SHEPHERDSTOWN — Though many throughout Jefferson County know John Doyle for his work as a member of the state’s House of Delegates, the 79-year-old still feels he has work to do, and that work is perhaps more local than any other work he’s done over his decades-long career in politics.
That work, he feels, can be done as a member of the Jefferson County Commission — a seat he’s never held but began thinking about some six years ago. He thought better of it, however, when a friend of his decided to run for a seat on the commission, and he ultimately went back to the West Virginia Legislature.
This time around, though, Doyle is committed to winning the seat he passed up on running for years ago, running as a Democrat. The reasons he has for doing so, he does not take lightly.
“I think the problems at the courthouse are more serious now than they were six years ago,” he said in a recent interview. “It can all be summed up in a lack of transparency that produces a number of things — for one, a body politic that doesn’t know what’s going on and, therefore, becomes suspicious and mad when they don’t understand how decisions are being made.”
He added: “I think the commission needs to do a better job explaining its inner workings to the public. A lot of what needs to be changed is the people who are appointed to the boards and commissions. That’s where the county commission can affect the outcome in areas of public policy. I had a friend that used to rail about what he called ‘shadow governments.’ There’s a health board, a planning board, parks and rec, the development authority. The county commission’s job is to organize so there is rhyme or reason in public policy.”
As a result, Doyle said he’d like to see the commission reduce its terms from six years to four to counteract its members “losing touch,” as he put it. He also explained that he’s been following the debate between community solar farms and industry solar farms. At the end of the day, he said all he can hope for is that the farmers receive as much money as they can for use of their land, while local citizens benefit from the implementation of the use of solar energy.
All solar issues aside, one of the biggest issues in front of the county commission currently is the potential reorganization of the county’s fire and EMS services. Though Doyle said he found out about the issue only recently, he was adamant that he believes it’s a “terrible idea” to increase response times and decrease facilities throughout the county.
Keeping citizens safe and healthy is paramount to keeping Jefferson County as prosperous as it’s been throughout previous decades, the delegate noted. Keeping the county’s character, Doyle said, is one of his biggest priorities as a local official. Though he knows the county is growing, he said he hopes that with some “thought and sensible action,” it won’t stray too far from the identity it’s created for itself through the years.
Speaking of identity, Doyle noted that while he’s given a large portion of his life to politics, this run for a seat on the county commission will be his last when it comes to governing on any level. That in mind, he wants to leave the political world on his own terms — after serving the community he’s been a part of for so long now.
“This is it,” he said confidently. “I made this choice after about a month of thinking. I had been leaning strongly in favor of running for county commission, and this is what I chose to do. If I lose, I don’t think I’ll run for anything again.”
Doyle concluded: “This is me. If this is the kind of representation you want, vote for me.”
