Story by Joe Nelson
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The current mayor of the Capital City of West Virginia is now set to be the next president of the West Virginia Municipal League.
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin was announced as the next president, where she will take over for League President and current St. Albans Mayor Scott James. The announcement was formally made during the closing days of the 2025 WV Municipal League Conference last week in Morgantown.
Goodwin spoke highly of James ahead of the formal ceremony acknowledging the switch that took place on Thursday.
“He’s a great personality to be inclusive, he loves to engage folks, and he has done an exceptional job listening and taking us all under his wing,” Goodwin said. “So we can understand the type of leadership policies and practices that he put into place.”
Goodwin has served as the mayor of Charleston since 2019 and has served in official positions within the Municipal League since 2023. Along with her current tenure as vice president, Goodwin has also served as treasurer during the 2023-2024 tenure. Goodwin said she feels ready to carry over that experience for a year-long term.
“If Mayor James has taught us anything under his leadership is that no one cares if you are a Democrat, or a Republican, or an Independent, municipal government is about getting things done and bringing them together,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin said she hopes the messages of every West Virginia city and town working together towards making the state better will remain despite the change in leadership.
“Long gone are the days of only focusing on the city in which you represent, if we want true growth, mayors across the state have to look outside of that (municipal space),” Goodwin said. “We have to communicate early and often about the things that we are working on, just as we expect our media partners to do.”