An editorial from the Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several municipalities in Kanawha County had their local elections Tuesday, but you might not know it by looking at the races.
As the Daily Mail’s Matt Murphy reported, the races for town council in Cedar Grove, Glasgow and Clendenin were uncontested. As a matter of fact, all of Cedar Grove’s candidates were unopposed, with the mayor, town recorder, police judge and four of five members of council running as incumbents. In Pratt and East Bank, six people ran for five council seats.
Residents of Chesapeake, on the other hand, had more choices, with two mayoral candidates and several running for council in the town’s three wards.
West Virginia continues to steadily lose population, and our state’s small towns are not immune. The population that remains is getting older, with fewer young people relocating to the Mountain State.
We’re seeing that lead to stagnant local government…