(Reporter's Notebook by Steven Allen Adams - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Happy belated Independence Day. I hope your celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was meaningful and memorable.

Communities all across West Virginia celebrated in different ways, but much of the focus – and in some cases vitriol – was focused on the Capitol City Celebration that took place Thursday through Sunday at the same time as the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta was going on.

As I have reported since May, Gov. Patrick Morrisey budgeted $2 million for the Capitol City Celebration, coming from the Governor’s Civil Contingency Fund, a pot of money that is largely left up to each governor’s discretion, though it is most often used to quickly pay for disaster relief in emergency situations. In any given year, there is usually around $500 million in the Civil Contingency Fund.

The four-day event featured the world’s largest portable Ferris wheel, performances by Alabama and the Marshall Tucker Band, a 3D light show projected on the front of the State Capitol Building, and a fireworks show on July 3 (the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta had already planned to shoot off fireworks on July 4 from three locations, including in front of the Capitol Building).

These events don’t include many of the smaller events on the grounds of the State Capitol Complex, or the costs associated with rentals of tents, porta-potties, and equipment. Just for audio/video services, the state is paying $216,000 according to an emergency purchasing request submitted by the Department of Tourism to the Purchasing Division.

It doesn’t include the costs of the numerous state employees who had to give up their July 4 weekend plans to staff many of the events during the Capitol City Celebration. Some will simply earn comp time, but others will have to be paid overtime.

We also still don’t know the cost of bringing the America 250 Big Wheel to Charleston, or the costs of booking bands — such as Alabama and the Marshall Tucker Band — on short notice, which most likely drove the booking prices for these bands up. I have asked about these costs, though I suspect I will have to file Freedom of Information Act requests to get the contracts.

Some people are upset. I’m unsure if this is meant to troll Morrisey or if people actually believe this, but some have taken to social media to complain about paying $2 million for a Ferris wheel while there are needs across the state. Some have cited clean water needs or road/bridge maintenance, foster care, public schools, the alleged TANF structural deficit, etc.

First thing is first: We didn’t spend $2 million on a Ferris wheel. The governor budgeted $2 million for the Capitol City Celebration, of which the cost of the Ferris wheel is one part of that total cost.

Also, I am a firm believer that government can walk and chew gum at the same time. The idea of the state spending money to celebrate a major milestone, such as the 250th anniversary of the document that led to the founding of the United States of America, is not the most controversial thing.

We did this in 2013 to celebrate West Virginia’s 150th anniversary, with celebrations in both Charleston and Wheeling. The was when Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, was governor and not long before the state was facing mid-year budget cuts due to downturns in severance tax revenue. The Legislature was in Democratic hands then, too.

I worked for the state Senate at the time. I do not recall an outcry about the celebrations, which also included several days of 3D light shows at the Capitol and fireworks. We had much of the same water issues at the time. I do not recall people upset that we paid x amount of dollars to project a holographic Abraham Lincoln on the Capitol Building.

I have a feeling if a different governor were in place, the attitudes about the Capitol City Celebration would be different. I suspect that your local towns and counties are also spending some money on July 4 festivities. I do think the idea of the state celebrating America 250 is fine, though it is something that needs further transparency.

But the idea of $2 million making much of a dent in the state’s clean water needs is laughable. According to a report from the Appalachian Regional Commission (first reported by the Charleston Gazette-Mail), it would take approximately $1.73 billion to update the water systems in communities across the state. As Mike Tony reported, that total doesn’t factor in those who receive their water through private wells and other governmental or private utility sources.

In Morrisey’s defense, he did offer legislation during the session — House Bill 5210 and Senate Bill 762, the West Virginia Water Infrastructure Act — designed to stabilize and improve the state’s water and wastewater infrastructure. Both bills were recommended for passage by the first committees they went through, but both hit the brick walls of the House and Senate Finance committees.

Morrisey has also awarded grants for water and sewer projects since May, totaling $21.5 million. Another $30 million was appropriated to the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council for other water infrastructure grants. You can criticize the Morrisey administration for not doing enough, but you can’t criticize him for doing nothing at all.

This doesn’t mean Morrisey is immune from criticism for what some believe to be misplaced priorities. After all, $30 million is a drop in the budget when you look at some of the other things we direct money to, including nearly $300 million for the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program to cover all of the new fiscal year and the first quarter of FY28. If your water is gross or if your road looks like a wack-a-mole game board, you can’t be faulted for wanting something done about that.

My point is that it’s not a zero-sum game. We should put more funding into clean water, addressing the school aid formula, reducing the number of children in foster care, etc. But providing a bunch of events free to the public to celebrate a historical milestone is fine too.

Drawing hundreds and maybe thousands of people to the State Capitol Complex to tour their statehouse, visit the museum exhibits at the Culture Center, pay their respects at the Veterans Memorial, and providing a direct connection to the government they’re part of is also a public service. Whether the public service should cost $2 million is a question you must ask yourself.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.