Clarksburg mayor reflects on time in office as end of term nears

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — After two terms in office, Cathy Goings’ time as Clarksburg Mayor is quickly coming to a close.

Tuesday, Goings attended her last Clarksburg City Council meeting.

“I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed it for the last eight years, and I’ve got to become friends with the members of council, as well as city administration,” Goings said this week on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town. “It’s kind of bittersweet. It’s time to move on, but at the same time, I gained a lot of friendships over the years.”

Goings is only the third woman to ever serve as mayor of Clarksburg.

To recognize that, the city proclaimed Tuesday as “Catherine Goings Day.” Goings’ husband and her mother both attended the meeting for the proclamation.

“It was a little overwhelming,” she said. “It was important that my family was there because they were with me when I got sworn in the very first time, so I’m just happy that they were able to be with me. Unfortunately my father passed away a couple of years ago. He was there in the beginning, but I know that he was there in spirit last night.”

Looking back on her political career, Goings said it was an easy decision to run for office, having served many years as a business owner in downtown Clarksburg.

“I had a couple small businesses. I’d been in town 20 years. At the time, I was a member of the Greater Clarksburg Associates, and we were involved in different aspects of the community,” she said.

Working with local government and planning community events with the Greater Clarksburg Associates, Goings was inspired to do more.

“At the time, I was not actually living in the city, but we eventually moved into the city so I was eligible to run for office,” she said. “I took that opportunity, and I said, ‘If I win, fine. If not, that’s fine, too.'”

Of course, she did win and went on to serve two terms.

Now, she’s able to see how far the city of Clarksburg has come under her leadership.

“We were trying to revitalize the community, and 20 years ago, there weren’t that many businesses downtown other than law firms, banking, that sort. There were not any small businesses, per sey,” she said. “I wanted to get involved to see if we could recruit new businesses into the community and plan events that would bring people in.”

Goings said her greatest accomplishment, however, would be the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center.

“It’s something that’s been talked about for a number of years, and never really came to fruition,” she said. “I recall when we had a planning session, we all sat down at the table and talked about our goals and objectives, and I recall saying, ‘Okay if we’re going to do the Robinson Grand, then let’s do it and get it done or quit talking about it.'”

Later in that same meeting, the council voted to proceed with acquiring the property and then doing the restoration and rehabilitation.

“I’m really proud that this particular council was able to accomplish that,” she said.

With her time as mayor coming to a close, Goings is looking forward to what’s next.

“We recently sold the building that Embellishments was in and the Fifth Floor Lounge. We’ve owned that property for 20 years, and we decided that the next 20 years we want to do something different. I still have Wicked Sisters Clothing Boutique,” she said.

As her husband is retired, she also hopes to do some traveling.

“I’m looking forward to just having some time off,” she said. “I don’t know, I might see what I can do for, hopefully I have 20 years remaining, so I’ll just see what the future holds for me.”

Goings opted to not run for reelection this year. Her term ends June 30.





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