VICTOR, WV (WOAY) – The 2026 midterm primary election is drawing nearer and nearer, and Newswatch is continuing to closely follow the race for Fayette County Commission.
Barry Crist is a longtime school administrator, serving as assistant principal and principal at schools around Fayette County. He spent the last 15 years at the Fayette Institute of Technology.
“I spent 35 years in the school system running some of the larger schools in the county. And when you do that, this community service gets in your blood. You want something better for your community,” Crist said.
Crist says his experience is what makes him the right person for the commission. His service in the school system has taught him how to work with local leaders, politicians and citizens across the county.
“Flat out, experience matters. I’ve worked with community members, business leaders, politicians, parents, students, grandparents,” Crist said. “You have to bring everybody along with you. You have to have teamwork. You have to move people forward.”
According to Crist, the most important thing the commission needs to work on is making Fayette County a place where people can grow up, live and work.
“If we don’t make Fayette County a county where young people feel like they can raise a family and make a living, we are doomed. It is as simple as it gets,” Crist said. “Truthfully, if you fix that problem, a lot of the other problems fix themselves.”
“I hate to see these valuable assets being sent down the road. We can’t continue to do that. These people are great and hardworking. They’re our people and we send them down the road. We’ve got to figure out a way to make our county a county that these people stay in, live in, and raise families.”
According to Crist, a major part of solving that problem is considering the impact tourism has and diligently planning for the future.
“The reason we are what we are is because we’re wild and free. That’s the bottom line. That’s why people come here. That’s why they flock here, because we’re wild and wonderful,” Crist said. “We can’t lose that. We’ve got to maintain that as we move forward and and gain economic security and all those things.
Crist said access to clean water and wastewater systems needs to improve in the county, and is a symptom of larger problems Fayette County is facing.
“This is 2026, and we got folks with [bad] water. Not only that, we have communities that don’t have proper sewer sewers, treatment plants and and ways of disposing of sewage. We’ve got a lot of things broke,” Crist said. “We’ve got large groups of people that we’ve alienated that need a seat at the table. We’ve got the people that take care of the animals, we’ve got firefighters and policemen that have been alienated, and we’ve got to do better… We’ve got a lot of things broke and we’ve got to have someone with experience that can can start moving these things to fruition.”
