By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Election night November 5th saw the race for Tucker County Commissioner come to close with incumbent Fred Davis retaining his seat against opponent Travis Hamrick. Davis spoke to the Parsons Advocate about his reelection.
Davis said he feels good about the race and the outcome. “Its really good, I feel good about it,” Davis said.
Davis said it was stressful race that left him nervous. “It was a stressful one this time,” Davis said. “I was really nervous the whole time, really.”
Davis had nothing but good things to say about his opponent. “That guy was a class act,” Davis said. “He come up and shook my hand. We had three precincts still coming in. He come up and shook my hand and he come up and talked to my family and my grandkids.”
Davis said Hamrick’s wife was also nothing but cordial the entire night. “His wife was really nice the whole evening,” Davis said.
Davis was complementary of both Hamrick and his wife. “Couldn’t ask for better people,” Davis said. “They were my friends when this started and they’re my friends now.”
When asked if he would run for a third term, Davis said it would depend on the status of his health, but he was hopeful. “If my health is good, I’d probably say yes,” Davis said. “I enjoy doing my job. I like working for the County.”
Davis said he plans to continue to keep the citizens of Tucker County in the loop when it comes to County business. “I will keep letting everybody know what is going on,” Davis said. “I won’t hide nothing from them.”
Davis said that citizens can call him and he is willing to work with them to solve their issues. “They know they can call and talk to me about anything and I’ll work with them on anything,” Davis said. “It don’t matter what it is.”
He attributes his willingness to work with the people of Tucker County for his win. “I think that is why I won, really,” Davis said. “I try to keep everybody informed on what is going on and try to do my best for everybody.”
Davis said he doesn’t know what he would have done if he had lost. “I would have been lost if I had lost,” Davis said. “I told my wife if I lost I don’t know what I would do with myself. Probably would have got back into coaching, maybe.”
Davis said one of his main focuses is on jobs and helping people find jobs. “People call me from when I told them last time I’d help them find jobs and careers,” Davis said. “I’ve done a lot of that. People don’t know how many people I’ve gotten jobs and helped them out and I think that’s a good thing.”
Davis said he has also been working with the schools to help the students find local jobs if they are not on a college path. “I’ve been working close with the schools, too trying to teach these kids that there are jobs around here if they want them,” Davis said. “I try to help them figure out there are jobs around here that they can do. Not everyone is college material, I try to let our kids know.”
Davis said he is proud of the County’s budget and felt that Tucker County is doing better than most counties in West Virginia. “And keeping the budget of our County going, I think we are doing very well,” Davis said. “We’re doing better than most counties are.”
When it comes to budget requests, Davis said the Commission tries to help everyone, but sometimes law and regulation doesn’t make it possible. “We try to help everybody out,” Davis said. “If we have it and we’re allowed, we do it. There are some people that come to us and we’re not allowed to do and there are rules that we are not allowed to do different things. So we try to explain that to them, too. If we can’t, there’s always a reason.”
Davis said that he thinks that every budget request he has been asked for, he was able to get the requester some amount. “I think every time someone has asked me for something, they’ve got it,” Davis said. “Maybe not as much as they wanted, but we got it for them.”
Davis said that being a Commissioner is about more than money and budget. “Being a Commissioner, I don’t just work on the budget of the County,” Davis said. “I try to help with anything and everything that they do.”
Davis said that he felt that people have noticed what he has been doing. “When I won like I did, I said that people was paying attention to what I’ve done,” Davis said.
“I appreciate the County stepping up and doing what they did for me,” Davis said.