Wheeling resident Charlie Ballouz was a very familiar face to many people around the Friendly City. (Photo provided)

WHEELING – Wheeling resident Charlie Ballouz was a very familiar face to many people around the Friendly City, where over the decades he emerged as one of the most active and passionate voices when it came to local public policy.

Friends and colleagues remembered Ballouz this week after word of his passing on Monday was shared. He was 87.

Perhaps one of the most notorious feathers in Ballouz’s cap was the fact that he ran for a seat on Wheeling City Council seven times, but fell short during each election. He lived in downtown Wheeling for decades and most recently vied for the Ward 2 council seat in a five-candidate race in 2020. He routinely garnered respectable support in his campaigns. In the 2012 municipal race in Wheeling, he lost by just one single vote.

Despite his record in the local political arena, Ballouz was backed by many who knew him and championed his policies. Longtime friend and Ward 3 Wheeling City Councilwoman Connie Cain shared word about his passing on Monday, posting, “You can’t lose with Charlie Ballouz.”

Cain said she was by his side at the hospital on Monday when he passed.

“Charlie was a good man,” said Cain, who works as an administrator in the Public Defender’s Office. “I met him over 20 years ago when he was running for city council. Charlie became a board member for the First Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corporation for over the last 20 years. He always came to the office to sign our pay or just to check on the staff.”

To those who knew him, Ballouz was a man of the people – a grassroots, local character whose warm personality resonated with many.

“He was a very funny guy who was always kind to everyone he came across,” Cain said. “I will really miss our talks about the city or politics.”

A U.S. Navy veteran, Ballouz served as president of the Ohio Valley Regional Transit Authority for many years through early 2005. He was credited as being instrumental in getting bus service from downtown to The Highlands. He also volunteered for the Ohio County Civil Service Commission.

Several years ago, he was a leading opponent of the push to convert Wheeling’s downtown traffic arteries into two-way streets. He also spoke out against the city’s implementation of the $2 per week User Fee – or City Service Fee, as well as city council’s three-minute time limit to hear each citizen’s concerns during meetings. He was a proponent of waterfront development, the police department and the fight against illegal drugs in the city and citizen engagement in local government.

During his most recent run for city council, Ballouz shared his thoughts on why many voters supported him.

“I’m the more experienced candidate,” he said. “I believe I speak on behalf of a lot of people. I’m known around the city from my volunteer work, and I have a good rapport with people around the city. I’m like an old country doctor – I’m willing to make house calls and prefer one-on-one contact with people.

“Wheeling does have great potential. We need to have more citizen involvement. We need to work together. I think this would be a very good start.”

Well-wishers on Monday noted that Ballouz always had the wellbeing of the city in his heart, and that he never gave up on what he believed.

“He was a very good man,” Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder noted. “Rest in peace, Charlie.”