His campaign’s slogan delivered his main message from the beginning, and he is hopeful controversial distractions haven’t overshadowed his service and his vision for Wheeling’s future.
Chad Thalman has served as the council representative for Ward 1 and as Vice Mayor since 2016, and now he wishes to follow termed-out Mayor Glenn Elliott in the position. On May 6, however, anonymous campaign mailers concerning the mayoral race were received by many Wheeling residents, and Thalman was forced to address the flyers on Facebook.
He stated: “As many of you know, myself and several other candidates for mayor have been the subject of some negative campaigning. … I’ve had nothing to do with this and don’t believe any other candidate has any involvement in this either. I strongly condemn these tactics. I’m disturbed by what is happening. … Those running for mayor maybe my opponents, but they are not my enemies. I believe every single one of them is a good and decent person and I’ve enjoyed our interactions while on the campaign trail.”
Vice Mayor Thalman will further address the anonymous mailers, and his campaign, Monday from 5-6 p.m. on River Talk, 100.1FM and AM 1290.
“I believe there are a lot of positive things taking place in the city right now, and I want that to continue with me as the mayor of Wheeling. I feel like I know the ingredients after serving on council and as the Vice Mayor for the last eight years,” Thalman said. “I don’t think it’s wise to change horses midstream.
“I want to continue bringing investment into the city, and that includes all areas of the city,” he explained. “I know the downtown gets a lot of attention, but I want to put a lot of focus on our neighborhoods by continuing to focus on parks and playgrounds while paving even more roads and alleys and continuing demolitions where necessary.”
Thalman has participated in the two public panel discussions that were streamed by local media outlets, and he’s explained his beliefs during radio and newspaper interviews as well. Each time he’s explained his experience is key to, yes, continuing the city’s comeback.
“I have knocked on a lot of doors and talked to a lot of people, and I keep hearing the same things over … ‘We like what’s happening’ … ‘We like the path we’re on’ … ‘Stay the course’ … ‘You guys are doing a good job’,” Thalman said. “And I agree. Things are happening.
“I feel like it’s my obligation to do my part to help the city I love, to help my hometown, and to help the city I’ll be spending the rest of my life in,” he said. “I’m proud of what we’ve done the past eight years, and I want to keep going.”
He sees it as simple, too, when it comes to making that slogan become reality.
“This year, visiting with residents from around the city has been great, and the people want to know my plans,” Thalman explained. “The people of Wheeling want a mayor that’s going to work hard and who’s going to keep their foot on the pedal.
“But, if you want someone as mayor who is just going to sit on their hands and do nothing, I’m not your guy,” he said. “And when you talk to people in the city, they will tell you about the alley they want to be paved or the house in their neighborhood that needs to come down, and I believe we have to look at all of that. I can have ideas and so can the members of Council, but we have to listen to the residents most of all.”
Creating a New Neighborhood
It began under former mayor Andy McKenzie with the introduction of The Stone Lofts in the Stone Center on Main Street, and it continued with Boury Lofts on the corner of 16th and Main streets.
Thalman then joined Elliott with The Wheeling-Pitt Lofts project, an initiative held up by the economy and interest rates but one still on the “Possibility Board” when it comes to increasing the number of residential units in the downtown area. “The Doris,” though, was constructed and opened across from the Heritage Center project, and it features 46 one and two-bedroom apartments just in time for Williams-Lea Tag’s renovations for an expansion to a 650-person workforce.
“Over the past eight years, we’ve talked about becoming a city that would attract the remote worker because we’re already on our way with updating our downtown for the people who work there and live there so we can make Wheeling a city people want to live in,” Thalman said. “We have good schools, great parks, a low cost of living, the cost of living is very attractive, and our downtown is becoming a new neighborhood itself.
“When you work remotely, it usually doesn’t matter where you actually live,” he said. “So, if I’m elected, I would concentrate on how we can develop those amenities and continue upgrading our infrastructure so we can make the city as attractive as possible.”
A few of those amenities, per se, are included in the ongoing $32 million streetscape scheduled for a July 2025 completion.
“And once the streetscape is complete, we’ll have the infrastructure – above and below the ground – that we’ll need to attract even more new businesses, but I don’t want to wait that long. I want to work with developers right now,” Thalman insisted. “We’ll have all of the water and stormwater lines and all of the roads, the sidewalks, and the beauty above the ground so we can promote a great situation for an existing business or for someone just starting out. The opportunity will be here.
“Plus, I’ve been talking about the sidewalks for a couple of years now because I would like to see them get fixed throughout the city,” he reported. “I would like to see street trees in our neighborhoods, and I’d like to see more public art in every area. We need more residential housing, and I believe we need more apartments downtown.
While serving on Wheeling Council, Thalman says he’s learned the position comes with far more positives than negatives, and he’s also learned, without a doubt, what the residents want most.
“All of my goals can be boiled down to one – I want Wheeling to be better than it is now,” he said. “And I’ve learned that’s exactly what the people of this city want, too. They want to see growth, they want to see new, and they want to see that the efforts are being made.
“As mayor, I would want progress in every area possible so Wheeling can become what the residents want it to become,” Thalman added. “I’ve seen how it’s done, and now I want to keep it going.”
(This article is a part of the advertising package purchased by the candidate.)
