Huntington's Sinking (Budget) Ship

Budget cuts and furloughs are not what most city employees hope to deal with, but in Huntington it’s the bleak reality.

At his February 13 State of the City Address, Mayor Kim Wolfe proposed a 10 percent budget cut for all city expenditures. He also proposed unpaid, forced time off for all city employees, excluding himself and members of the Council.



Mayor Wolfe said he plans to cut Huntington’s estimated $44 million dollar list of expenditures down to $40 million.



16 percent of the city’s expected revenue is supposed to come from the municipal service fee, but in Huntington many residents aren’t paying up. Mayor Wolfe printed names of those residents who haven’t paid their bill in the newspaper. After his State of the City address, he said he wouldn’t stop there.

Mayor Wolfe said he would put liens on properties and turn names over to collection agencies.

Huntington’s largest expenditures, the police and fire departments, make up 48 percent of the outgoing budget – or $20.9 million. In an effort to save money there, Mayor Wolfe proposed cutting all civilian positions, meaning police officers and fire fighters would be forced to pull double duty – on the front line and behind the secretary’s desk.

Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook says he’s not happy about taking skilled officers off the street. He called it a “swift kick to the gut,” but said he will support the mayor’s decision.

Mayor Wolfe said these cuts are a “worst case scenario.”

City Council members, beginning February 27, will make final decisions on the budget for fiscal year 2011 following four weeks of special budget meetings.

Kim Wolfe's State of the City

At his 2010 State of the City Address, Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe gave a grim outlook for the future of city workers. He put furloughs and pink slips on the table.

In an effort to cut the budget, Mayor Wolfe proposed laying off civilian positions at the police department. He says he is trying to avoid laying off trained police officers, but this move would still keep them from doing their job – something Police Chief Skip Holbrook says he is not happy about.

"This was a swift kick in the gut to know there's a potential we'll have to reduce front line staff to keep the police department running – just at an efficient rate," Holbrook said.

If the mayor's plan is passed by City Council, as many as eight officers could be pulled off the street and put behind desks. Laying off civilian workers, like secretaries, would mean police officers would have to pull double duty – picking up where the clerical staff left off.

It's a controversial move, especially after the most recent round of bar shootings this past weekend.

Three people were shot at random after a fight broke out on a dance floor at a Huntington nightclub. While that was news, it wasn't new news. Back in November 2009, one man was shot and killed and other were injured at a bar just a few blocks away. Same story, different bar back in 2008, when a former Marshall University football player was shot and killed at another nightclub shooting.

"The biggest issue is always protecting citizens," Mayor Wolfe said after his speech. "Part of the government is protecting citizens."

Chief Holbrook may not think taking officers off the street is a good idea, but he says he supports the mayor's decision.

The same proposal has been made for members of Huntington's Fire Department.

The unpaid, 20-day forced time off Mayor Wolfe proposed would affect all City employees, except himself and Council. He says that would save the city more than $1 million.

Mayor Wolfe says he's keeping his glass half full, though, and that these proposals are "worst case scenarios." Final budgeting decision will be made after four weeks of speical meetings, starting February 27.

Presidential Campaign Funds by MU and WVU Employees

In the 2008 Presidential Election, employees from both Marshall University and West Virginia University favored Barack Obama, according to campaign contribution records.

Federal Election Commission records say overall, West Virginians donated about $2.3 million dollars in the 2008 Presidential Election. More than $34,000 of that came from people who claimed to be employees of Marshall and WVU. Sixty individuals from both universities donated funds to the campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul and John McCain.

WVU biologist Andrew Cockburn, an

Obama donor, says he pitched in because it needed to be done.

“I thought we needed a change,” Cockburn said. He says he wasn’t happy with what the Republican Party was doing and felt he

needed to help make a difference.

Cockburn donated $500 to then Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s campaign. He said if Hillary Clinton had been the Democratic Party’s choice – he would have given to her campaign, too.

Donating time and money is a way Cockburn says he is able to get his hands in national politics. “I’ve been donating to campaigns fairly regularly over the last 20 years or so,” he said. “This one, I cared about more than most.

Cockburn says he thinks people in Morgantown really care about presidential politics. “We have a lot of professors here that are really involved in politics.”

Fifty other mountaineer professors also donated. WVU employees donated more than $30,000 to the campaigns of Obama, Clinton, Paul and McCain. About 60% of that money – $17,616 – was given to Obama’s Campaign.

At Marshall University, nine employees claimed to have donated about $3,700 to the 2008 campaign. The most of that money – $2,448 – was given to Obama.

In West Virginia, the Democratic Party raked in the most cash, nearly $1.7 million, and the highest funds were for Obama at $942,263. The GOP brought in $644,242, and the republican with the most donations was McCain with $294,730.

Investigative Proposal

TO: Professor Burnis Morris

FROM: Hanna Francis

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RE: Story Outline: Huntington Weed & Seed Investigation

Subject: Huntington Weed & Seed program has/has not affected criminal activity.

Scope: I will research Huntington crime data by district, before and after the Weed & Seed initiative. Huntington’s Weed & Seed program has been named third in the country, it is my goal to find out if it is worthy of that acclaim.

Need: The city’s money is going into this program, so it is necessary to ascertain if that money is being used in a way that benefits residents.

Methods: I will obtain crime data from the Huntington Police Department from before the Weed & Seed program was initiated and now, after it has been in place. I will break that information down by district.

Sources: Members of City Council and Huntington police officers would be the best sources for this investigation. Residents of the most crime stricken districts would also be valuable informants.

Presentation: This would be a good story for television, because we have file video of former crime activity and of Weed & Seed meetings. It would also be good for a newspaper.

Follow up: If it was discovered that the program hasn’t changed criminal activity much, it would be interesting to find out why tax dollars are still funding it. If it turns out the program has changed activity, it would be valuable to explain how. Other cities would be interested to know how Huntington’s actions have worked.

Investigative Reporting

A convicted felon was allowed into a Greenup County classroom. WSAZ reporter Randy Yohe investigated the case to find out how Dakoda Bowling, the felon, got past appropriate screenings.

This story is an investigation because the reporter didn’t just say a felon was in a classroom, he found out what the breakdown was in the system that allowed him to get there. He wasn’t just reporting the up front facts, he dug deeper.

The reporter did attempt to talk to the target of the investigation – attempts to track him down were unsuccessful and his grandmother told the reporter he wouldn’t have spoken anyway.

The key document in this story was a report on the felon from the Kentucky State Police. A school superintendent said that report came back clean.

A broadcast story accompanies the print story. Within the broadcast package, there are interviews and images of documents. I think allowing the viewer to see things other than words gives the story a greater since of credibility.

Parents will be the most affected by this story. Anyone who knows a school aged child may pass this story along.

The follow up story here should be what has the school or school board done about their screening process. The print version was not over written; the broadcast version may have some shrill tones. This story was from a tip.

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The Huntington Weed and Seed Program has been named number three among similar programs in the country. My proposed investigation is to find out if the program is really doing any good the crime in Huntington. Research would include data from criminal activity in Huntington before the program was started, and now after it has received such high acclaims.