re looking at 40% or 50% of your income going to rent, then it becomes unsustainable for people to live here,” he said.
Butcher is one of three council candidates endorsed by Morgantown Can’t Wait, a local offshoot of West Virginia Can’t Wait.
While he has no previous elected experience, he was involved in Stephen Smith’s failed gubernatorial run in 2020.
“It just made sense for me to keep going with them and keep that activism work going while I’m running for office,” Butcher said, explaining that the state’s history of labor organizing is something that’s important to the West Virginia Can’t Wait movement, as are issues like income disparity and human rights abuses.
“I feel like a lot of times, the people in poverty and the people with the least amount of power get locked out of the political process in West Virginia in general. I think our current city council has done a pretty good job of listening to those concerns, but the movement as a whole, West Virginia Can’t Wait, has done a great job of trying to boost those voices,” he said.
Mayle said he, like all council candidates, was asked to sign a pledge by Morgantown Can’t Wait. He said there were a number of issues that he agreed with, but there were others that made the request a non-starter.
“There were some ideas in there that I found extremely alarming, such as the shifting of police and court funds, 33% (of those funds) to affordable housing and other causes. I support those causes, but I just don’t think you should take a third of the police and court budgets to do that,” Mayle said, noting he’s endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. “Law enforcement is very important to me as far as our residents feeling and being safe.”
The Morgantown Can’t Wait candidate pledge can be found at: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1DHqa7RTmf2shpu4R6QVhztmzurSAYyAx2W14IwCVUf8/mobilebasic
