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Gary Hart
ELKINS – Two Republican candidates are running for one Randolph County Commission seat, as incumbent David Kesling will face challenger Gary Hart in the May 14 primary.
Both candidates addressed the public at a recent forum event hosted by the Randolph County Republican Executive Committee at the Elks Lodge. Each candidate was given three minutes to speak.
"I need to let everyone know about me and my background," Hart, the first of the two candidates to speak during the event, said. "I grew up here in Randolph County and grew up on a dairy farm… I lived in a rural area on my farm my entire life, and as you know cows have to get milked every day twice a day and vacations were something that I always dreamed of.
"I was in the 4-H program and in FFA when I got to high school. Church was always big for me, obviously with my father being a minister… Church was a time to meet and be with other people, so that's one of the things I think I learned and is molded into me – being a people person."
Hart said he likes to hunt, fish and play golf, and that he has been a high school sports official for the past 15 years. He said he was once a member of the Leading Creek Volunteer Fire Department, and that he graduated from Fairmont State with a degree in accounting and a minor in criminal justice.
"Randolph County is home to me. It's my hometown and the reason I want to run for office is that I want to pay it forward," Hart said. "I want to give back to the community and I think one of my good qualities is that I'm a good listener, I would listen to constituents and see what their needs are…
"I'm passionate about people and doing the right thing. Just from my background, my education, and my work experiences and life experiences, I feel that would set me up to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of this office."
Kesling followed Hart and talked about his background, and his current relationship with other elected officials in the county.
"I was born and raised in Randolph County, graduated from Elkins High in 1987, and graduated from Marshall in 1991," Kesling said. "I have a business management degree and I've been your county commissioner for the Cheat District for the past six years, and it's been a great honor and privilege to work with other elected officials that represent this county.
"We have a great working relationship and it's one that needs to remain. It's not uncommon that I'm texting the sheriff at 9:30 at night with a question, or the county clerk with a question, or they are texting me. We bounce things off of each other every day and it's a great partnership."
Kesling then spoke about some of his accomplishments since being elected county commissioner.
"When I ran six years ago I promised three main points, and I believe I kept my promises on those three main points," he said. "One was to reduce needless spending in the county and get it back in the black. Two, was to support the sheriff and his deputies, and three was to build a splash pad for the children in the county.
"The county commission controls the budget for itself and the main courthouse. I went through each line item of those budgets and cut where we could. We did away with things like where the commission had a car. We didn't need a car so we got rid of the car."
Kesling said he's worked hard to get grants in order to save the taxpayers money.
"The past four years we've heavily searched for grants so we could use grant money instead of taxpayer money," he said. "We hired a grant writer for the county. In the past four years we have received $3.8 million in grants to save local tax dollars…
"It took two years, but we got the county back in the black by not spending more than it was bringing in, and we have continued to have a $1.5 to $2 million rollover. We will continue to do that because I think the county needs a nest egg in case we have something like COVID again."
Kesling also talked about the current state of the sheriff's office.
"When we started we had about 12 to 13 deputies, unable to do 24-hour coverage in the county," he said. "We now have 19 deputies with three of them being PRO officers who work out of the local schools. We also have two K-9 officers and we purchased tasers, bullet proof vests, and body cams for the deputies, as well as numerous cruisers – anything the sheriff has needed to protect us, the citizens and his deputies.
"You would think something like the pool/splash pad project would be a nice and easy thing to do, but it wasn't," he said. "I had criticism from day 1 about why it wasn't in Elkins, why it was so far away from downtown, and why it wasn't a competition pool. I stood my ground and I did what I felt benefitted the children of the county as a whole.
"I didn't let special interest groups dominate the way we do things. When you are a commissioner you have to look out for the county as a whole, not just one group or one city. We had over 7,000 visitors to the pool and splash pad last year from surrounding counties and states. In turn, those people spent money here in the county, on gas, meals and other things.
"I think that I have proved myself in the last six years," Kesling said. "I have been the one commissioner who will stand up and take the criticism to protect what I feel is right for the county as a whole."
Early voting will take place from May 1 to May 11 at the Wees Annex on Randolph Avenue in Elkins and at the Russell Memorial Public Library in Mill Creek.