FAIRMONT, W.Va. — West Virginia House Democrats are kicking off their six-stop Kitchen Table Tour Wednesday evening in Marion County.
The tour features visits to several communities to focus on hot-button, ‘kitchen table’ topics in the Mountain State. Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, also serves as House Minority Leader. He said on MetroNews “Midday” earlier this week that it’s important for members of the community to get together and evaluate who they want to vote for in the November General Election.
“West Virginians like and value people who think independently,” Hornbuckle said. “People that have courage, that have a backbone. When you are doing things just to stay in office, to run some election mailer or whatever to say you’re with somebody, that’s OK I guess to get elected, but you’re not actually doing the work of the people.”
Data centers and Flock cameras have dominated many discussions throughout this past summer. Hornbuckle said those topics will be front and center throughout the tour.
“There have been actions by a lot of our representatives that took away local control and didn’t allow people to speak up for themselves when it comes to data centers,” Hornbuckle said. “It sort of flies in the face when we’re talking about Flock. There are so many issues going on right now.”
County commissioners throughout the state have told residents, who have expressed concern at meetings, that House Bill 2014 limits local control over who can invest in certain areas.
Hornbuckle said House Democrats have two specific goals in mind with the tour.
“People, understandably so, are fed up with the way things are going,” Hornbuckle said. “We want to make sure that a) we listening to people and b) we are offering them something new, offering something that’s different, representatives that will listen to them for a change.”
The Democratic candidates on November ballots cover a range of views, Hornbuckle said.
“We have some great candidates that are going to be committed to that,” Hornbuckle said. “I think that some of those candidates, their stances are not always going to be the same, which is important to me, because I know I, as minority leader of the House, I’m not instructed to drink any party Kool-Aid, I am asking them to do what’s right for their districts and their communities.”
The School-Aid Funding Formula has also been the subject of many conversations in West Virginia. Hornbuckle said the current trajectory of education in the state is troubling.
“Education needs to be at the forefront, and also, especially, in a very rural state such as ours, when you crush that school and that local community, you crush that whole local economy,” Hornbuckle said.
He said that when teachers lose their jobs, they aren’t able to support community stores. As a result, Hornbuckle said, stores close and communities suffer. Hornbuckle added that issues with education aren’t limited simply to the education system itself, it’s widespread to communities as a whole.
Two priorities in West Virginia education requiring attention are special education and those with lower socioeconomic status. Hornbuckle estimated it will “take a full session” to put together solutions.
The opening night of the Kitchen Table Tour will be held at the Fairmont Senior Center at 105 Maple Drive in Fairmont Wednesday. The event starts at 6 p.m.
The next step will be Monday, September 28 in Kanawha County, at Slack Plaza in Charleston. Other stops for the tour include Boone County (next Wednesday), Jefferson County (Oct. 4), Hancock County (Oct. 14), and Cabell County (Oct. 19).
Election Day is November 3.