MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Members of the Home Rule Board will be in Martinsburg on Monday for the last in a series of regional meetings focused on presentations from the 22 West Virginia cities seeking 16 new spots within West Virginia’s Home Rule Pilot Program.
Representatives from Charles Town, Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs/Bath and Ranson will make their cases.
“We feel very comfortable with the approach we’ve taken, highlighting the things that we would want to do if, in fact, we had the opportunity to do Home Rule,” said Dave Hamill, Ranson mayor, of his city’s chances.
Ranson officials collaborated with nearby Charles Town because both cities, Hamill said, have the same goals and objectives.
“We actually tried to do a joint application for Home Rule, but the Home Rule Board advised that it would be more appropriate for each of the two cities to submit their own applications,” he said. “But, again, in the spirit of cooperation, we sat down with the consultant and our application and Charles Town’s application actually mirror each other.”
The Home Rule Board has already been to Charleston, Beckley, Wheeling and Bridgeport to hear Home Rule proposals from Oak Hill, Lewisburg, Princeton, Bluefield, South Charleston, Dunbar, Spencer, Nitro, Milton, Vienna, Parkersburg, Moundsville, Weirton, Morgantown, Fairmont, Shinnston, Buckhannon and Clarksburg.
Charleston, Huntington, Bridgeport and Wheeling already have Home Rule. The Legislature created the option in 2007 to give local officials in select areas more control over how their cities are run.
Decisions about the newest Home Rule additions will be made later this year.
Monday’s meeting starts at 8 a.m. at the Martinsburg Holiday Inn.