In the southern coalfields, West Virginians have big ideas for revitalizing their communities. They just need their lawmakers to support them

Mountain State Spotlight asked a small group of Southern West Virginians: What do you want candidates to be talking about as they ask for your vote?

The event was part of our plan to shift election coverage away from the polls and the press releases and let regular West Virginians guide our reporting.

Earlier this summer, reporter Henry Culvyhouse asked people in McDowell County what’s on their minds this election season . Then, he brought their questions to candidates running for the county’s House of Delegates seat .

Last week, about a dozen people from McDowell, Wyoming and Mercer counties turned out to our event in downtown Welch to share their concerns, hopes and dreams for southern West Virginia.

“They’re not focusing on the quality of life”

Much of the discussion, held over a dinner of pizza slices and Mountain Dew, revolved around the area’s lack of infrastructure.

Rev. Brad Davis pastors five United Methodist churches in southern West Virginia.

Davis said he wanted elected officials to talk less about “culture war issues” and focus on how they can put people to work, transition from a post-coal economy and find a path for the poorest county in the state to “flourish and thrive in the future.”

But to do any of that, Davis noted elected officials need to focus on the basics for life: access to food, water and healthcare.

“They’re not focusing on the quality of life,” Davis said.

Other residents agreed, pointing to the lack of broadband rural parts of the region despite years of promises and to the recent acquisition of the community hospital .

The closest option for some medical procedures now requires a drive of an hour to an hour and a half, residents estimated, making health care access difficult for aging residents and those without cars.

“People up in their 70s and 80s, I don’t know what they’re going to do,” McDowell County resident Debbie Barker said.

Almost everyone in the discussion brought up water.

Davis said the area doesn’t have adequate, safe and reliable water and proper sewage.

Jerry Stepp, a member of the Mercer County Public Service District, said state funding for water projects has dried up and grants are difficult to secure.

His district has aging piping that needs to be replaced. He said pipes have been breaking and causing disruptions in service or contaminants, resulting in boil water advisories being issued.

And fixing the water system without state funding would mean borrowing money through a bond. Stepp said the district would have to pay $6,000 a month on it, a cost the district would pass via a rate increase on to its customers.

Diane Farmer lives in Anawalt with her husband. She said she’s concerned about the effect inflation and the cost of living will have on the many people in her small, rural community who are either retired or on disability.

“I don’t know how anyone could make it working minimum wage,” she said.

Tourism predictions fall short in a shrinking community

Some 900 miles of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails system snake through much of southern West Virginia, including McDowell and Wyoming counties.

When the ATV system was conceived in the late 1990s, promoters predicted an economic boon for the area. But the economic impact of the Hatfield-McCoy trail system has fallen far short of predictions.

And that economic boost has been mostly directed toward short-term housing, groceries and restaurants, residents said, rather than the long-term investment the community needs.

Riders “roll in on Thursday, leave on Sunday,” Barker said. “That’s not sustainable for the whole county.”

In their shrinking community, fewer people means fewer dollars to support education and local businesses.

Taking matters into their own hands

Throughout the evening, attendees shared ideas about investments elected officials could make to improve their community: water infrastructure, drug treatment, literacy and vocational training, plastic recycling and more affordable rental projects similar to the new Renaissance Village apartment building.

But there was also an acknowledgment that lawmakers have a history of ignoring and exploiting their community .

Davis said the rest of the nation has done nothing but “taken, taken, taken” from the coalfields of West Virginia, but has never given anything back.

“It’s time for us to receive something back,” he said.

For some residents, that has meant taking matters into their own hands.

Richard Altizer and James Christian have been publicizing water issues in Wyoming County. They brought two bottles filled with water from their community — one bottle had an orange tint, and the other was black.

Barker told reporters she and her husband started a library in the elementary school because none of the elementary schools had one, and the community library’s limited hours and transportation options make it difficult for students to access.

Students have checked out thousands of books from the school’s library, according to Barker.

“The kids want to learn,” Debbie Barker said.

Betty Stepp, a retired school teacher, said education is key to getting kids out of the region and out of poverty.

But she also feels like that shouldn’t be the way things are. Stepp would like to one day see a community where kids can get a good education and a good job and not have to leave home.

Tre Spencer contributed reporting.

In the southern coalfields, West Virginians have big ideas for revitalizing their communities. They just need their lawmakers to support them appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight , West Virginia's civic newsroom.