MORGANTOWN, V.a. – More than one-hundred-seventy-five people attended the Jim Justice 2020 campaign event at the waterfront.
When asked about roads Justice told residents he was dealing with decades of neglect and it would a significant amount of time to make road repairs. Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Bryd White concurred with governor and added that with overwhelming volume of work it’s likely to take a lot longer than what people might think.
Justice was pressured to coordinate a visit with the Preston County commissioners so he could see the conditions of the roads there first hand. The governor agreed and is expected to be in Preston County next week.
Cheat Lake resident Ed Warnick had previously submitted a petition to the Monongalia County commission and the governor asking for road work to be done. Warnick and petitioners also paid $2,000 of their own money to have an engineering firm evaluate Sunset Beach and Morgan Hill Roads.
Again, Justice told Warnick he would “get on it.”
Justice told the crowd that over the last three years the financial health of West Virginia has put the into a position to “move to the launching pad for takeoff.”
He said the state economy is growing and there are more jobs than qualified people to fill them.
Justice did address the state aircraft usage controversy and said,”The numbers are just this-I have flown on state planes in comparison to governor Manchin in his total tenure and my months and everything else, one-three-hundred-and forty-ninth as much as he flew.”
Justice didn’t mention primary opponents by name but said,”Just to tell it like it is you never take anyone too lightly, but if you look at the polling today it is a waste of time anyone running against me today.