CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A debate between two Charleston mayoral candidates became heated at times, with Republican JB Akers and Democrat Amy Goodwin going on the attack regarding the treatment of drug addiction in the Capital City.
The event Tuesday, held at the Little Theatre of the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, did not include independent Andy Backus. The candidate later answered questions after the debate in a live video streamed to Facebook.
Akers, the city’s clerk, went after Goodwin for an op-ed she wrote on Facebook in March — in the middle of the debate regarding the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s needle exchange program — in which she supported having discussions regarding how to best run the program.
The program was suspended following new restrictions from the Charleston Police Department.
Both Akers and Goodwin support having a needle exchange program in Charleston, but Akers said he opposes safe injection sites.
“As your mayor of Charleston, I will never have community and council roundtable discussions on supervised injection sites, which will attract a criminal transient population to the city like we’ve never seen before where people come to only perpetuate their drug use and steal to fuel that habit,” he said.
Goodwin said she was unaware of safe injection sites, stressing the importance of public conversations regarding harm reduction efforts.
“If you have a thoughtful, reflective mayor, this isn’t about who wins and who loses,” she said. “This is about what is best for our community.”
Goodwin referenced a Charleston Gazette-Mail story from May, in which Mayor Danny Jones rearranged the Public Safety Committee to ensure support for a bill shutting down the needle exchange program.
“My point in saying that I would allow the conversation to happen is that you voted for these city council folks. You elected them to represent you,” she said. “I will never tell them to shut up and sit down, and I will never kick somebody off a committee because I don’t agree with them.”
Members of the audience booed Akers after he referred to the health department as a “cattle call,” saying people were going through the facility once every minute.
“Listen, folks. Once every 60 seconds, somebody was running through that line, OK? That’s not taking care of that population,” he said. “I want these people to do better. I want them to stop using drugs. Going through once every 60 seconds they weren’t getting help.”
Both candidates also spoke about moving the health department away from the newly renovated Coliseum and Convention Center, with Akers in support and Goodwin saying she will consider the idea.