Dear Editor:

From statehood in 1863 through 1972 Pocahontas County always had a member in the House of Delegates. From Benoni Griffin (1863-64) through Tom Edgar (1961-72) we always had one of our own in Charleston. The 1964 "one man, one vote" Supreme Court decision mandated that state legislative seats be allocated on a population basis, not just by political units. Since Tom Edgar died in Spring 1972 (his wife, Betsy, was appointed to fill the last few months of his term), Pocahontas County has only had a delegate for one two-year term. Walt Helmick was elected in 1988; when he was appointed to the state Senate in 1989, Jane Price Sharp was named to serve the remainder of his term, but she was not re-elected.

For 38 of the last 40 years Pocahontas County has had no direct representation in the House of Delegates. Why? Because we have been included in a two-member district with Randolph County, which has almost three times as many people. Under this setup it’s virtually impossible for a Pocahontas County resident to win.

The Legislature is redistricted every 10 years to reflect population shifts shown in the census. In the 1991 redistricting bill the House created a number of new single member districts in order to give small counties better representation. In the original draft of that bill our two-county district was split in half, with one district being entirely within Randolph County and the other containing Pocahontas County and Western Randolph, from Mingo to Coalton. In that district Pocahontas County had 46% of the population, giving us at least a fair shot at electing one of our own to the Legislature.

But the Elkins people lobbied hard against the proposal, while our county commission sat on its hands. The result: Pocahontas County came out of the process as the only small county in eastern West Virginia lumped into a two-member district with a larger county - and no one from here has been elected to the House in the 20 years since. But once again we have an opportuntiy to fight for better respresentation: In 2011 the legislature will be redistricting again based on the results of the 2010 census.

Senator Helmick has been a strong voice for Pocahontas County, but  he won't stay in the State Senate forever. Now is the time for our county's leaders to work together across party lines to correct this injustice, so that after the 2011 redistricting Pocahontas County will be in a single member district with a real chance to be directly represented in Charleston by one of our own people.

In writing this  I am not criticizing the folks from Randolph County who have represented us in the House of Delegates over the  past generation. It just stands to reason that someone from our county, who sees us daily and shares our problems, will be easier for us to talk to and will be more motivated to take a Pocahontas County view of issues coming before the legislature.

Gibbs Kinderman
Slaty Fork