This is the second in a series of Q&As with candidates of both competing parties seeking elected office. We asked them to respond in writing to a series of questions. Today we bring you current State Senator for the 14th District, Republican Randy Smith and his Mountain Party challenger, Wardensville Mayor Betsy Orndoff-Sayers. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll also feature candidates for Prosecuting Attorney, and U.S. Congress.
Meet your candidates: State Senate
Moorefield Examiner:
Please provide a brief personal statement about your candidacy, experience/qualifications, priorities and vision for the future of Hardy County.
Randy Smith:
I entered politics in 2012 when I was elected to the WV House of Delegates. After serving in the House for four years, I was elected to the Senate and have served there since 2016. While in both the House and Senate, I’ve been Chair of the Committee on Energy, Industry, and Mining. I believe having served on both sides of the Legislative branch and as Chair of a major committee in both houses, I understand how the legislative process works and what needs to be done to pass legislation.
I spend a lot of time in my district attending events where I meet people and listen to their concerns. I am familiar with what people in my district want and need from their representatives. My priorities include passing legislation that will benefit all West Virginians. My vision for the future is to create a West Virginia where people desire to raise their families, and where generations will remain because they can provide for a prosperous and happy life.
Betsy Orndoff-Sayers:
I’m a retired family and consumer sciences teacher, and I helped young people solve life problems, big and small. I use that background every day as Mayor of Wardensville. There, I’ve seen first-hand the big issues we face all over West Virginia: water and sewer infrastructure, affordable housing, improving our public schools by supporting the teachers who work there and the students they teach, access to child care, health care and addiction treatment, adequate funding for fire and emergency services, and making everyone welcome in our state regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Our State Legislature has been ignoring these problems. Instead, they’ve been stifling local groups like towns, county commissions, and volunteer agencies by passing bad laws without listening to the folks in their districts. They’ve been taking loads of out-of-state money and drumming up solutions to problems that don’t need fixing. I want to help change that. I want the Legislature to focus on the real problems of all West Virginians, not just a select few.
Examiner:
Staying with that theme, if elected, what piece of legislation would you introduce as lead sponsor and champion? A bill to do/provide what?
Orndoff-Sayers:
I will champion legislation to address the problems of clean water as well as the lack of air quality monitoring throughout the state. We have local water utilities that are struggling to provide clean water to customers, and customers that don’t have a reliable water source that is free from industrial contaminates. In addition, lax permitting standards allow dangerous chemicals to go into our air unmonitored and unchecked. These are critical public health concerns, and I want to help get them fixed.
Smith:
If elected, I would like to see legislation passed to work on issues within Child Protective Services and the foster care system. Shortages of workers, lack of accountability, and finding ways to recruit more people willing to provide foster homes are issues that we can address. Whether it’s helping to locate additional resources, ensuring that agencies collaborate, or providing better training for workers, we need to determine how the legislature can be of assistance. Children are the most vulnerable citizens, and it’s crucial to protect them.
Examiner:
Looking at the last two years – in your elected capacity – what do you see as your greatest achievement(s) on behalf of your constituents?
Smith:
Legislation that I helped pass and I believe benefited my constituents includes the reduction of regulations to promote economic development for state growth. Economic development is vital for the state’s sustainability. By attracting businesses to WV, we gain more job opportunities and tax-paying entities. Additionally, we eliminated income tax on Social Security and reduced personal income tax for workers, benefiting both working individuals and retirees.
Orndoff-Sayers:
I was proud to be a part of a Town Council that secured a Congressional appropriation to renovate Wardensville’s old school cafeteria building into a mixed-use center that will house our fitness center, childcare center, and provide senior meeting space. We received state and federal funding to improve our J. Allen Hawkins Community Park— renovating the tennis and basketball courts and adding two pickleball courts, a disc golf course, and enhanced accessible walking and hiking paths—with more to come. We also secured federal funding for a small solar array that will provide energy to operate our wastewater treatment plant. We are a tiny town of 258 people, so if we can do this, I believe other communities can do it, too!
Examiner:
The Governor has called a special session of the legislature to enact further income tax cuts. Do you support further tax cuts, and what will you do to ensure this isn’t a short-term political win at the expense of long-term financial stability for the state?
Smith:
Most elected officials aim to support lower taxes for their constituents. Personally, I believe we need more time to evaluate whether these tax reductions are feasible without straining our state’s economy in the long run. I agree that the long-term financial stability of the state should be top priority, and more time is needed to analyze all potential outcomes of a tax cut. We could explore ways to offset the lost revenue, possibly through tourism or decreasing industry subsidies. It’s essential to review government spending to identify areas where funds are wasted so that savings can be directed to WV citizens. A task force comprising members from the Senate and House Finance Committees should be established to thoroughly examine all aspects of the proposed tax cut and make informed decisions.
Orndoff-Sayers:
West Virginia has some of the lowest income and property taxes in our region. So once again our Legislature wants to fix a problem that isn’t there—but sounds great to the voters to get some election-year love. This “tax cut,” just like their “flat budget approach” is just a game of smoke and mirrors to bleed essential state-provided services and line the pockets of out-of-state corporate interests. Our taxes go to pay for those essential services. They benefit every West Virginian, and all of us—including corporations doing business here —are responsible for a share of the cost through individual and corporate taxes. All our critical problems — failing infrastructure, deteriorating roads, education, childcare, health services— are never going to get fixed if we allow select folks to evade paying their fair share and then enacting bogus tax “cuts” that end up wrecking essential services and putting the state further into the hole.
Examiner:
Everyone’s experienced the effects of inflation, yet West Virginia’s minimum wage has remained at $8.75 since 2016. Meanwhile, Maryland has increased its to $15.00 and Virginia to $12.00, resulting in workers leaving Hardy County to seek better pay across state borders. Do you support increasing the minimum wage? Why or why not?
Orndoff-Sayers:
You’ve hit the nail on the head. With states bordering West Virginia luring good workers out of state with living wages, it only makes it harder to maintain our workforce and keep good people here. I ran a restaurant in Wardensville for many years, and I know how hard it is make ends meet and pay people a decent wage for good work. But I think if we don’t all bite the bullet and match our neighbors, we’re going to continue to lose workers, people and businesses.
That said, minimum wage is one thing, a living wage is another. Studies show that a living wage in WV is around $18.74 an hour, reflecting the overall cost of living. It’s almost impossible to find decent affordable housing or childcare in our region. By enacting a package of living wage legislation—addressing not only the hourly wage but these other cost-of-living problems, from
housing to childcare to health services—the Legislature can make the state more friendly to business and a more affordable place to live, keeping our young people and attracting new residents.
Smith:
Raising the minimum wage in WV needs to be considered, although the cost of living in WV is significantly lower than neighboring states such as MD and VA. Maryland’s cost of living is approximately 29.2% higher than ours, while Virginia’s is around 12.8% higher. Direct comparisons with these states may not be appropriate. While raising the minimum wage could be beneficial in some areas, it may strain small businesses in other regions, potentially leading to closures. Given the current labor shortages, businesses are offering wages higher than the minimum to retain workers. Further investigation on the actual earnings in the state could help identify areas where raising the minimum wage might negatively impact businesses. A bill was previously passed to provide West Virginia residents with a no-cost path to obtaining a two-year degree through West Virginia Invests, covering tuition at any state Community and Technical College (CTC) for certificates or associate degrees in high-demand, well-paying fields.
Examiner:
Balancing growth and the demands it puts on local infrastructure and natural resources is an ongoing challenge. Hardy County is fortunate to have a robust planning commission that balances protection of public and environmental health with economic and business expansion. Recent legislative sessions have seen bills passed, including SB 171 this past January, that override county planning and local land use ordinances. Would you vote for/vote again for that, or similar bills, and why or why not?
Smith:
The following are key facts about SB171:
- It does not restrict zoning 7-1-3 or Chapter 8A.
- It does not pertain to issues under the Natural Floodplain Insurance Act 7-1-3 V.
- It does not apply to Commercial Forestry as identified in tax code 11-1A-3f.
- It only pertains to agricultural operations as defined in 19-19-2.
- It does not pertain to windmills or solar farms.
- It safeguards against 55 different county rules.
- The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and not county governments are responsible for enforcing environmental regulations.
- Agriculture has met environmental/TMDL nutrient goals through voluntary actions, making WV the only state in the Chesapeake Bay region to achieve these goals.
SB242, passed in the 2022 session:
- Limits county action with respect to agricultural operations.
- Authorizes full utilization of agricultural property, regardless of tract size.
Orndoff-Sayers:
SB 171 was a terrible bill, rushed through the Legislature and not well thought-out. It was vague, inconsistent with other local, state and federal laws, and pushed through by giant agribusiness masquerading as “the small farmer.” Our own Delegate Bryan Ward believes it needs to be repealed, and I agree with him. Furthermore, it was just another example of the state Legislature trampling on the rights of local governments to manage local problems without the input of local folks. People in our state legislature rail against “federal overreach” all the time, and this was “state overreach” in an area where the local officials are doing just fine. As a senator, I’d work to make sure we cooperated more with county commissions and municipal governments, not work against them.
Examiner:
Mountaineers are proud and fierce protectors of the 2nd Amendment, but this school year has already seen one mass school shooting in Georgia and online threats made to area high schools, including Hardy County. What programs or legislation are you willing to support to reduce gun violence and help end senseless school shootings?
Smith:
I am a firm supporter of the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in which this country was founded upon. The realization that tyranny and oppression by governments and rulers exist is the very foundation for this amendment. Citizens must be allowed to have the right and the means to defend themselves. Most law-abiding gun owners are not the reason we have school and other mass shootings. The more important issue to address is the mental health crises among our school aged children that are not being talked about after the mass shooting events. Almost every recent shooting, or threats, have had mental health warning signs that have been ignored and then brushed to the side after the events, or attempted to be covered up. Mass medication is way more dangerous than any firearm.
Orndoff-Sayers:
I am a gun owner. We live in an area where hunting is an important tradition and firearms are respected by responsible gun owners. But do responsible gun owners need bump stocks and semi-automatic rifles? Do we hunt deer and rabbits with high-powered weapons? The only thing we hunt with these guns are people. Why can’t we require a license for these, like we do to drive? And as a former teacher, I think it would be crazy to arm teachers so that they can be ready to fend off attacks from shooters in the classroom. Should preachers be armed to shoot on a parishioner who decides to open fire in church? Like public schools, college campuses need to be sacred places like churches, where guns have no place. But legislators have permitted concealed-carry at colleges and universities – then banned firearms from the State Capitol and courthouses. More hypocrisy. I think we need stronger red-flag laws to prevent domestic violence, we need to regulate weapons of slaughter, and we need to find ways to bring us all back to a place where firearms are respected and used for law enforcement, recreation and sensible personal security, and not as tools to settle disagreements or inflict damage on innocent people.
