He’s not sure if he was high or low on the list, but Donnie Atkinson was contacted several times prior to the filing deadline for Wheeling’s municipal election scheduled for May 12.
Atkinson, a lifelong Wheeling resident who served eight years on Wheeling’s Council (2008-2016), obviously declined the encouragement as his name is not listed among the candidates for the city’s position for mayor. Chris Hamm, Tony Domenick, Jerry Jacobs, and incumbent Glenn Elliott will be the options for voters.
“I had a lot of people who were trying to get me to run for office this time around,” Atkinson said. “If my wife wasn’t so dead set against me doing it, I might have considered it. Plus, if I could have signed up today and the election was tomorrow, I would have done it, but doing all of the functions and the visits to the high rises … . I did all of that three times, and I just really didn’t want to do those things again.
“And no disrespect to the people involved in politics here in the city, but event after event, it was always the same 30 people who attended those events,” he continued. “They just sat in different seats, but you get to know those folks on a first-name basis. This time around my name must have been on a list for mayor because so many people wanted me to run for that position, and I was flattered.”
Atkinson’s threw his hat into the city’s political scene for the first time in 2000, when he was one of 12 candidates in the race. Atkinson finished fourth, and Nick Sparachane won his first of two terms as mayor of Wheeling.
The Agonizing Process
After Atkinson won the Ward 5 seat, but irritation with the process was immediate.
“I was so frustrated when I first took office because everything moves so slowly, so if any of these candidates think they are going to win and get a street paved during the first week, they have another think coming,” Atkinson explained. “The list of candidates is an interesting list because there are people who are running that I don’t know at all. But God bless them for having the guts to do it and for wishing to serve our city.
“I just hope they realize what they are getting themselves into because it’s not a couple meetings per month like it may appear on the surface,” he insisted. “There are committee meetings, and there are the other commission meetings the mayor assigns you to, so you have to go to those meetings, too. There’s a lot to it; I’m telling you.”
That’s the city hall schedule, but what about interacting with those living in a council representative’s ward?
“My experience was that the folks really only want several things on a consistent basis, and they include getting their garbage collected, getting their streets paved, and they want the police and fire departments to show up when they call them. Other than those things, they don’t care,” Atkinson insisted. “Now that was when I represented Ward 5, and Ward 5 is a great ward because there aren’t many bars, and there really isn’t much trouble in the ward.
“But about 90 percent of the people in Wheeling really do not care about anything other than, again, their garbage, their streets, and getting the help they need in police and fire situations. I probably had a thousand phone calls when I was in office, and I bet 999 of them concerned those issues,” Atkinson recalled. “That’s what the people want, and the person on council does have to work to make all of that happen. You have to be on your toes, return messages, and visit with folks once in a while.”
Who’s In; Who’s Out?
One incumbent, Wendy Scatterday in Ward 4, and one appointed member, Melinda Koslick from Ward 3, opted not to file to be on the 2020 ballot. One incumbent, Dave Palmer in Ward 6, is unopposed and will continue on Council for another four years.
The other four incumbents, though, have discussed many initiatives without much coming to fruition, according to Atkinson. Over the past four years, Wheeling residents have heard about a transformation of the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Building into a loft apartment complex, but a status report on the proposal has not been offered by the developer or by city officials.
One other project employees of downtown Wheeling businesses are eagerly awaiting is the streetscape work that’s been a topic of discussion for at least five years, and it was delayed during a debate concerning proposed two-way traffic along Main and Market streets. A final funding decision is expected soon, and because of a pair of promises made to city officials by the Governor’s Office in Charleston, the work should begin this spring or summer.
“The one thing I wish for all of the incumbents running is that they had something to hang their hat on. The only thing I can say about that group is that they have four years of experience, but that’s it,” Atkinson said. “There would be no learning curve for them because, by now, they should know how the system works.
“But putting in the User Fee is not something to hang your hat on. People are not happy at all about that for a lot of different reasons,” he said. “I just wish something that they announced would have happened. They need something they can say, ‘We did this,’ but they don’t have that. At the same time, they’ve been in there, and they have been doing the job the way they have chosen to do it, so you really can’t rule them out.”
Three Friends
Atkinson has followed the issue of the proposed public safety building, as well, and while he recognizes the obvious need for new HQ homes for the police and fire departments, he fails to favor the proposed three-acre parcel on 19th Street.
“I do hope we get a new public safety building but not necessarily at the 19th Street location because I just can’t see that as safe in the long run. But there is a need that exists there for both departments,” Atkinson said. “They need something like that to make it look like they have done their job. In the end, though, I just hope as a citizen of this city that something they have talked about does happen so the city can move forward with the next best thing.
“And, no matter what, the city will have two new council members, and that could change some things when it comes to the mayor’s agenda and the other things the other members may favor,” he explained. “Anytime someone runs for a Council position or the mayor’s position, you need three friends to get anything you want done. It’s really that simple because it’s takes four votes.”
