Government and Politics
Huntington has, since 1985, operated under a strong mayor/city council form of government. The mayor is elected to four-year terms in partisan elections contested at the same time as United States presidential elections. The current mayor is former Cabell County Sheriff Kim Wolfe, a Republican who is currently in his first term. Mayors in Huntington are term-limited to three terms and have the authority to veto acts of the city council.
Huntington's city councilors are also elected to four-year terms at the same time as the mayor. There are eleven members of the council, nine of whom represent single-member districts, while the other two are elected at-large by the city as a whole. Huntington's city council has the authority to draft and debate ordinances and can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority. There are currently nine Democrats and two Republicans on the city council.
| District | City Council | District | City Council |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | Jim Ritter (D) | District 7 | Scott Caserta (D) |
| District 2 | Teresa Loudermilk (D) | District 8 | Russ Houck (D) |
| District 3 | Frances Jackson (D) | District 9 | James Insco (D) |
| District 4 | Nate Randolph (R) | At Large | Steve Williams (D) |
| District 5 | Sandra Clements (D) | At Large | Rebecca Thacker (D) |
| District 6 | Mark Bates (R) |
The city also serves as the county seat of Cabell County. The Cabell County Courthouse is located in downtown Huntington on a parcel that covers an entire city block. Within the building are the offices for all of the county's elected officials and their employees, including the sheriff, county commissioners, county clerk, magistrates, and Circuit Court judges.
Read more about this topic: Huntington, West Virginia
Famous quotes containing the words government and/or politics:
“And having looked to government for bread, on the very first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them. To avoid that evil, government will redouble the causes of it; and then it will become inveterate and incurable.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)