CHARLESTON, W.Va – Local leaders from communities across West Virginia are sharing ideas and experiences in the capital city at the annual West Virginia Municipal League Conference.
230 cities, towns, and villages are represented at the conference, which kicked into high gear with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday morning.
“We all work extremely hard in municipal government. We’re all doing the true boots-on-the-ground work, but sometimes it’s a good idea to connect with one another to listen and learn and understand what other cities are doing,” Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said.
Goodwin kicked off Wednesday’s festivities alongside the municipal league’s board of directors and Kevin Kramer, the president of the National League of Cities and a special guest for the conference. As the West Virginia Municipal League’s president, Goodwin intends for this week’s activities to make communities across the Mountain State better.
“My job in this role is to make sure that other cities are getting their needs met, that they have the education that they need to make sure that they’re running their cities at full throttle,” she said.
Discussion topics for the week include dilapidated property, grant writing, artificial intelligence, public art, and more. Goodwin hopes the marketplace of ideas will be on full display at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“Any mayor from any city in any state across the country wants to show off their city. They want to talk about the good things that they’re doing, but don’t let me deceive you. This is an opportunity for me to listen and learn from other cities,” she said.
Goodwin boils the goal of the conference down to one simple idea. She wants West Virginia’s communities to grow right alongside hers.
“Making your city turn into a true destination—what does that look like, and what are the things that you need to build in your city to make those incredible things happen?” she said.
The West Virginia Municipal League Conference continues through Friday.