CITIZEN STAFF REPORT
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Mingo County activist Tara “Baby T” Sexton used West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s recent visit to Williamson City Hall to put a list of concerns facing southern West Virginia directly into the governor’s hands.
“We brought the harsh reality of Southern West Virginia straight to the governor yesterday in Mingo County, West Virginia,” Sexton said the day after the visit.
Sexton said she spoke with Morrisey about issues affecting Mingo County and the surrounding coalfields and provided him with written materials, photographs and other documentation addressing water quality, utility costs, deteriorating infrastructure, school closures, accessibility and other concerns.
Among the materials was a two-page presentation titled “Welcome to Mingo,” which focused heavily on longstanding water problems in the region.
The presentation included photographs of discolored water from faucets, bottled samples of brown and orange water and an orange-colored stream. It also cited problems involving the Mingo County Public Service District, questioning what long-term investments will be made to improve aging water systems.
“Families in the southern coalfields deserve safe drinking water,” the presentation states.
Another document, titled “Southern West Virginia: In Crisis,” described itself as “a direct urgent appeal & call to immediate action” addressed to Morrisey on behalf of families and residents of southern West Virginia.
The document listed four primary areas of concern: safe water and utilities, accessibility for people with disabilities, homelessness, and deteriorating infrastructure and schools.
It called on the state to provide dedicated funding for clean water, improve accessibility, provide additional support for homeless residents and invest in roads and other infrastructure in southern West Virginia.
The appeal also raised concerns about what it described as decades of neglect in the coalfields.
“For generations, southern West Virginia was the economic engine that powered this nation,” the document states, arguing that communities have been left with aging infrastructure and other problems after decades of resource extraction.
The materials Sexton provided Morrisey also addressed rising utility costs. One page included photographs of utility bills and questioned whether state regulators are adequately protecting customers as rates increase.
Other issues raised included rural school closures and the state’s HOPE Scholarship program. The presentation argues that money directed to the scholarship program could instead be invested in public schools, teacher pay, facilities and career and technical education.
Road conditions were another major focus. Photographs included with the materials show damaged roadways and eroded shoulders, while the presentation calls for a long-term plan for maintaining roads and bridges in the coalfields rather than relying on one-time appropriations.
Sexton’s materials also challenged the state’s approach to large-scale industrial development, including proposed data centers and related energy projects. One section argues that southern West Virginia communities have already borne environmental consequences from generations of extraction and should not become what the presentation calls another “sacrifice zone.”
The presentation also focuses on residents with disabilities and former industrial workers, saying communities need improved access to health care, transportation, sidewalks, broadband and other basic services.
Labor issues were included as well. Sexton’s materials call for “good, union jobs,” safer workplaces, fair wages and stronger protections for workers.
The documents repeatedly emphasize that the concerns are broader than one political party or one community.
One appeal says it was presented on behalf of working families, veterans and residents of Mingo, McDowell, Logan, Wyoming, Raleigh, Mercer, Fayette, Boone and Lincoln counties, as well as other parts of southern West Virginia.
Sexton said she intends to continue pressing state leaders for action.
“We are praying for change, and we will keep our faith, because our families deserve better and we will not back down until we see real change,” Sexton said.