RAINELLE, WV (WOAY) – The Mayor of Rainelle, Jason Smith, has issued a statement on his plan moving the town forward after residents voiced concern in last month’s town meeting.
RELATED: Rainelle residents voice concerns over ongoing issues with crime; Mayor declares ‘town emergency.’
“Jason Smith the Mayor of Rainelle would like to reach out to all citizens and business owners. This is my plan moving forward. In the last 15 months, I have pleaded with your Town Recorder as well as most of your City Council Members to work together as a team and that includes working with the Rainelle Police Department on the town’s issues which have become overwhelming ever since the 2016 Flood. Instead, the Recorder, as well as most of the City Council, continues to drive down a one-way street pushing all their hate and aggression toward the Towns Mayor and the Rainelle Police Department. I’m a citizen as well and I have lived here most of my life, my mother took her own life here in this town, and my father a Greenbrier County School Administrator of over 30 years as well as a former Town Council Member took his last breath in the house that I was raised in. So I have a deep interest and connection in the town I call home. If your Council would focus all their negative energy into something positive then we could all work to achieve a better place for all to live. So going forward I’m going to do what’s right for the people not what I’ve been threatened and humiliated and slandered into doing.Again we are a week Mayor and a Strong Council this needs to be understood. The comments I keep seeing are that I can do this and I can do that. The Mayor prior to 1977 had a lot more power than they do today and that is in the WV State code. Yes, I can enforce ordinances but they have to be voted by Council and signed by the Mayor. The last meeting this was supposed to transpire and it wasn’t even available to do so. Some ordinances in the Town Code Book have other cities names that were in the process of being adopted into the Town of Rainelle but never completed. There is more to the story, and it’s not just one-sided. I have had a lot of responses to my email rainellemayor@gmail.com and what I’m seeing is that a lot of citizens have now opened there eyes, as well as given me information to use moving forward. My plan is to hire new officers with or without the approval of the Recorder or most of the Council. We will try to get certified officers first so we the town doesn’t have the expense of sending officers to the academy. As for coverage, we will strive to provide as much as possible with the staff we have in place. I also want to incorporate the idea that several times through the night your business will be checked out and a calling card will be left behind with the officer’s name and time the business was checked upon. Again, I really want to stress that your Council needs to work with Law Enforcement to make things transpire not play this childish game of finger-pointing and continuing to threaten the Mayor and the Department. The true meaning of the word Team is Together Everyone Accomplishes More!!! Until your Town Recorder and Council understand the importance of working together then nothing will ever transpire.SincerelyMayor Jason Smith”
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