Better City Government for Keyser

The City of Keyser is reportedly considering a modification to its charter which would change the City Council from three members to five. This would at least diminish the likelihood that the Council would, in the future, get into its present woeful state where there are two members, causing the Council meeting to be postponed if one can't or won't attend, and giving either council member a veto by virtue of their ability to withhold a second for any motion made. If only to alleviate chaos, a charter change to add two more members would be warranted.

There would be the additional benefit of being able to add two additional portfolios which might help the Council deal more directly with issues of concern to the citizenry, and the concerns of businesses and other organizations which are in Keyser, or are considering locating in Keyser. I would argue that one of the new seats should be a director of planning who would represent the City on planning committees and commissions, and who would, over time, lead in the development of long and mid-range plans for the City. With the new 220 bridge moving closer to the construction phase, the City needs to take a good look at how the actual construction process is going to impact on the areas adjoining the construction site on the Keyser side. The Arnold Street Bridge, a relatively small project, was far too disruptive for far too long a time to be acceptable. The 220 bridge is a vastly larger project with the potential of devastating businesses and other activities located near the project. In addition, there will certainly be a need for and interest in redeveloping downtown Keyser after the bridge has been completed; the planning for that should start immediately so that investor interest can be capitalized upon, and where grants may be needed, Keyser is able to get in the queue early, and muster the support it will need.

A second portfolio could be intergovernmental relations. There are a plethora of situations in which nothing much can be done because the state or county does them, but not inside city limits. For example, deer and other wildlife are proliferating and increasingly becoming a nuisance. Do we want the police called to shoot groundhogs, shoot or poison them ourselves, or should the DNR have some more effective provisions for handling wildlife nuisances in city limits? Another example would be water and sewer lines outside the city. It certainly appears that if anyone chooses to develop property near Keyser, all they have to do is petition the State Public Service Commission to order Keyser to take them into the existing systems, and it will be so ordered, even though they are not incorporated into the city. There are other problems, as well. In addition, this council member would be the one who developed the City's legislative package for each session of the State Legislature, and worked with the County Commission and the School Board, as well.

Keyser has a chance to move itself from the ridiculous to the sublime, and the voters need to express their strong support for a charter change