ST. ALBANS, W.Va. — St. Albans Mayor Scott James said continuing his push for economic development will be a major goal of his second term in office following his re-election win.
“We want to continue the progress that we’ve made,” he told WCHS-AM on Wednesday. “Number one, economically, we have to continue to increase businesses in St. Albans and bring in new businesses.”
James defeated Scott Russell on Tuesday with more than 70% of the vote.
“That was a big victory,” James noted. “That gives us the permission to move forward. Just keep doing what we’re doing, so we’re going to.”
He said his first term, which began in 2017, was a learning experience.
“One thing that I found out when I became mayor is I thought I was going to be able to call a company up and they were going to come to St. Albans. Well, that’s not how it works,” he said.
“We do not have direct interstate access. We do not necessarily have the traffic count and the logistics that the chain companies are looking for. What we have to do is we have to bring people to St. Albans to overcome that obstacle.”
Walter Hall, Aly C. White and Lee Roberts were elected to the St. Albans City Council at-large positions. Robert Keiffer as a one-vote margin over Judy Watkins in the Ward 1 race and Mike Rowe has a 30-vote lead over Ron Byrnside in Ward 2. Bill Knight won in Ward 3.
Brian Kloosterman, Mike Mamome, Jeremey Fallecker, Andrew Eads, Roger Massey and David Rucker were unopposed in their races.