All of this started over water. She questioned, felt placated, and became perturbed. Kathryn Thalman really didn’t come to know many of her neighbors in St. Clairsville during her career as a pharmaceutical representative and had planned to keep to herself after retiring a few years ago, but that didn’t stop her from launching a campaign for mayor.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she admitted. “But then I was surprised to find out a lot of people felt the same way I did about the city’s water service. And then I won.”
Thalman and her council colleagues went to work and soon discovered the devil in the details involved with privatizing the city’s water department, and today the future of St. Clairsville’s water service has been resolved. Instead of entering into a long-term contract with Aqua-Ohio, Thalman and her council members negotiated an agreement with the Belmont County Commission that will begin on April 1.
“There are people who still ask why we have decided to decommission our water plant, and the answer is easy; the EPA ordered it so because surface water suppliers have been determined to be too risky because of the changes in the weather in our area,” she said. “The EPA now prefers an underground water source, and that is why going with the county was the best decision we could have made. It is, for sure, a better decision than what was on the table when I won the election.”
“We investigated a lot of options before coming to a final decision, including buying our city’s water from the city of Martins Ferry. That option would have necessitated a new line being installed, and that would have cost the city millions of dollars,” Thalman explained. “But then we were about to work it out with Belmont County and beginning in April 2022, that is where our water supply will originate.
But Then What?
She is a native of Wheeling but decided to purchase her home in St. Clairsville because of her sales territory and because she adored how quaint and historically attractive the city of St. Clairsville is along U.S. Route 40.
Other than enjoying the community’s amenities, Thalman paid little attention to the inner working of municipal government. That is until she was stonewalled when asking questions about the pending agreement with Aqua-Ohio.
“I did know there were meetings,” the mayor said. “But it is much more involved than that; trust me.”
Navigating the learning curve, Thalman readily admits, was a difficult process, and it became even trickier once the pandemic began and public meetings were forced to electronic platforms so open meeting laws could be satisfied.
“That was tough because none of us had used those systems before,” she recalled. “And I really didn’t like it because I like people and meeting as a group was something I was really looking forward to. But overall, I am enjoying being the mayor of St. Clairsville, and that’s because I feel we have gotten some really positive things done despite a lot of hiccups.
“There are the daily fires, too, that have to be put out in the best possible way, but once that is accomplished, I get back and concentrate on taking steps toward our long-term goals,” Thalman said. “One thing I didn’t anticipate while running for the office was the fact the mayor has to be involved with so many employee decisions, and, of course, none of us expected COVID to have such an impact on our public meetings.”
Thalman, though, opted to continue conducting the city’s public meeting schedule on teleconference longer than most communities did.
“COVID was quite the curve ball, and it changed a lot of ways we went about certain things. At times, it felt as if we were making it up as we went along because there were no protocols in place for a global pandemic,” she explained. “We continued to do the meetings using teleconferencing longer than some other cities, and I believe that was because of my experience in the medical industry. I was scared of this virus and very respectful of the damage it could do.
“I didn’t want to take any chances with any of the employees, and I didn’t want to tempt it either being in my mid-60s and being diabetic,” Thalman reasoned. “I wanted us to be smart about it and do what we could while keeping everyone safe, so we stayed separated for the meetings until earlier this year when the case numbers decreased significantly.”
Social Sarcasm
Two different Facebook pages are utilized by residents of St. Clairsville. There’s “St. Clairsville OH” and “Saint Clairsville City Progress and News.”
When she posts information online, Mayor Thalman most often provides the information on the “Progress and News” Timeline because it is progress and news – not inuendo – she is interested in the most. When it comes to online criticisms levied by constituents, though, she would prefer in-person meetings. Bvut she seldom backs down.
“Politics certainly is a crummy arena,” Thalman said. “I have never had people poke at me just because they politically oppose me. That baffles me on a daily basis, and I find it ludicrous, but those people have found out that I’m a fighter. If they want to poke, that’s when I tell them that I am going to do what is best for this city, period. This is all about the city of St. Clairsville and not one individual. Some seem to want to make it that way, and that’s not the way it works.
“I think it’s silly to posture and fight just because. That’s never made a lot of sense to me, and it’s why I never thought I would get into politics during my lifetime,” the mayor added. “But I did so I could fight for my town, and that will never go away as long as I am the one in office. I love this city too much to give into those opponents. I want to work together so we can get St. Clairsville headed in the right direction.”
