MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A retired power plant worker, current EMT and volunteer firefighter, and fiscal hawk — those are just a few of the things Roger Shuttlesworth is running his campaign on in the 51st District House of Delegates.
The Republican finished fourth in primary voting in May, now on his third run at the House of Delegates. In 2014, Shuttlesworth finished 6th in the Republican Primary. In 2016, Shuttlesworth finished third among Republicans in the general, but eighth among all candidates.
2018, he hopes, will be his year.
He’s focused on several issues — including the ongoing debate over teacher pay, PEIA, infrastructure, and senior citizens.
“I know their struggle,” Shuttlesworth said Thursday on WAJR’s Morgantown AM. “And I know that we need to do something to help them. And I will work tirelessly in Charleston to find funding to take care of some of the programs and make sure that this great state of West Virginia has the budget to keep solvent.”
The former Fort Martin Power Station employee is now an EMT — and said he’s happy about the immense construction that resulted from the successful 2017 road bond vote. He’s still got a bone to pick with the DOH, though.
“The problem we face right now is that the Department of Highways seems to have put all their emphasis on this huge amount of money for new projects and have forgotten the rest of the roads,” he said.
Finance is an important aspect for Shuttlesworth, whose campaign Facebook page appears to have a certain “Trumpian” flare to it.
“We have an economic boom with coal and gas right now,” Shuttlesworth said. “Coal is coming back, and gas is doing fabulous. Can we count on them long-term?”
On the issue of teacher pay, Shuttlesworth is thinking about the long-term.
“We can give them a five percent raise now, and we can go in and contribute $100 million toward the shortfall in their pensions and health plan,” Shuttlesworth said. “But what’s the long-term goals? We need to come up with a budget line item and funding for that budget line item that takes us into the 15 to 20 year budget plan going forward.”
He continued: “The bottom line is: we’re living longer. So, we’ve got to work that into the factor and have enough money to fully fund that going into the next 20 years or so and have a fund that keeps it solvent long-term.”
This is an abbreviated version of Shuttlesworth’s full interview with Morgantown AM. Check out the podcast section on the main page for the full interview.