Beckley Inclusive City Recovery project gets axed
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – On February 28, 2024, plans were released for the City of Beckley to become the nation’s first “Inclusive Recovery City”.
The citizens of Beckley said they were blindsided by this information.
At a council meeting on Tuesday night, council members and citizens brought forth their concerns about the project to Mayor Robert Rappold.
Christie Lilly is just one of many residents that questioned Rappold on his motives. According to Lilly, ‘Seed Sowers’, the company organizing the Inclusive Recovery City charter, along with Mayor Rappold, did not express enough focus on active recovery to citizens.
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“It’s all just…it’s very, not one of them ever talks about ‘real recovery’,” said Lilly.
At around noon on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, Mayor Rappold sent out an email to council members, saying in quote, “Due to the unexpected public and Council input in opposition to IRC, I have informed Jay Phillips that I will not be signing the charter. The March 19th Ceremony is cancelled.”
Jay Phillips is the Executive Director of Seed Sower, Inc.
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“There was so much opposition to it, not only from citizens but also from council members as well, and as the Mayor of Beckley, golly, I’m not going to ignore that,” said Rappold.
The dedication ceremony scheduled for March 19, 2024, at West Virginia Institute of Technology was indeed cancelled.
Mayor Rappold said if Seed Sowers Inc wished to go forth with the initiative, that they will not have the support of the City of Beckley.
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