Only a majority is required to pass this wage tax. Despite what some delegates and county commissioners claim, Senate Bill 673 does not require a 55 percent approval by voters. I was the only local legislator who voted against this legislation. I hope I wasn't the only one who read the bill.
I was not comfortable asking working folks to fund construction of new roads in Monongalia County that the current and past governors, legislators and Rep. Alan Mollohan have failed to fund. I used my power as a legislator to eliminate unconstitutional projects from the budget bill's State Road Fund in order to free up money to potentially be spent in Monongalia County if Gov. Joe Manchin's administration saw fit. There aren't many people who fought harder than I did against City Hall this past decade so that Beechurst Avenue would receive attention.
Some say there's more than one way to skin a cat. Similarly, there are many ways to fund roads in Monongalia County. There should be some tolerance for elected officials to not go along to get along, especially when going along is just plain wrong.
So, as a member of the Greater Morgantown Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizen's Advisory Committee let me repeat: it only takes a simple majority to approve the bonding of a wage tax to build roads or sewerage.
Morgantown