House District 46 candidate Sarah Umberger shares policy views at forum

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

MAXWELTON, WV — Sarah Umberger is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for House of Delegates District 46. She was also unopposed on Tuesday night at RealWV’s candidate forum when neither of the Republican candidates facing off against one another, Del. Jeff Campbell and Mark Robinson, attended to answer questions for voters.

District 46 comprises Greenbrier County east of Route 219 and extends north into part of Pocahontas County.

With the stage all to herself, alongside moderator Scott Womack, Sarah Umberger shared her background with voters. “I’m a retired school teacher with 24 years in the school system. I worked as a special education teacher. I have a lot of experience in leadership. I’m a really hard worker, and it’s reflected in everything I do. My husband and son are both combat veterans. I feel like there are a lot of divisive issues right now when we need to be making sure people have food to eat and water to drink.”

The first question revolved around Vandalia’s controversial decision to close the labor and delivery unit at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. Umberger was asked what she could do about it as a delegate?

“We need to look at the whole Certificate of Need (CON) system,” she said. “It’s my understanding that how it works is it took out competition between other providers. I think the CON program either needs to be abolished or reformed.”

Next, an audience member asked Umberger how she would reconcile the desire for school choice and strong public schools?

“I strongly feel that parents should choose the type of education their kids receive,” she said. “I also strongly feel that recipients of the Hope Scholarship, which is another government program, should have the same requirements people who need help buying food have. If you need food, you have to fill out a bazillion forms. If you want the Hope Scholarship, you fill out a form and it’s done; it’s not fair.”

As a follow-up, she was asked, “What could we do to have same level of accountability?” 

“We have to pass legislation that requires there be educational standards for homeschoolers and private schoolers just like public schools.”

Attention then turned to the county’s largest employer, The Greenbrier Hotel. Is she concerned for the jobs of her potential constituents as hotel ownership heads to court with Omni Hotels?

“I’m not particularly concerned,” she replied. “Omni Hotels knows how to run the hotel business.” 

Womack then asked Umberger if she supported or opposed data centers, particularly the notion of a lack of local control?

“I think that data centers are a fact of life,” she began. “We can’t ban them. But there was also some really misguided legislation that went through the legislature the last few years. The first thing I to do is reform that (lack of) local control. They gave away our tax money. We would get 30% of the taxes. It just appalled me. 50% goes to personal income tax reduction fund. How many of you really saw a lot of benefit? 30% comes to county. You think we’re gonna get a whole lot of money or is Kanahwa County gonna get that? It’s just wrong. We need legislation that will bring back local control.” 

Where does she stand on separation of church and state?

“I’m probably one of the only people in this room who is Jewish,” she said. “I have really strong feelings. I can tell you what it’s like when you have someone else’s faith forced on you.”

As a final question, Womack asked on behalf of an audience member who submitted a question if Umberger would commit to removing state laws that have been on the books for years and proven ineffective, rather than just passing new laws each year?  

“Yes, absolutely,” she said. “The Hope Scholarship and data centers.”

Early voting begins on April 29 and the election day is on May 12. Stay tuned to RealWV for other stories on additional races represented at the candidate forum in the coming days.

For the full vide of the forum, see below.