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Candidates disagree over necessary experience for treasurer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The candidates vying for West Virginia treasurer have very different views of the kind of experience necessary to handle the job.  Incumbent Treasurer John Perdue is vying for a sixth term in the office while Ann Urling is a newcomer to politics but has a lifetime of career experience in banking.

Ann Urling

“I think my experience as state Treasurer and what I’ve done for the office,” said Perdue on MetroNews Talkline. “For the first time in the history of this state we have never lost one penny in the Treasurer’s office since I’ve been state treasurer.”

Urling said the bigger issue facing the state is how to get the state’s finances back on track amid a difficult economy.

“Frankly, our state’s economy is a mess,” Urling said. “We need someone who has a financial background and somebody who is going to look at things through a business filter and get our state lined out.”

Urling was critical of Perdue’s efforts with the Unclaimed Property section of the office.   Although not opposed to the work of the division, she suggested Perdue turned the division into a personal public relations machine.

“For him to go in person to hand deliver a check to somebody does not seem like the best use of resources to me and it makes me question how other resources are used,” said Urling. “It should be there so citizens can see if something is ceded to the state, this is where you go and have somebody to take care of it, but it shouldn’t be a media blitz because somebody is getting their own money given back to them.”

Perdue made no apologize for his handling of the Unclaimed Property Division.  He in fact noted he was the one who discovered more than $100 Million just lying there and made the first efforts in state history to get the money back into the hands of the rightful owners.  He said the media element of the effort was necessary just to educate the public about the existence of the department.

State Treasurer John Perdue

“When we first started going to fairs and festivals to educate West Virginians on what unclaimed property really was,they thought I was the tax collector and they’d run from us,” Perdue explained. “We had a lot of work to do. Yes, I spent a lot of time going to fairs, festivals, and senior centers all over the state to educate West Virginians that this was their money.”

The 2016 election has been one where outsiders have been able to gain traction by having no political experience.   Donald Trump, and Jim Justice have been able to campaign aggressively on being the candidates who are not tied into the current political framework.  Urling hopes to use the same template.

“I am not a politician,” she said. “I have never run for public office at all.”

Perdue, the longest serving member of the Board of Public Works on the ballot this year, again stood by his record..

“I’ve always been a person who says, ‘I work for you, not for myself.’ That’s what I do as State Treasurer,” said Perdue. “Every day I work hard for the taxpayers of this state to make sure that their bank is one of the best in the country.”

Urling supports Donald Trump in the race for president. She said as a woman and as a mother she hasn’t liked some of the things Trump has said but she said he’s not perfect and neither is Hillary Clinton.

“I think we need to stay out of the weeds on these issues and look at when it comes to the bottom line who is going to be the best candidate. Trump has said he will help West Virginia. He will help our state and Hillary has made it very clear what she will do for our state,” Urling said.

Perdue said he’ll vote his party’s nominee.

“I’m going to support Hillary Clinton. I’m going to vote for her because having two daughters, a wife of 41 years, a mother 93, a twin sister and looking at the two candidates I’ve pretty well made up my mind that I’m going to support my candidate and the nominee of the party,” Perdue said.





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