Published: October 31, 2008 04:50 pm      

House candidates discuss their platforms during PMCCC Coffee Chat

PRINCETON — Two incumbents, a former legislator-turned-judge and a doctor running for his first trip to Char-leston as a legislator are all in the running to represent District 25 in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Democrat Marshall Long, finishing his third term as a delegate, and Republican Mike Porter, completing his second, appeared during a Coffee Chat alongside their challengers, Republican Joe Ellington and Democrat John Frazier Wednesday.

All three candidates identified the economy as a top priority, and other issues that arose included continued infrastructure im-provements involving King Coal Highway, water and sewer services; early childhood education; and the rules that govern health care providers in the Mountain State.

Long said he was proud of his work to solve the workers' compensation backlog and curb the program's unfunded liability, as well as his involvement in the program that made medical malpractice insurance more affordable for doctors inside West Virginia. He also touted the fact that there have been no personal income tax increases during his six years in office and that lawmakers have handed down an unprecedented increase in funding for public education.

Support-ing local cities and towns financially has been a big part of his work in Charles-ton, Long said, and he pledged to continue seeking state funding for local projects and grant dollars for agencies and initiatives inside Mercer County.

Credited heavily among the event organizers with helping to stop the location of a methadone maintenance center in Princeton, Long said he was frustrated with a Health Care Authority rule that only requires the HCA to publish certificate of need applications in its own monthly newsletter and in a Charleston newspaper.

When he questioned HCA officials about publishing notices in papers elsewhere, he was reportedly told the process would be cost-prohibitive.

“However, they've had such a surplus that they created the HCA revolving loan fund,” Long said, indicating he would push for legislation requiring local communities and institutions that would be affected by a new facility to be notified upon application.

When questioned about a matching-funds program that helps promote local tourism levels abroad, Long said he supported the program the way it was intended.

“As long as there's some oversight of that program, I think it's a good thing,” he said.

Long has also been outspoken in calling for cooperation across party lines and between local, state and federal government officials to better the region.

After two terms making a name and a reputation for himself in Charleston, Porter said he was just beginning to build seniority at the Capitol, and he'd like to continue that path.

Always a staunch opponent of the large toll increases on the West Virginia Turnpike, Porter said he expected the issue to make legislative agendas again soon, and he believed he would be one of the best representatives to fight the hikes. He said he personally told West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director Greg Barr to show him exactly where each penny was spent on the Turnpike, then he would consider a toll increase.

Until then, he maintains the funds could still make Turnpike ends meet if managed more efficiently.

A self-employed truck driver, Porter also pledged to examine proposed pay raises for state officials already considered well-paid by local standards.

“My people have got to pay for these increases,” he said, vowing to handle constituents' money with care.

Porter, who fell under attack of the Democratic Executive Committee this week because he wouldn't support legislation he said would kill small farms and close some mining operations, said the state must do more to encourage business while still keeping the state's natural resources safe. He said mountaintop-removal mining is sometimes essential.

“There are no more six- and seven-foot seams of coal left. We've got to find other ways to get that coal out of there,” he said.

Porter, who has campaigned on common sense, said he understood tourism is a prime component of West Virginia's economic development, but he cautioned that the state mustn't “gouge” out-of-state visitors.

In fact, he worried, “We've priced ourselves out of business … you can't gouge people to death, or they won't come back.”

Ellington is making his second attempt at a seat in the House, and he said new ideas are needed to keep West Virginia's economy moving forward, especially in light of dropping prices for oil. He expects coal to follow suit.

“We need to come up with some newer ideas on how to produce revenue,” Ellington said. “We need to generate people that want to be genuine leaders.”

He said, if elected, he would rally the county to look after its own best interests, rather than always depending on state and federal government to do all the heavy lifting.

“This county, if it decides it wants to do something, needs to do it itself,” he said.

Ellington said government's job is to provide a framework inside which people can craft their communities. Too many restrictions will in turn restrict opportunities.

He spoke out against methadone clinics, calling them “just a legal way of continuing addiction,” and critiqued the HCA certificate of need process as oppressively lengthy and expensive.

Citing the Princeton Community Hospital proposal to put a psychiatric care pavilion inside the former St. Luke's Hospital campus, Ellington said the application, which never received any objections and still took nearly two years to get through.

The process should be streamlined, he said.

The obstetrician-gynecologist who moved to Mercer County in 2002, listed people, natural resources and tourism as the three top priorities of his term, if voters send him to Charleston.

“I think we need to balance all three of those, nurture all three of them,” he said.

From Frazier's perspective, “The economy is the most important issue facing our community, our state and our nation.”

He called for the immediate elimination of the business franchise tax, a charge for inventory a business maintains, and the accelerated reduction of the corporate income tax to make West Virginia more competitive in the bid for new business.

Toward that end, the retired circuit court judge said there must be some way to cleanly consume coal.

“If we can send a mission to Mars, we certainly can burn coal cleanly,” he said, calling for more funding to research the processes and construct the plants.

Further construction of the King Coal Highway is essential to proceed with the study and possible establishment of an equestrian center between Kee Dam and Dan Hale Reservoir, and Frazier vowed to push both.

He also listed restoring commercial air service to the Mercer County Airport as a key component of his plan, should he be elected.

Frazier, the husband of a retired schoolteacher, said he strongly supported early childhood education and would act to cut the bureaucratic red tape that delays its delivery.

Though he generally supported the ideals behind the certificate of need application process, he said he'd be happy to review the rules if health care providers saw issues within the system.

And, focusing on the importance of promoting West Virginia's tourism treasures, Frazier said he understood money was essential to marketing.

Only two of the men running will represent Mercer County come January.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.