Welch voters to decide city offices and special excess levy June 9

Welch voters will decide whether to keep $98,248 a year flowing to city services that shape everyday life: $3,600 for the McDowell Public Library, $20,000 for parks and recreational facilities, $22,000 for the street light system and $52,648 for streets, alleys and thoroughfares. The special excess levy asks whether Welch should continue that extra revenue stream, so the vote will reach far beyond city hall and into the places residents use after dark, on the way to work and on weekends with their families.

At the same time, the June 9 ballot will also settle Welch’s non-partisan city races. Certified candidates are Harold McBride for mayor, Kathy E. Gentry and Jeff Adkins for Ward 1, Brenda Farmer for Ward 2, Mike Day for Ward 3, and Steve Ford and Brian Mowdy for the two at-large council seats. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and every ward will vote at Welch City Hall.

The levy ordinance was already the subject of a March 16 public hearing at 4 p.m. in Welch City Hall, 88 Howard Street. Copies of the proposed ordinances were available starting February 23, and written comments were directed to City Clerk Robin Lee. Mayor Harold McBride, Sr. and Robin Lee signed the public notice that laid out the city’s plan to ask voters to approve the increase in levies authorized under Article 8, Chapter 11 of the West Virginia Code.

That makes the June vote especially important in Welch, a McDowell County coalfield city that is also promoting complimentary downtown parking and a proposed McDowell Street bridge intended to span the railroad underpass and cut off road closures during high-water events. The city is still living with the memory of the February 2025 flood, when the Tug Fork River outside Welch crested at just over 22 feet, tied for its highest recorded level, while federal recovery aid continued to move through the region months later. For Welch, the levy is not a procedural footnote. It is a household-level decision about which services stay funded and how much room the city has to keep pace with its needs.