This week, people with mental health challenges or substance use disorder often end up in jail. But crisis response teams offer another way. Also, one year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline went into service, people who live directly in the pipeline’s path have received compensation. But not everyone. And, the Sacred Harp songbook gets an update for the first time since the early 1990s.
Huntington Mayor Sends DOGE, GSA Call To Action Letter
Huntington City HallRandy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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Huntington’s mayor is asking the Department of Government Efficiency to relocate federal jobs to his river city.
Mayor Patrick Farrell publicly released a letter he wrote, directed to administrators of DOGE, and the GSA, the General Services Administration.
Farrell, a Republican, said in the letter that relocating federal workers from Washington, D.C., to Huntington would save taxpayer money, offer more affordable housing, and provide a safer place to live and work.
Mayor Patrick Farrell is beginning a first term in office.
Courtesy of Patrick Farrell
“I urge you to consider a bold, cost-saving approach: repurpose vacancies in Huntington’s existing federal space to relocate more of the federal workforce here,” he said in the letter.
Farrell said in the letter that as the GSA reassesses its federal building portfolio, which includes several large Huntington offices, the city presents an opportunity to rethink how and where federal employees work.
“Huntington has existing federally owned office space, eliminating the need for costly leases,” Farrell said. “Our lower costs for business operations, infrastructure and services ensure federal dollars go further here.”
Two Huntington federal buildings were among hundreds nationwide targeted for potential sale or closure in a GSA online list posted this past Tuesday. That list was taken offline hours later for reassessment.
In the letter, Farrell explained that federal salaries in Washington are significantly higher due to locality pay differences. He said for every 100 D.C. federal employees, moving to lower cost Huntington would save taxpayers $1.52 million annually.
Farrell touted Marshall University’s cybersecurity expertise and talent pipeline as a benefit.
“Marshall provides federal agencies with direct access to expertise and innovation, further strengthening Huntington as an ideal federal workforce hub,” he said.
Farrell closed his letter by saying, “The real question isn’t whether Huntington is ready, The real question is whether the federal government is ready to make the right choice – for its workers, for taxpayers and for its future.”
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