MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown Fifth Ward Councilor and Deputy Mayor Danielle Trumble seeks tanother term on Morgantown City Council.
Trumble will face Marly Ynigues in the 2024 Morgantown Municipal Election on April 25, after she won a three-way race in 2021. In her bid for a second term, Trumble wants to continue to build relationships with residents and business owners and improve development in downtown Morgantown.
“Having events downtown and bringing people downtown is important because businesses want to go where they know they’re going to have a customer base,” said Trumble on the need for downtown improvement. “The more of our community that we can get downtown, the better those downtown businesses will be,” she said.
Collaboration between the City of Morgantown and local agencies is an area where Trumble hopes to continue to improve if she’s re-elected. In her first term on council, Trumble participated on the operational boards for Hazel’s House of Hope and Main Street Morgantown while still serving as a member of the BOPARC board. She also hopes to continue to work with officials from West Virginia University and the Monongalia County Commission to improve local collaborations.
“If there’s something that I need from WVU or that I would like from the county, I have an open line,” said Trumble. “Where I can call them and say, ‘Let’s get this done, and let’s see what that could lead to in the future,” she said.
Trumble also plans to continue to advocate for public safety if she’s re-elected to council. On WAJR’s Talk of the Town, she stated she supports initiatives related to a countywide panhandling ordinance, an increased presence of Morgantown police officers downtown, and a desire to resolve pay disputes related to civil service agencies. Particularly with the lawsuit involving the Morgantown Fire Department over unresolved pay. This is despite a lack of discussions with city officials and civil service representatives outside of courtrooms.
“I am the person that they expect to be able to make those connections for them and to get them the assistance, the help, and the answers that they need,” Trumble said. “And it’s a great responsibility that I do not take lightly,” she said.
In the 2021 Morgantown Municipal Election, Trumble defeated Ynigues and candidate Tony Setley with almost twice the number of votes received by their respective opponents. Since then, Trumble has supported measures such as the use of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to increase downtown safety and the implementation of designating outdoor refreshment areas while also rejecting the controversial Morgantown Ice Arena project and the city takeover of the former Defense in Depth property. With early voting now underway, Trumble wants voters to remember her as a candidate who gets all the details ahead of voting with the best interests of Morgantown residents in mind.
“I ask tough questions, I do my research, and I am not afraid to create some waves when they need to be created,” Trumble said. “Because at the end of the day, I am responsible for making those tough decisions that benefit Morgantown the most,” she said.
Early voting will take place April 12 through 22 at the Historic Train Depot at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park. Election Day is April 25.