Marco closing in on one-year anniversary of serving as Elkins mayor
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City of Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco, pictured with his wife Paula, will celebrate his one-year anniversary as mayor on April 1.
Editor's Note: This is the second in an ongoing series of articles which will focus on our local elected and appointed governmental leaders, the duties they perform and the services offered by their respective offices.
ELKINS -- During his last few years of working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jerry Marco used to joke with his wife, Paula, about how when he retired he was going to run for Mayor of Elkins.
Marco continued to tell that same quip over and over again until eventually she realized that with as many times as he was saying it, there was probably some truth behind it.
Sure enough, just months after calling it quits with the FBI, Marco decided he was going to run for mayor and a year later he won by a
landslide.
"One day I told her that I was running and she looked at me and told me that she didn't think I was joking anymore," said Marco. "I told her that I was actually going to do it and she was behind me all the way. She's been tremendously supportive of everything I've done my entire career. She's done a fantastic job of supporting me."
Marco said that the only thing his wife has a problem with now, compared to when he was with the FBI, is being able to track him down.
"She said she can never find me now," said Marco. "She said when I was overseas working with the FBI she always knew where I was, but now that I'm running around Elkins all the time, she said she never knows where I am."
Marco said his mother, Judy, and his father, Jerry Sr., who passed away last year, were equally supportive when it came to him making the decision to run for mayor.
"My wife and my family have been tremendously supportive," said Marco. "My mother and father were behind me all the way no matter what I did. And I know my father is looking down and he's helping a lot."
Since taking over as mayor on April 1 of last year, Marco has learned that his job duties vary from day-to-day.
He did, however, say that much of his time goes to talking to the residents of Elkins
"It's never the same thing each day," Marco explained. "There's a lot of meetings that I have to attend, but a lot of my day goes to listening to concerns, questions, and ideas from our citizens. After that I pass that information on to the proper departments to see if we can make changes or modifications. So I get to connect a lot of dots and from there we all combine our efforts."
Marco said he will answere residents' calls anytime he is available, but if someone wants to come in and see the mayor face-to-face, an appointment is necessary.
"I actually enjoy meeting with people in-person," said Marco. "But because of my schedule and all the things I have going on throughout the day, the only way to make sure I have time to sit down with someone, is if they make an appointment. And I always try to accommodate citizens and work with what best fits their schedule."
As Marco closes in on his one-year anniversary as Mayor of Elkins, he said that he is still learning a great deal about what it takes to be successful in the position.
"I'm still less than a year in so I'm still learning a lot about how the city functions," he said. "But I've enjoyed every moment of it and the citizens of the Elkins have been very positive and responsive. The great thing is that I have a group of fantastic people around me that have helped me along the way. I'm just one member of a great team."
Speaking of teams, Marco has still found a way to continue to do one of the things he loves most -- coach youth basketball. For the past 30 years the mayor has headed one, and sometimes two, basketball teams at the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA.
"I still have a tremendous time working with all the kids," said Marco. "I love that the kids are learning and we are having fun with it. As long as those two things continue, I will probably coach for years to come."
Soon after graduating from Davis & Elkins College with a degree in Marketing and Management, Marco applied to work with the FBI where he was hired close to a year later. Marco went on to spend a total of 28 years with the FBI before retiring in 2020. He currently makes $20,000 per year as mayor.
"We have some really positive things going on right now and I'm always looking foward the future of Elkins and what we need to do to make us better than we already are," said Marco. "There's a good energy in the community and we are active in trying to do what is best for our city."