page_title: Charleston, West Virginia
section_title: Government
hierarchical_section_title: Charleston, West Virginia / Government
caption_attribution_description: English: Charleston City Hall, April 2009
context_page_description: Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 51,400 at the 2010 census and an estimated population of 46,536 in 2019. The Charleston metropolitan area as a whole had an estimated 208,089 residents in 2019. Charleston is the center of government, commerce, and industry for Kanawha County, of which it is the county seat.
  Early industries important to Charleston included salt and the first natural gas well. Later, coal became central to economic prosperity in the city and the surrounding area. Today, trade, utilities, government, medicine, and education play central roles in the city's economy.
  The first permanent settlement, Fort Lee, was built in 1788. In 1791, Daniel Boone was a member of the Kanawha County Assembly.
  Charleston is the home of the West Virginia Power minor league baseball team and the annual 15-mile Charleston Distance Run. Yeager Airport and the University of Charleston are in the city. West Virginia State University is in the local area as well as West Virginia University and Marshall University satellite campuses.
context_section_description: Charleston functions under the Mayor-Council form of city government.  The Mayor is the designated Chief Executive Officer of the city with the duty to see that all of the laws and ordinances of the city are enforced.  The Mayor gives general supervision over all executive departments, offices and agencies of the city government and is the presiding officer of the Council and a voting member thereof.  The mayor, Amy Goodwin, was sworn in Monday, January 7, 2019, and is the first female mayor in the history of Charleston.  Charleston also has a City Manager who is appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Council. The City Manager has supervision and control of the executive work and management of the heads of all departments under his or her control as directed by the Mayor, makes all contracts for labor and supplies, and generally has the responsibility for all of the business and administrative work of the city.
  With twenty-six members, the Charleston City Council is somewhat larger than usual for a city with a population of less than 50,000.  Twenty of the council members are elected from a specific ward within the city, and an additional six members are elected by the city at-large.
  General Elections for Mayor, City Council and other city officers take place in May every four years (Primary Elections are held in March).  The most recent election was in May 2019.
  List of mayors of Charleston, West Virginia
  Jacob Goshorn, 1861 (elected but did not serve)
  John A. Truslow, circa 1865
  John Williams
  George Ritter, 1868–1869
  John W. Wingfield, 1870
  H. Clay Dickinson, 1871 (died in office)
  John P. Hale, 1871
  John Williams, 1872
  C. P. Snyder, 1873
  John D. White, 1874
  John C. Ruby, 1875–1876
  C. J. Botkin, 1877–1881
  R. R. Delaney, 1881–1882
  John D. Baines, 1883–1884
  James Hall Huling, 1885–1886
  Joseph L. Fry, 1887–1890
  James B. Pemberton, 1891–1892
  E. W. Staunton, 1893–1894
  J. A. deGruyter, 1895–1898
  W. Herman Smith, 1899–1900 (died in office)
  John B. Floyd, 1900–1901
  George S. Morgan, 1901–
  C. E. Rudesill
  John A. Jarrett
  James A. Holley
  William W. Wertz, 1929
  R. P. DeVan, 1934
  D. Boone Dawson, 1935–1947
  R. Carl Andrews, 1947–1950
  John T. Copenhaver, 1951–1959
  John A. Shanklin, 1959–1967
  Elmer H. Dodson, 1967–1971
  John G. Hutchinson, 1971–1980
  Joe F. Smith, 1980–1983
  James E. "Mike" Roark, 1983–1987
  Charles R. "Chuck" Gardner, 1987-1991
  Kent Strange Hall, 1991-1995
  G. Kemp Melton, 1995-1999
  Jay Goldman, 1999–2003
  Danny Jones, 2003–2019
  Amy Shuler Goodwin, 2019–present
caption: Charleston City Hall, West Virginia, in 2009
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