MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County Commission must be doing something right.
Voters overwhelming re-elected Democrat Tom Bloom to the county commission on Tuesday, keeping the current commission in tact for at least the next two years.
“What I am hoping this election is telling people, that I can be the catalyst for Democrats, Republicans and Independents to move forward and be the future vision of this county,” Bloom told WAJR Tuesday night.
Bloom, a Democrat, will continue serving on the county commission with two Republicans: Ed Hawkins and Sean Sikora, but one would be hard pressed to find partisan politics on the conty commission. In fact, without looking, it is hard to tell the political leanings of each commissioner.
“People would not really know there are two Republicans and a Democrat but what they know is, there are three unique individuals who come with a different perspective. Sean helped us. Ed and I in the beginning didn’t get along and I think we realized we can accompish more together,” Bloom stated.
Hawkins admits for the first 18 months of his term on the commission there was tension between himself and Bloom but the two were able to put their differences aside and put each commissioners’ stengths to good use. Now, Hawkins is adamant that this commission is one of the best functioning governmental bodies in the state.
“Frankly, I’ve had the opportunity to work with commissions over the course of 30 years and not because I’m seated on this commission, but quite frankly, this is one of the best commissions I’ve had to deal with,” insisted Hawkins.
Hawkins’ obersvation that the commission is one of the best around made the task of unseating Bloom especially difficult for Republican Challenger Andrew Price. When campaigning on fiscal responsibility and economic development, Price was met with the facts that the current commission was able to lower property tax rates while maintaining its obligations and even giving county employees raises while the development getting underway at the West Ridge Business Park was impossible to ignore.
“They defer to my strengths, we defer to Ed’s strengths, we defer to Tom’s strengths and we kind of feed off each other. It’s a good team,” added Sikora.
The county commission will keep its current make up for at least the next two years. Ed Hawkins will be up for re-election in 2020.