A User Fee collection will begin in the city of Wheeling in less than a week to pay for the construction of a $15 million public safety building, but the paycheck skimming of those two weekly dollars from Wheeling employees will not equal initial projections.
And that’s because of job loss.
Not only did about 900 OVMC employs get permanently laid off in early September, but also W.Va. Senate President Mitch Carmichael has stated he will attempt to eliminate generated revenue by killing the state’s greyhound tourism industry.
That equals another 1,100 jobs no matter the sins Carmichael and Grey2K commit every time they lie about abuse, the purse pool, and the number of jobs connected to the racing business here in Wheeling and near Charleston. The easy math is simple: If Carmichael’s efforts prove successful this time, the loss in User Fee collections would amount to nearly $200,000 less during the first year.
Over the 25-year collection period within the ordinance, such job loss tallies up to $4.94 million dollars.
The need is real, but the will of the people here in Wheeling appears to be lacking when it comes to the possible purchase of a three-acre East Wheeling property that is ugly and dilapidated, environmentally contaminated to an unknown extent, and owned by a man who has been ordered to appear in municipal court on several occasions because of raze or repair orders.
Dave Palmer, a retired Wheeling firefighter and former president of the Firefighters Local 12, now represents Ward 6 (mostly Elm Grove) and has been very vocal about his support for the project. The police department headquarters in the City-County Building is about 4,600-square-feet and somehow accommodates 73 officers and at least 20 members of administration. The fire department headquarters has been located on the ground level of the Center Wheeling parking garage since 1976.
Since this article published, City Council voted in favor of entering into a purchase agreement with owner Frank Calabrese without knowledge of the final price of the property, including the status of an application for a federal brownfield grant, the estimated cost of contamination remediation, or the expense of raising nearly half of the three-acres out of the flood plain, according to Fire Chief Larry Helms.
“Fluharty Prepared for the Fight”
The same lies were told two years ago when the majorities of both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature voted in favor of decoupling live greyhound racing and video lottery at two West Virginia casinos in Wheeling and in Charleston.
But the abuse allegations are unfounded. It’s not a government subsidy because there are no taxpayer dollars involved. And the jobs? They say 60, but in reality it is more like 1,700 positions in Kanawha, Ohio, and Brooke counties.
But in early April 2017, W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice, then a Democrat, traveled to Wheeling, made fun of former senator Ryan Ferns during his speech, and then vetoed the legislation in front of a large crowd on the courtroom floor of Independence Hall.
He told W.Va. Metro News at the time, “Eliminating support for the greyhounds is a job killer, and I can’t sign it. The last thing we need to do is drive more people out of West Virginia. We can’t turn our back on communities like Wheeling that benefit from dog racing.”
This time, though?
Justice, now a Republican after swapping parties in August 2017 during a rally for President Trump in Huntington, only has said he plans to educate himself on all the issues surrounding the issue this time around. One local lawmaker set to assist the governor with adjusting his learning curve, though, is Del. Shawn Fluharty (D-3rd), and he explains clearly in this article that his approach during the upcoming regular session will be of the “no-holds-barred” fashion.
