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Ohio County Candidates Hear From Families During Forum in Wheeling

Photo by Alec Berry Congressional candidate Mike Manypenny, from left, Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, Delegate and state Senate candidate Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and Ohio County sheriff candidate Tom Howard attend a candidate forum Thursday at West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling.

WHEELING — They may not be able to vote yet, but several students were among those asking the questions during a Voices of Families candidate forum Thursday at West Virginia Northern Community College.

Topics included West Virginia’s addiction epidemic, relationships between children and adults, the changing shape of the familial unit and cuts in the state budget. Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio; Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio; Delegate and state Senate candidate Ryan Weld, R-Brooke; Democratic 1st District congressional candidate Mike Manypenny; and Democratic Ohio County sheriff candidate Tom Howard participated in the discussion.

Grace Moore, Kaden Cunningham and Jake Brzowski, all students at Wheeling Middle School, asked the candidates to address heroin addiction.

Howard said there’s progress to make in uniting area law enforcement agencies. He said he’d like to place all area sheriffs on the same page, so they may collaborate. Manypenny said there’s a need for interstate collaboration between the legislatures of West Virginia and border states, such as Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky.

Weld said people may complain when tax dollars fund treatment options for addicts, but he said there’s a cost to jailing someone, as well.

He said jail often means a prolonged problem, while treatment can solve the issue.

Fluharty said the state could do more to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for “dumping pills” in West Virginia.

Shelia McGhee of Team Village, an organization seeking to strengthen the relationships between children and their parents, asked the panel how it may support her cause.

Manypenny said there’s likely value in combining youth and senior citizen centers so there’s more regular interaction between these demographics. Fluharty said while social issues tend not to be a priority in the Legislature, which he said is unfortunate, he believes there’s a need to improve the matter of grandparents’ custody rights.

Weld said there’s an economic factor at hand. He said because of work demands, parents may not have the necessary time off to care for their children. Howard said, generally, there’s a need to bring the Ohio Valley community closer together.

Nic Cochran of the House of Hagar, a Catholic Worker house in East Wheeling, raised concern with a city of Wheeling ordinance which prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together. He said families may not always be defined by blood, and he wondered if there was anything each of the candidates could do to change this.

Each candidate said this is an issue for Wheeling City Council, but understood Cochran’s concern.

“We do need to be cognizant of the ever-changing family,” Weld said.

Fluharty said the ordinance was “blatantly discriminatory.”

Pat Elliott, a mother of a son with autism, asked the candidates what they would do to reverse cuts made to the Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Waiver, which offers families assistance services, so those they care for may pursue an independent life.

Considering it was an executive decision by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Weld said the DHHR as an agency has become too large and should be broken apart. Fluharty said families are often seen as a budget item in the Legislature and are not personalized. He said the state could use more people like Elliott to lobby for changes.

Elliott said while the cut was made, DHHR Secretary Karen Bowling received a pay raise. Storch said hopefully the next governor will replace her.

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