Wheeling Native Amy Shuler Goodwin Wins Second Term as Charleston Mayor
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WHEELING - Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin won her second term in office this week, and she attributes success on the job to lessons learned growing up in Wheeling.
She admits she misses living in the "Friendly City."
"I tell people all the time that growing up in Wheeling made me a better mayor for Charleston," Shuler Goodwin said. "I saw firsthand what effect incredible park systems can have on youth.
"That is why I want open play places for people. There are so many public parks and places to play in Wheeling. That is what I want for kids in Charleston - to have places to go outside and play."
Shuler Goodwin, a Democrat, captured nearly 62% of the vote to beat Republican challenger Lance Wolfe in Tuesday's general election. Public service runs in the family. The daughter of Floyd and Pat Shuler of Wheeling, Shuler Goodwin is the granddaughter of late state legislator Thais Blatnik, a Democrat who served in the state House of Delegates in 1977-78 and 1980-86, and in the state Senate from 1989-96.
Shuler Goodwin was first elected Charleston mayor in 2018, and is not term-limited under the Charleston city charter.
"When I was elected four years ago, we hit the ground running," Shuler Goodwin said. "We started to implement the things folks told us they wanted us to do.
"Then we rounded the corner, and we were hit with the pandemic. For a large chunk of this term, we were in a pandemic and had to adjust our sails."
Shuler Goodwin said she is most proud of what her administration accomplished as municipalities across the nation took efforts to address COVID challenges.
A four-part working partnership was formed between the city of Charleston, the Kanawha County Commission, the Kanawha County-Charleston Health Department and the area's ambulance authority to address the pandemic there.
Their efforts proved successful and were emulated by municipalities elsewhere, according to Shuler Goodwin.
"That diamond approach was a model for the country," she said. "It involved vaccinating people, getting them personal protective equipment and doing home health visits.
"We kept the people safe, and that is what I am most proud of."
Once COVID concerns began to lessen, Shuler Goodwin said her administration then was able to get back to completing the projects they wanted to finish by the end of 2022. This included the revitalization of the City Center, and the downtown park Slack Plaza.
"We built parks all over the city, the city's first skate park," she said.
Charleston also has established its CARE team, which is short for "coordinated addiction response effort."
"It helps folks who are suffering from substance use disorder, mental health challenges, and those experiencing homelessness," Shuler Goodwin explained.
She said her emphasis during the second term will be on developing Charleston's riverfront area.
"That's something Wheeling knows about," Shuler Goodwin said. "There's still a lot of work to be done.
"What I know for sure is I absolutely love this job - even on the most challenging days. I just love the community and our people," she added.