Elections

Posted in - May 21st, 2015

The elected offices in the City of Elkins are the mayor and council members. Elections are held on the first Tuesday of March in every odd year. For information on the 2017 election, click here.

Mayors
Mayors are elected to a two-year term. Mayors appear on the ballot in all five city wards at every election.

Council Members
Council members are elected to four-year terms. Two council members are elected from each of the city’s five wards, for a total of 10 council members. The two council members from each ward are elected to staggered terms, so that only one member from each ward faces election at each biannual election.

However, if a sitting council member has been appointed to that seat, rather than elected (e.g., to fill a vacancy caused by a resignation), that council member must appear on the ballot at the next election. As a result, it can sometimes happen that both council members from one ward can be on the ballot at the same time, one running for election to an “unexpired term” (i.e., to finish the term of the member who was appointed), and one running for reelection to a full term.

Voter Registration
Although the city runs its own elections, the city does not maintain any voter registration records. Please contact either the Randolph County Clerk or the West Virginia Secretary of State with questions about your registration.

Additional Information
In advance of each election, we will announce additional information concerning candidates, polling places, voting and absentee balloting rules, and other details.

Please contact the city clerk, the city’s chief elections officer, with any questions about Elkins elections.

Elkins City Clerk
Jessica R. Sutton
jsutton@cityofelkinswv.com
Phone: (304) 636-1414, ext. 1211
401 Davis Avenue, Elkins, WV, 26241

2017 Municipal Election Candidates

Posted in - November 18th, 2016

The 2017 Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. For general information about the election (polling place locations, absentee and early voting procedures, etc.), please click here. Below is a list of all candidates for office in the 2017 municipal election.

The deadline for official write-in candidates was January 17; W. Va. state law does not permit the counting of election day write-in votes. In uncontesed races, the incumbents will automatically be elected to new terms.

Mayor
Van Broughton (incumbent)

Sam Barbagallo Jr. (write-in challenger)

First Ward
Robert Chenoweth (challenger)

Rhett Dusenbury (incumbent)

Joyce Johns (challenger)

Merllene Yorkey (challenger)

Second Ward
Charles H. Friddle, III (incumbent; unopposed)

Third Ward
Carman Metheny (incumbent; unopposed)

Fourth Ward
Marly Hazen (unopposed)

Fifth Ward
Robert L. Chewning Jr. (challenger)

Howard Knapp Jr. (challenger)

David C. Parker (incumbent)

Cody H. Thompson (challenger)

Jeanie Weese (challenger)

note- Clayton D. Moore has withdrawn as a candidate for the Fifth Ward council seat as of February 10, 2017. However, as the ballots have already been printed, his name will still appear.

Office of the City Clerk

Posted in - May 21st, 2015

Welcome to the web page for the Office of the City Clerk of Elkins, West Virginia.

West Virginia Code, the Elkins City Charter, and Elkins City Code assign a variety of duties to the Elkins city clerk.

The clerk’s primary duties are to provide procedural and research support for the legislative process, maintain official records of council proceedings, serve as the liaison between council and the public, administer city elections, and administer the civil service hiring process for the police and fire departments.

Other duties include: serving as mayor in the mayor’s absence or inability to serve; responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests; providing project management support for city planning operations; issuing Zoning Forms for alcoholic beverage license applications; providing administrative and other support to the city’s boards and commissions; administering oaths of office; and accepting legal service of documents in court proceedings involving the city.

The following links provide more information about certain specific functions of the clerk’s office.

• City Council Meetings, Minutes and Agendas
• Civil Service Hiring
• Elkins City Code
• Open Government (including Freedom of Information Act requests)
• Alcoholic Beverage Licensing 
• Planning
• Addressing
• Elections

For deeds, wills, liens, and birth/death/marriage records, please consult the Randolph County Clerk.

Elkins City Clerk
Jessica R. Sutton
jsutton@cityofelkinswv.com
Phone: (304) 636-1414, ext. 1211
401 Davis Avenue, Elkins, WV, 26241

City Council

Posted in - May 21st, 2015

Elkins City Council (referred to in the city’s charter as “Elkins Common Council”) consists of ten members, two from each of the city’s five wards. Members are elected to four-year, staggered terms, such that one member from each ward faces reelection at each of the city’s biannual elections. (Elections are held on the first Tuesday of March in each odd-numbered year).

The mayor is elected on a separate ballot and presides over council meetings, although he or she may only vote in the event of a tie. The mayor does not have the authority to veto council action. In the absence or disability of the mayor, the city clerk performs any necessary mayoral duties.

Council exercises ultimate corporate authority over the Elkins government. Among other things, council has the authority to:

• Determine city laws, rules, and regulations concerning, traffic, law and order, public works, and finance (this is only a partial list);
• Appoint and remove the city’s five administrative officers (city clerk, city treasurer, fire chief, operations manager, and police chief);
• Appoint and remove the city attorney and municipal judge;
• Adopt the budget, levy taxes, collect revenues, and make appropriations;
• Authorize the issuance of bonds by a bond ordinance;
• Establish administrative departments, offices and agencies;
• Appoint members of the city boards, commissions and authorities;
• Inquire into the conduct of any office, department, or agency of the city and make investigations into municipal affairs;
• Provide for an independent audit; and
• Provide for the number, titles, qualifications, powers, duties, and compensation of all officers and employees of the city.

In an effort to efficiently and effectively utilize the resources of the City, council has adopted the City of Elkins 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. Recognizing the plan as a framework and as a fluid document, Council, the Mayor and the City’s Administrative Officers, will reference the plan when making decisions about the application of resources, prioritization of work flow and measurements of success. A copy of the plan, as adopted on September 20, 2018, may be found here.

For information about council meetings, agendas, and meeting minutes, please click here.

For contact and term information about each council member, please click here.

For more information, contact:
Elkins City Clerk
Jessica R. Sutton
jsutton@cityofelkinswv.com
Phone: (304) 636-1414, ext. 1211
401 Davis Avenue, Elkins, WV, 26241