A Decade of Service: Dave Parker Reflects on Elkins’ Growth and Challenges

Patriot. Pastor. Public Servant.

Dave Parker’s path to public office reflects a lifetime of extraordinary experiences, from his start working in Ohio foundries and dairy farms during college to later, serving as a wartime spiritual envoy in Liberia. His life’s arc helped shape his pragmatic approach to tackling Elkins’ challenges during his ten years on Elkins City Council. We recently caught up with him to discuss his journey, where Elkins was a decade ago, and where the City is now.

From Global Challenges to Local, Common-Sense Solutions

Long before joining Council, Dave’s work took him far beyond West Virginia. After several years of working in the private sector, he attended the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. Later, he had an opportunity to serve with the Vatican mission to the United Nations for two years. Following seminary, Dave served in parishes across West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana.

One of his most transformational experiences occurred several time zones away from the U.S.

In 1992, amid Liberia’s brutal civil war, he answered a call from the late Archbishop George Browne to support the besieged Episcopal Church there. “I preached and celebrated the Eucharist with as many Liberian Episcopalians as I could reach,” he recalls. That mission, undertaken when few outsiders dared enter the horrific war zone, left an indelible mark. “It reshaped how I see community—how isolation can break people and taught me why showing up matters.”

This perspective would later inform his Council work when he and Mayor Van Broughton relaunched the Public Safety Committee to address what many residents felt were out-of-control code enforcement issues. “The problems at that time were overwhelming,” Dave says. “But today, we’re light years ahead of where we were ten years ago.”

Their efforts, combined with strong leadership from Elkins Police Department, led to safer streets and secured hundreds of thousands of state funding for demolitions—a dramatic improvement from the city’s initial $5,000 budget line.

Strengthening EPD’s Services and City Finances

One of Dave’s most significant achievements came as chair of the Fire & Rescue Fee Committee, where he helped establish a fee structure that funded full-time firefighters, slashed response times, and lowered property insurance rates. “City residents were subsidizing county coverage,” he notes. “Now it’s equitable, and it was the right move for Elkins.” Despite opposition, he stands by the decision as crucial for public safety.

His private sector experience—from operations management at Roadway Express to directing economic revitalization here in West Virginia during his work with Mountain Partners —shaped his fiscal approach. Today, he praises the treasurer’s office for its unflinching, disciplined management that supported what he views as the successful one-penny sales tax initiative. “The sales tax ordinance was a milestone,” he says. “We’re no longer handcuffed by an inadequate budget.”

Unfinished Business and Lasting Commitment

Dave will agree that not all of Elkins’ challenges have been resolved. For example, Dave remains a vocal critic of the PSC-ordered Whitmer water system takeover, arguing it unfairly burdens Elkins taxpayers. “The PSC overstepped by forcing our citizens to fund a system that is miles outside our community,” he asserts

Yet, he continues tackling complex challenges as chair of the Regional Task Force on Substance Abuse and Homelessness. “It’s frustrating work but necessary,” he admits. “We’re making progress, even if it’s a steep climb.”

Through it all, Dave is quick to credit local leaders and his colleagues—from Mayors Broughton and Jerry Marco to City council members and staff—for Elkins’ transformation. “We’ve done a damned good job,” he says with his characteristic candor.

Now as he steps back from Council, the man who did what he could to bring hope to war-torn Liberia leaves an Elkins that he hopes will be safer, more financially solvent, and better positioned for the future—and he’ll surely keep serving the city he calls home.

When Dave isn’t preoccupied with the City’s business, he and his wife Connie enjoy time with their five children and eight grandchildren, often outdoors hiking or fishing. For Dave, Elkins isn’t just a place that he serves; it’s home, and he will continue to be of service to the community he loves.

But first, Dave will take a break by volunteering during the Augusta Heritage Festival next month, a pastime that has been one of his favorite things about living in Elkins.