WEST VIRGINIA DEATH SPIRAL
Before I get into this post a bit of my background. I was born in Huntington West Virginia in 1952 and have lived in the state most of my entire life. As a youth my father was an insurance salesman and my mother worked at Owens Illinois Glass Plant. I remember that out family was close net and our neighbors watched out after each other. It was a time of the nuclear family. A Peyton Place type of community where Sundays was time to attend church and then the strong sent of charcoal burring in the air as everyone seemed to be grilling out at the same time. A time when families set down to dinner together at a set time and then retired to the living room to watch the Wonderful World of Disney on TV. A typical middle working class family.
Somewhere along the way things started to change. I remember Owens Illinois closing. Then ACF "American Car and Foundry" closed. Then the C&O shops closed. The jobs were leaving and there was not a lot coming along to replace them. My father moved to Columbus Ohio to find work and left my mom behind working at Owens and taking care of us kinds. The nuclear family was falling apart and along with it so was the economy. This was during the 70's that I believe the real decline started.
Over the past 50 years there has been a number of bad decisions by those in power. First was the Super Block in Huntington that was to rebuild the old farmers market and warehouses along the river. This battle went on for years as the old money in Huntington fought to keep the development from happening. Then came the Cafaro Group Developers who wanted to build a large shopping and restaurant complex in Huntington and the old money and leadership at the time fought to resist the change. Out of frustration with Huntington Cafaro moved a few miles east to the little town of Barboursville I was living in Barboursville at the time and attended the town hall meeting where Cafaro proposed building the mall just outside the city limits. They requested that the city provide sewage and essential services such as fire and police service. All the city immediately agreed to. The city would extend its boundaries to include the new mall area thereby gaining B&O tax revenue. It took one meeting to make this happen. The city leaders seen the future and embraced it. The city of Huntington lost. Before that time during the late 60s the Interstate 64 was being built. I remember that the Interstate was proposed to route along the river and though the city of Huntington. Once again, the leaders fought this and the Interstate was re-routed south of the city. So Huntington became isolated as the world would pass it by just a few miles south of the city. As the old money started dying off the Super Block finally became a reality but at the time that people had stopped going to town to shop. Shopping centers such as the new Huntington Mall (Which as kind of a joke by Cafaro since the Mall is actually in Barboursville) was the go to place to shop. Huntington stores started closing there doors. Anderson Newcomb as well as others. Since that time George H. Wright a long term presents in Huntington as a men's clothing store closed. Also two large furniture stores closed. Empty store windows and For Lease signs started popping up all over the city. And the new movie theaters at Pullman Square and the Huntington Mall spelled the demise of the three theaters in downtown Huntington. To combat the loss of B&O tax revenue the city adopted a User Fee (Tax) on the people working in Huntington. The fee outraged many businesses and burdened the poor working class. So many low income minimum wage workers started working outside the city limits to avoid the fee. Businesses that could afford the move, moved out. Others that stayed struggled to survive while some closed their doors. Huntington business locations started filling up with Pawn Shops and Bars. Both that are common to a declining economy. The downward spiral had started. It would require a huge change to save the life of the city now and no one seemed to have an idea.
The day Coal was king. Even during the peak times when Coal was king it was never good for the state or its workers. It is simple to see if you have ever watched the movie Matewan (1978). The movie was about the formation of the coal union. But what you will notice in the movie was the life of a coal minor. Poverty, everyone was required to buy from the company owned store which has inflated rates on the goods. Every minor had "Black Lung" disease and the town showed run down. Even after the unions life did not improve all that much. Layoffs were common. And little money was left in the towns for improvements. I have always ask "If Coal was so good for West Virginia why where the towns so run down? Why did they not have the finest school buildings in the country?" The reason was simple the money left the state. And along the way coal companies discovered that if they blow the top of the mountain and shove it into the stream they could just scoop up the coal. Thereby requiring a fraction of the workers. Mechanized coal mining became the norm and more coal tonnage per man hour was increasing expeditiously. Fewer coal jobs were being offered. Then came cheaper foreign coal and cheaper coal from out west. There was a realization that sulfur in coal was a real environmental hazard. It was expensive to scrub when burnt. Power plants were looking for more cost effective alternatives. Basic chemistry explains the problem with sulfur. When combined with water molecules in the atmosphere the result is Sulfuric Acid. Sulfuric Acid then kills plant life, is a corrosive, and is harmful to animals. So if you can find coal that is low in sulfur it is more desirable than coal that is high in sulfur. West Virginia coal is very high in sulfur and is considered a dirty coal. The result is West Virginia coal was being beat out of the market. President Obama had some impact but very little on the declining of coal from West Virginia. West Virginia was loosing the battle on many fronts. Natural Gas was available in abundance and not only cheaper for BTU for power plants but also was cleaner and did not require the amount of scrubbing to clean the emissions. Along this time the country was looking for more sustainable energy sources for the modern age. Looking to the future the United States was moving away from carbon based fuel. Wind Turbines, solar energy, Geo Power Energy was all reducing the need for coal. And West Virginia was doing little to embrace the change. The world was moving on and the state was stuck in the past.
As the economy started in its downward spiral poor economic environment brought with it desperation. And that is the environment that the drug lords realize as fertile ground for their market. The sale of Opoids and other hard drugs are easy targets for a depressed economy. For the dealers they find it easy to recruit desperate unemployed people looking to make some serious money. The money outweighs the risks in their minds. So you get a fresh crop of dealers and distributors. They are then tought how to get there customers hooked and the cycle begins. On the economic side once again the money for the most goes out of the state to drug companies and distributors. And like coal the pain and heath issues are left. The drain on the states resources start to skyrocket taking away resources that could be spent on improving the economy. It fast becomes a state trying to survive and has little time to look to the future.
Now companies looking to expand look at all these trends. A company wanting to build a new plant, or warehouse, or business in an area looks at the areas economy. The tax structure, the workforce and the location. All these come into play. I have friends who are business owners in West Virginia. They all tell me they would relocate out of the area if they could. All say it is increasingly difficult to find workers that can pass the drug test or show up for work. It is difficult to find the educated employee. And that West Virginia is not a good resource for labor.
The state leaders out of desperation passes a "Right to Work Law" that says companies are not required to take union dues from employees and they can not even take union dues from payroll deductions. This law was designed as a Union Killer Bill. The bill was passed to entice companies to locate in West Virginia where it would be a union free environment. The result is lower wages for employees, unsafe work environment and poor working conditions. All the things that Unions do to help there employees. Without Unions an employee does not have arbitration. Companies can fire at will and without reason or justification. The increases problems in the workplace such as wage equality, sexual harassment, and unfair labor practices. And the spiral continues down.
The problems are huge and have been going on for nearly a half century. Those who can leave the state are doing so. West Virginia continues to loose population each and every year. Resulting in a lower tax base. Those who are left are burdened by picking up the tab. And aging population and a work force on drugs, poor living condition and a poor future is not inspiring and not attractive to companies. In such a situation you need federal support and guidance and the current federal administration is the opposite of what the state needs. I am not sure where the bottom is but the state continues on a downward spiral.
These are my opinions and observations based on living in the state for nearly 65 years. West Virginia is a good state with good people desperately looking for a solution. That may explain why the majority of the state voted the way they did during the past election. Desperate people do desperate things.
Somewhere along the way things started to change. I remember Owens Illinois closing. Then ACF "American Car and Foundry" closed. Then the C&O shops closed. The jobs were leaving and there was not a lot coming along to replace them. My father moved to Columbus Ohio to find work and left my mom behind working at Owens and taking care of us kinds. The nuclear family was falling apart and along with it so was the economy. This was during the 70's that I believe the real decline started.
Over the past 50 years there has been a number of bad decisions by those in power. First was the Super Block in Huntington that was to rebuild the old farmers market and warehouses along the river. This battle went on for years as the old money in Huntington fought to keep the development from happening. Then came the Cafaro Group Developers who wanted to build a large shopping and restaurant complex in Huntington and the old money and leadership at the time fought to resist the change. Out of frustration with Huntington Cafaro moved a few miles east to the little town of Barboursville I was living in Barboursville at the time and attended the town hall meeting where Cafaro proposed building the mall just outside the city limits. They requested that the city provide sewage and essential services such as fire and police service. All the city immediately agreed to. The city would extend its boundaries to include the new mall area thereby gaining B&O tax revenue. It took one meeting to make this happen. The city leaders seen the future and embraced it. The city of Huntington lost. Before that time during the late 60s the Interstate 64 was being built. I remember that the Interstate was proposed to route along the river and though the city of Huntington. Once again, the leaders fought this and the Interstate was re-routed south of the city. So Huntington became isolated as the world would pass it by just a few miles south of the city. As the old money started dying off the Super Block finally became a reality but at the time that people had stopped going to town to shop. Shopping centers such as the new Huntington Mall (Which as kind of a joke by Cafaro since the Mall is actually in Barboursville) was the go to place to shop. Huntington stores started closing there doors. Anderson Newcomb as well as others. Since that time George H. Wright a long term presents in Huntington as a men's clothing store closed. Also two large furniture stores closed. Empty store windows and For Lease signs started popping up all over the city. And the new movie theaters at Pullman Square and the Huntington Mall spelled the demise of the three theaters in downtown Huntington. To combat the loss of B&O tax revenue the city adopted a User Fee (Tax) on the people working in Huntington. The fee outraged many businesses and burdened the poor working class. So many low income minimum wage workers started working outside the city limits to avoid the fee. Businesses that could afford the move, moved out. Others that stayed struggled to survive while some closed their doors. Huntington business locations started filling up with Pawn Shops and Bars. Both that are common to a declining economy. The downward spiral had started. It would require a huge change to save the life of the city now and no one seemed to have an idea.
The day Coal was king. Even during the peak times when Coal was king it was never good for the state or its workers. It is simple to see if you have ever watched the movie Matewan (1978). The movie was about the formation of the coal union. But what you will notice in the movie was the life of a coal minor. Poverty, everyone was required to buy from the company owned store which has inflated rates on the goods. Every minor had "Black Lung" disease and the town showed run down. Even after the unions life did not improve all that much. Layoffs were common. And little money was left in the towns for improvements. I have always ask "If Coal was so good for West Virginia why where the towns so run down? Why did they not have the finest school buildings in the country?" The reason was simple the money left the state. And along the way coal companies discovered that if they blow the top of the mountain and shove it into the stream they could just scoop up the coal. Thereby requiring a fraction of the workers. Mechanized coal mining became the norm and more coal tonnage per man hour was increasing expeditiously. Fewer coal jobs were being offered. Then came cheaper foreign coal and cheaper coal from out west. There was a realization that sulfur in coal was a real environmental hazard. It was expensive to scrub when burnt. Power plants were looking for more cost effective alternatives. Basic chemistry explains the problem with sulfur. When combined with water molecules in the atmosphere the result is Sulfuric Acid. Sulfuric Acid then kills plant life, is a corrosive, and is harmful to animals. So if you can find coal that is low in sulfur it is more desirable than coal that is high in sulfur. West Virginia coal is very high in sulfur and is considered a dirty coal. The result is West Virginia coal was being beat out of the market. President Obama had some impact but very little on the declining of coal from West Virginia. West Virginia was loosing the battle on many fronts. Natural Gas was available in abundance and not only cheaper for BTU for power plants but also was cleaner and did not require the amount of scrubbing to clean the emissions. Along this time the country was looking for more sustainable energy sources for the modern age. Looking to the future the United States was moving away from carbon based fuel. Wind Turbines, solar energy, Geo Power Energy was all reducing the need for coal. And West Virginia was doing little to embrace the change. The world was moving on and the state was stuck in the past.
As the economy started in its downward spiral poor economic environment brought with it desperation. And that is the environment that the drug lords realize as fertile ground for their market. The sale of Opoids and other hard drugs are easy targets for a depressed economy. For the dealers they find it easy to recruit desperate unemployed people looking to make some serious money. The money outweighs the risks in their minds. So you get a fresh crop of dealers and distributors. They are then tought how to get there customers hooked and the cycle begins. On the economic side once again the money for the most goes out of the state to drug companies and distributors. And like coal the pain and heath issues are left. The drain on the states resources start to skyrocket taking away resources that could be spent on improving the economy. It fast becomes a state trying to survive and has little time to look to the future.
Now companies looking to expand look at all these trends. A company wanting to build a new plant, or warehouse, or business in an area looks at the areas economy. The tax structure, the workforce and the location. All these come into play. I have friends who are business owners in West Virginia. They all tell me they would relocate out of the area if they could. All say it is increasingly difficult to find workers that can pass the drug test or show up for work. It is difficult to find the educated employee. And that West Virginia is not a good resource for labor.
The state leaders out of desperation passes a "Right to Work Law" that says companies are not required to take union dues from employees and they can not even take union dues from payroll deductions. This law was designed as a Union Killer Bill. The bill was passed to entice companies to locate in West Virginia where it would be a union free environment. The result is lower wages for employees, unsafe work environment and poor working conditions. All the things that Unions do to help there employees. Without Unions an employee does not have arbitration. Companies can fire at will and without reason or justification. The increases problems in the workplace such as wage equality, sexual harassment, and unfair labor practices. And the spiral continues down.
The problems are huge and have been going on for nearly a half century. Those who can leave the state are doing so. West Virginia continues to loose population each and every year. Resulting in a lower tax base. Those who are left are burdened by picking up the tab. And aging population and a work force on drugs, poor living condition and a poor future is not inspiring and not attractive to companies. In such a situation you need federal support and guidance and the current federal administration is the opposite of what the state needs. I am not sure where the bottom is but the state continues on a downward spiral.
These are my opinions and observations based on living in the state for nearly 65 years. West Virginia is a good state with good people desperately looking for a solution. That may explain why the majority of the state voted the way they did during the past election. Desperate people do desperate things.
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