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WVU political science student wins seat on Fairmont City Council
Matt Delligatti, a 20-year-old West Virginia University political science student, won a seat Tuesday (Nov. 7) on the nine-member Fairmont City Council.
“It’s been pretty exciting,” Delligatti said. “It’s important for people my age to get involved. We need diversity in government, different ages, genders, young and old; everybody should be included.”
Delligatti, a full-time student in his third year at WVU, campaigned door-to-door in Fairmont to win the seat representing the city’s 9th District. He’ll take office Jan. 9.
“Going door-to-door made a big difference,” Delligatti said. “It let people know I’m serious about representing the district. Although I’m finishing my degree, I’ll still have enough time to focus on this job and to do it well.”
Delligatti won the election with a total of 1,808 votes.
“It’s fantastic that Matt got involved,” said Jeff Worsham, a WVU political science professor who taught Delligatti last year in a public administration class. “We encourage all our students to be engaged in what’s going on and to get involved in their communities.”
The WVU political science student used the Internet extensively in his campaign. He established a Web site, dell2006.com, and created a profile on Facebook.com, a personal networking site.
He also had a campaign manager, his brother, Anthony Delligatti, 22, a WVU senior. The brothers, along with at least 10 WVU students and friends from Fairmont, began canvassing the city two months prior to the election.
“We ran a high energy campaign,” Anthony Delligatti said. “Most of our canvassing was done on the weekends, because we were in class all week. But we were able to reach just about every house in Fairmont.”
During the canvassing, the brothers and their supporters distributed 6,000 pamphlets. The pamphlets were paid for by a spaghetti fundraising dinner the brothers organized early in the campaign.
Matt Delligatti said he campaigned to stop water fee increases to fund non-water related city services and to support planning and business development practices to attract new business development. He also advocates increasing access to information about city government on Fairmont’s Web site, televising council meetings and instituting gas mileage standards for new city vehicle purchases.
In addition, Delligatti plans to focus on decreasing crime.
“I am currently proposing a study, which would be in cooperation with WVU, of neighborhood crime and policing methods in Fairmont,” he said on his Web site. “This study I’m proposing will be of no cost to the city, while promoting safer neighborhoods.”