Single-Delegate

“Prevailing wage” results in practice to limiting bidders for government-funded projects to union shops. Union shops already pay the West Virginia Department of Labor’s calculation of “prevailing wage” since the department essentially surveys unions for their data. This is unlike Work Force West Virginia who calculates wages based on Employment Security filings of all employers. While a non-union contractor could choose to bid on a government contract by paying the “prevailing wage” to their workers, they usually don’t. How come? Here’s why.

All commercial contractors in West Virginia (including union shops) pay a masonry contractor an average of $19.91 (Work Force West Virginia) while the “prevailing wage” rate is $28.10 (WV Department of Labor) or 41% more.

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GOP elects Lucas as new state chairman
The West Virginia Record
Lincoln County native Conrad Lucas has been elected serve as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party. “I am honored and humbled to be selected by my fellow Republicans to serve as the new West Virginia Republican Party Chairman,” Lucas said. “I recognize the gravity of this election season regarding the future of our state, and I know I have the weight of my Party, my state and my generation on my shoulders. “Our victory efforts are well underway, and now that the West Virginia Democratic Party, Joe Manchin and Nick Rahall have all endorsed Barack Obama and his anti-coal, pro-gay marriage, budget exploding agenda, the Democrats across this state have much to fear.” Lucas said he’s eager to dig into the job …

Lucas named state GOP chair
Ron Gregory, The Lincon Journal
A Lincoln County politician has risen to the top in West Virginia politics, although the setting may seem rather strange to many. Attorney Conrad Lucas overcame a field of three other candidates, Saturday, May 12, to claim the chairmanship of the state Republican Party. An elated Lucas spoke exclusively with The Lincoln Journal after his selection and said he “never forget where I come from. I proudly tell everybody I meet I’m from Lincoln County.” Most political pundits find it a bit peculiar that an attorney from one of the state’s most solidly Democrat counties would rise so swiftly to head state Republicans. Lucas is 30 years old …

Interims to discuss range of topics
Jared Hunt, Charleston Daily Mail
The Legislature’s 47 interim committees and subcommittees have about 130 different topics to research over the next 10 months after legislative leaders assigned interim study topics Monday morning. The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance, which is chaired by House Speaker Rick Thompson and Senate President Jeff Kessler, assigned a list of about 130 different topics to be studied by the Legislature’s 47 interim committees and subcommittees this year … (Page 2)The Joint Committee on Judiciary has been assigned to study whether the Legislature should create an independent commission to handle redistricting, which is seen as a way to reduce partisan influences that could have an impact on that process …

(Sissonville) Fire station plans scaled back
Matt Murphy, Charleston Daily Mail
Work on the new Sissonville fire station will be under way in a few weeks, but the project was scaled back significantly when the department couldn’t get itself exempt from paying so-called “prevailing wages.” Construction costs have been reduced by more than 40 percent – from $1.9 million to $1.1 million. Plans for the station were scaled back when firefighters learned they would have to pay state-determined prevailing wages to build the new station, which is planned for the Call Road area. Work could begin as early as May 29, Fire Chief Tim Gooch told Kanawha County commissioners on Monday …

Plans under way to repair and reopen pool at Camp Virgil Tate
April Kaull, WOWKTV.com
A Kanawha group is throwing its support behind healthier kids. In 2008 the swimming pool at the 4-H Camp Virgil Tate started leaking and the pool had to be closed. The West Virginia University Extension Office took over the pool. Members met Monday evening with the Greater Sissonville Development Council. The group wants to write a letter in support of replacing the pool and offered any other help. “We have a lot of campers that come in from Kanawha and Putnam County to the area …

Ron Paul to end active campaigning, still seeking delegates at state conventions
Examiner.com
CNN reported Monday morning that Texas Congressman Ron Paul will end active campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination, but will continue to seek delegates at state conventions. “Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process. We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that liberty is the way of the future,” he said in a statement emailed to supporters …

New Republican Chair Gets Started
Metro News
The new Chairman for the West Virginia Republican Party says he is already getting started. “It begins today,” Conrad Lucas, 30, told MetroNews on Monday morning after being selected on Saturday during the state Republican Executive Committee’s meeting in Braxton County. “We know that the 2012 General Election is going to require a major team effort, so I am going to be spending this week reaching out to folks all across West Virginia in order to help hone our message and work on our grassroots operations and look toward the future,” he said. Lucas is an attorney in Huntington, has worked as the Republican Party’s General Counsel and serves as the West Virginia Young Republicans Chairman. In 2010, he was the Republican National Committee’s Victory Director for West Virginia after an unsuccessful run for Congress in West Virginia’s Third District …

Conrad Lucas elected new WV GOP chairman
State Journal
The West Virginia Republican Party has a new state chairman. The State Executive Committee on Saturday selected 30-year-old attorney Conrad Lucas, the state party’s general counsel and chairman of the West Virginia Young Republicans. Lucas said in a statement issued by the state GOP that he plans to help West Virginia elect Republicans in an effort “to turn around 80 years of failed Democratic policies that have placed us 50th in overall education, 50th in new business start-ups, and 48th in per-capita income.” …

Ohio County Democrat Delegate Ryan Ferns, 29, pleaded guilty to a charge of first-offense DUI on Monday April 23, 2012, following his arrest the previous Friday in Wheeling. On Thursday, April 26th, he resigned his seat and further withdrew from his re-election race. He was first elected in 2010. Now these events didn’t make waves down here in East Sissonville, because many political leaders of both parties have fallen for one reason or another. And perhaps Ryan Ferns will remain a footnote in WV political history. But, in the aftermath of his resignation, support has been extended to him by a Republican candidate for Ohio County Commission as well as the Chairman of the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee. Don’t know about you, but something different is happening here that might surprise the most jaundiced of all voters.

Ohio County Republican Bob Miller, current candidate for County Commission, wrote a letter of support for Ferns to the local newspaper calling for the Governor to refuse to accept the Democrat Delegate’s resignation and for Ohio County Democrats to nominate him anyway. THEN another letter of support was issued by Republican County Chairman Elgine McArdle.

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Note: Single-Delegate District Opponent Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie, D-Kanawha is quoted in the following article as complimenting single-delegate districts, “The truth of the matter is there are fewer doors to knock on, so it sort of makes it a bit easier to campaign,” she said. “It may end up being more of an opportunity than we might have first realized that it gives us a better chance of being more intimately involved in the communities that we do serve.” Noteworthy: this was the salient point of the Single-Delegate District movement all along.

New Kanawha districts require planning
WOWKTV.COM
It happens every 10 years, but every 10 years, it creates quite a shakeup. Redistricting created a lot of headlines during the past year, but all of the debating over maps and courtroom challenges over district lines lead directly to the polls. Now as early voting in West Virginia wraps up, Kanawha County officials say redistricting just requires a little more communication. “Voters have not really been confused,” Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick said about early voters. “We put maps out, and we also sent little cards to every one of our voters letting them know what delegate district they’re in and what senatorial district — we sent over 130,000 out, so hopefully they know when they come in here.” …