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Tom Joyce looks ahead to work as Parkersburg’s mayor

File Photo Tom Joyce speaks on his phone shortly after final, unofficial election returns showed he was elected mayor of Parkersburg on Nov. 8 at the Wood County Courthouse.

PARKERSBURG — When he takes office as Parkersburg’s mayor in January, Tom Joyce said he’ll be looking to address the basic services of the city, including infrastructure and public safety.

“My main focus is going to be the nuts and bolts of city business,” he said.

For now, Joyce — a Republican former two-term councilman elected over Democrat Sherry Dugan on Nov. 8 — is wrapping up his responsibilities as director of environmental safety at Camden Clark Medical Center and meeting with city department heads and incoming council members to prepare for the start of his administration.

That relationship with council is key for Joyce, after two years in which council members were at odds with each other — including filing a complaint in Wood County Circuit Court over an alleged violation of open meetings law — as well as previous Mayor Bob Newell and, to a lesser extent, his successor Jimmy Colombo.

“We have to get along. We have to cooperate,” Joyce said.

File Photo Parkersburg Mayor-elect Tom Joyce, right, talks with Wood County Sheriff-elect Steve Stephens after final, unofficial election results came in Nov. 8 at the Wood County Courthouse.

As they meet, Joyce said, he wants to “get input from the new council coming in, what’s important to them, what have they found” while campaigning.

Joyce said he wants that working relationship to continue beyond the initial transition. He plans to get council members involved in the annual budget process early, rather than them waiting to receive the proposal he submits.

Information needs to be shared between officials and the public, Joyce said.

“We will provide the most transparent government the City of Parkersburg has ever seen,” he said.

Colombo and the current council have discussed ways to replace up to three aging fire stations in the city. Joyce said he favors revenue bonds, as Colombo proposed, but the decision will have to be made by council.

Another thing he and the new council must address is the need for more police officers.

“Specifically, I think we need more officers on patrol,” he said. “Recruitment and retention of police officers, it’s a legitimate concern.”

That likely means taking a “hard look” at salaries to discourage officers leaving for greener pastures after the city department has recruited and trained them.

“That’s a public safety issue. That’s an officer safety issue,” Joyce said. “You need to look at the positions, the market, and let the market decide how you’re going to do pay administration,” he added, saying that applies to other positions as well.

Drug abuse has cast a shadow over recent council meetings, with members of the public demanding action from the city to help address overdoses and related problems. Joyce said he’s not sure the city alone is best equipped to solve those problems on its own, but it can partner with other organizations and entities.

He noted Recovery Point West Virginia is planning a long-term, residential recovery program in the community, with the former armory on Emerson Avenue a possible location. The city could help make sure the chosen site is up to code as soon as possible.

“That shouldn’t be an exception; that should be a rule,” Joyce said.

The city’s parks “need significant investment as well,” he said.

During the mayoral campaign, Joyce said he talked to hundreds of people.

“And the No. 1 complaint was the houses that need torn down (or) repaired,” he said. “They hurt the neighborhoods.”

In recent years, the administration and council have sought to step up action on dilapidated housing, with the creation of a vacant property registry assessing a $100-a-month fee on abandoned structures and the acquisition of state loan money to increase the number of demolitions.

Joyce said he wants to sit down with code enforcement officials and ask what needs to be done to allow them to do their jobs faster and more efficiently. If employees in other departments are being diverted from their core tasks because they are stretched too thin, that needs to be addressed as well, he said.

Appointments of department heads will be announced in the coming weeks, Joyce said, declining to comment on any specific positions or individuals at this time.

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