FOLLANSBEE — Voters in the city’s June 10 election will be asked to choose from two candidates for mayor.

They are challenger Scott McMahon of 137 Sharon Blvd. and incumbent David Velegol Jr. of 400 Heather Moor.

McMahon is a graduate of West Virginia University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science while minoring in communications and philosophy.

He has been employed since 2007 by IBM, where he educates global partners in “embedding IBM technology into their solutions, which enhance customers’ experiences”

He served as 4th Ward councilman from 2001 to 2005, during which he chaired the building enforcement committee; and as 5th Ward councilman from 2015 to 2019.

“I am a former business owner in the city, having provided clean, affordable rental property,” said McMahon.

He said if elected, he would ensure the city’s police department has adequate manpower, modern equipment and a working relationship with other law enforcement agencies; push for yearly evaluations of city parks to ensure they are of high quality and plan special events at the city’s swimming pool.

McMahon said he would push for fiscal responsibility.

He said, “(City) Departments are losing money and are being subsidized by the general fund and other sources. This has a trickle-down effect by reducing or eliminating the services our citizens need and have come to expect.”

“One glaring example of these reduced services is our roads haven’t been paved in years when there used to be an annual street paving program,” said McMahon.

Velegol earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from WVU, a master’s degree in business administration, with a focus on accounting and finance, from Robert Morris University; a law degree from Duquesne University, and a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Employed by Civil and Environmental Consultants, he has 38 years’ experience designing and constructing water and wastewater treatment systems for industry, with more than $500 million in completed projects.

He is in his 14th year as mayor and served as the city’s municipal judge for 10 years.

Velegol said, “The combination of my engineering, financial and legal education and work experiences really match the qualifications needed for this office.”

He said he led efforts that secured $21 million for water and wastewater projects for the city and planned renovations to the fire station and if re-elected, he’d continue to work with state and federal leaders to obtain additional grants for new streetlights and other projects.

Velegol said the water and sewer grants led to a savings of $10,000 for each household, and he will apply his experience with engineering and construction “to ensure projects are properly and cost-effectively installed and to minimize additional contractor charges beyond the base contract, which can financially harm the city.”

He said he’d continue to push for replacement of the Market Street Bridge and support all businesses, including the development by Ewusiak Development and others of the Port of West Virginia and a pig iron plant.

Both candidates were asked what city officials can do to attract new businesses or retain existing ones.

McMahon said, “The city needs to work with regional agencies, state and federal leaders and our own business leaders and real estate partner to attract new and varied businesses. We can’t as a city do this alone.”

“Within our city limits we have state routes, the Ohio River and rail available for industry. As new businesses come to our city, they will need more places to eat, along with housing, further enhancing our city while adding to the tax base. Follansbee has much to offer, and we need to let the world know,” he said.

Velegol said, “We need to ensure Follansbee is attractive by continuing to develop our water and wastewater infrastructure and street paving. It also is very important to have great activities for our children, like baseball, softball and summer basketball leagues, nice parks and the swimming pool.”

“We also need to support all of our businesses, including Wheeling Nippon and Ewusiak Development,” he said.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)