FAIRMONT — Although Anne Bolyard grew up in the southern part of the state in Clendenin, she now gets to serve as mayor of her grandparents’ hometown — Fairmont.
On Jan. 10, Bolyard was sworn in as the first female mayor of Fairmont, a title she said she understands carries a great deal of responsibility.
She said it’s even harder to believe that after graduating from WVU Tech, she nearly took a job out of state, but decided to stay in West Virginia instead.
She saw a need in West Virginia and found a way she could work to fill it.
“I worked a lot in the public health and community health sector, and a lot of those grassroots efforts require grant funds, so I started writing grants and I was good at it,” Bolyard said. “At that time, I was working with West Virginia University, and they moved me up from programmatic grant writing to being involved with grant administration.”
Bolyard quickly climbed the ladder at WVU, working out of the university’s southern campus at WVU Tech. Job opportunities at the Morgantown campus became enticing and she made the choice to move north to Fairmont.
“East Side, of course,” she said. (Her grandparents had lived in East Side.)
The Bolyard family has a history in Fairmont and the move to the Friendly City her grandparents had called home felt every kind of right. As she continued to work for WVU, she wanted to put her expertise to more use at a local level, and pursued a position on the Fairmont Historic Preservation Commission.
That position led Bolyard to earn a seat on the Board of Zoning Appeals, where she met fellow city councilmember Gia Deasy, who also served on that board at the time.
The filing period to run for city council was approaching, and Frank Yann, the long-time representative of District 2, was set to retire.
“It didn’t take much persuading to convince Anne to run,” Deasy said. “Her only hangup with the idea was her respect for Mr. Yann, but he wasn’t running again.”
So, in 2020, Anne ran and won the seat to represent Fairmont’s second district. Similar to her climb through the ranks at WVU, she also was quick to gain the respect of her fellow councilmembers. Her grasp of Robert’s Rules of Order and expertise in nonprofit work and grant writing allow her to make solid decisions to move the city forward.
Earlier this month, she was unanimously voted mayor by the council.
“I was surprised, because I knew it wasn’t a sure thing I’d get the position,” Bolyard said. “I want to make sure that I’m approachable, that I am here to listen to every citizen and anyone that has a concern.”
In other words, she hopes to be thorough.
In Bolyard’s job at WVU and her current position with the WVU Foundation, she’s earned a reputation as person who looks at the details and can parse out what’s important.
Tiffany Walker Samuels, of Fairmont, who works alongside Bolyard at WVU, said that she knew Bolyard was the right person for mayor.
“She looks at the details, she reads every document, that’s what I’m always impressed about. She makes sure she looks at every aspect then stands up for what’s right,” Walker-Samuels said. “Today, it takes someone with intestinal fortitude to stand up for what’s right and I know that Anne is that person.”
Now that she’s in the seat, Bolyard hopes to lead the council in fairness and respect. While the mayor in Fairmont is just one vote on the panel, the position offers the responsibility of guiding the meetings forward.
The hard part starts now. The new councilmembers will have to decide where they lie on the big questions set before them. How will Fairmont spend its $8 million in COVID-19 relief? Are demolitions still a priority? How can the city address drug issues and homelessness? These are on the docket in the next two years, and Bolyard must set the tone.
But she’s up to the task.
“This is such an opportunity. It really is,” Bolyard said. “In my 20s and as a young professional I thought I had to be a certain way to be successful, but now I think it’s really about being authentic.”
