PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — It’s a 2016 rematch in the Nov. 3 General Election race for the mayor of Parkersburg.
Republican incumbent Tom Joyce, 46, defeated Democrat small business owner Sherry Dugan, 63, in 2016 after serving two terms on the city council.
Joyce, co-owner of St. Joseph Ambulance Company in Wood County, told MetroNews incumbents get reelected based on record and he is confident in his record.
Accomplishments that Joyce has touted in his campaign has been fiscal discipline, substantial investment in parks, street repairs and stormwater management.
Joyce, the Parkersburg Catholic graduate, said his office has restructured the pensions of Parkersburg Police and Fire Departments and it’s one of the things he is most proud about. He said when he became mayor, the pension was funded at 20 to 25 percent but now it’s funded above 30 percent.
He admitted there have been fee increases to properly fund the pensions but it’ll pay off for generations to come in Parkersburg.
“Basically we put a stop to a precipitously growing unfunded liability with our police and fire pension. We closed it to new members and have started chipping away at the unfunded liability,” Joyce said.
Dugan, who has been the owner of Das Rookhaus deli shop since 1979, said Parkersburg needs a change now.
“Parkersburg has its problems like most cities but it is starting to die. I grew up here and I don’t want to see Parkersburg become another statistic,” she told MetroNews.
She graduated from college in 1977 and said she has always been interested in political office. Dugan was on the city council in the 1980s and her father ran twice for mayor of Parkersburg.
Her campaign is running about being “F-I-R-E-D U-P,” standing for financial responsibility, infrastructure, rank and file employees pay raises, economic development and drugs with the U-P standing for United Parkersburg.
She said if she is elected on Tuesday, her first piece of business would be to sit down with council members and department heads in January and put people in positions where they can be most effective. Economic development, being transparent with city finances and fighting the opioid epidemic are other issues she wants to tackle.
Joyce defeated Dugan 6,845 (63.98) to 3,835 (35.85) in 2016 but Dugan said her campaign has much more momentum this time around.
“I think it’s going to be a lot closer than it was four years ago. A lot more people are commenting, people have been disgruntled with the way the city has operated the last four years,” she said.
Joyce, who has a bachelor’s from Marshall and two master’s degrees from WVU, said he takes pride in his position and would be thrilled to work for another four years in it.
“Being the mayor of Parkersburg is a true privilege. It’s the best job you can hope for, being the mayor of your hometown,” he said.
“I love the work and I hope that I am afforded another opportunity.”