I am running for Mayor first and foremost because I sincerely and wholeheartedly love our community. I was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital to parents Bob and Jane Skinner, raised over near the City Park, educated at Academy Primary, Buckhannon-Upshur Intermediate, and Buckhannon-Upshur Middle and High Schools, graduating in 2007. I also graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2011. I own a home on Camden Avenue, and have been a local insurance agent since 2012, managing Mountain Lakes Insurance Agency. I am a hometown boy through and through, and I bleed royal blue and white!
Over the past several years, I’ve been heavily involved in many civic organizations largely responsible for beautifying and promoting our hometown, including serving as President of the Chamber of Commerce, and a board member of the West Virginia Strawberry Festival, Artistry on Main, and St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. My family and I are long-time members of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, where I served as Lay Leader prior to being elected to City Council in 2016.
As Mayor, I want to focus on economic development by creating a strong partnership between the City and the Upshur County Development Authority, a relationship that’s not currently there. We also need to make sure that investments into our public safety departments are always on our priority list. It is imperative that our residents and business owners feel safe in our community. Our Downtown is of course a crown jewel. When the flowers are in full bloom, you won’t find a more beautiful Main Street. We need to continue to promote and preserve our Historic District, but also make sure our residential neighborhoods receive much needed attention as well.
I am a hands-on worker, and I want to be servant Mayor. Instead of commanding tasks be completed, I want to work right alongside our city employees to help complete projects, which is why I volunteered to put up the new historic street signage you’ve seen around town. I’ve been pushing for these new signs as a council member, so naturally, when it came time to put them up, I wanted to be part of the project. I hope we can install many more.
Our responsibility as a governing body is to always provide essential services as efficiently and effectively as possible. It’s not my money, or council’s money, it’s YOUR money, and we must be good stewards of YOUR money. We should not be the primary economic driver in town, but instead, we need to create opportunities for our businesses, already here, and future businesses, to be successful. It’s not our responsibility to be involved in the real estate business, and before we begin a new project, we need to finish what we started, and maintain our existing infrastructure.
I want you to know that I will work tirelessly for you. I will be honest, fair, transparent, respectful, and honorable if elected to work. Serving as Mayor of my hometown is the ultimate labor of love. Buckhannon is a family, and together we will celebrate successes, solve complex issues, and plan for our future, all while showing patronage to our culture and history. We may not always agree on the way in which we do those things, but I promise I will listen to you, and carefully consider your thoughts and ideas as citizens.
Doing the right thing for our entire community will always be at the forefront of every decision, as it has been during my tenure as member of City Council. I believe in this community, and I want to see it thrive! I humbly ask for your vote on June 9th and look forward to working with you making Buckhannon the best Buckhannon possible!
-Robbie Skinner, Buckhannon City Council
Paid for by Robbie Skinner
