When Jason Philabaun decided to run for St. Albans City Council in 2013, the two political parties that shaped the city's elections for years had become obsolete.
Rather than Democratic and Republican, the Citizens Party and the Peoples Party are the two political parties in St. Albans.
While Philabaun was elected as a member of the Peoples Party, "I actually don't know what they stood for when I ran," he said. "They were basically gone when I decided to run [for council]."
The city's now-defunct political parties, which don't seem to embody any particular philosophy, likely will be abolished in favor of nonpartisan elections.
Philabaun and a few other council members introduced a new ordinance to allow nonpartisan elections for city-wide offices - the mayoral race and Council races.
It's not exactly clear how the two parties became defunct over time, but Philabaun said when a vacancy would periodically open up on St. Albans' 12-member City Council, it was customary for the party of the former member to put forth a new person to fill the seat.
"They were nonexistent," Philabaun said. "We needed something else. Nonpartisan elections were talked about because we're a small town; I don't think we need an entire two-party system."
Dick Callaway, who has served as mayor of St. Albans for more than a decade, said the city's political landscape has been influenced over time not by the parties, but by individual Council members.
"I don't think [the parties] had a steady platform. It would ebb and flow to whatever the local issue [was] at the time," Callaway said. "I've run four separate elections, and it depended more on the people running than on the particular philosophy of the party."
The proposed ordinance would do more than just allow nonpartisan elections.
It also would change off-year elections to fall on the same dates as county and state races, with four-year terms beginning in 2020.
The city's last election was in 2013, which means the next election will be held next year. However, the ordinance proposes a three-year term from 2017 to 2020 in order to align with the county and state by that year.
By moving to nonpartisan elections, St. Albans would hold one election, the May primary, instead of two.
Callaway estimated the city would save up to $50,000 through the change.
"It would eliminate the need for city [employees] to go and stay at polling places. So if we're able to run elections in association with the county, state and national elections, it would absolve the city of a lot of responsibility of getting folks with the time to work it," Callaway said.
St. Albans wouldn't be the only town in Kanawha County to hold nonpartisan elections.
Philabaun said the council committee that worked on the ordinance looked to the towns of Belle and Nitro, which already have nonpartisan races.
He also believes that city elections held in conjunction with county and state races will bolster voter turnout for local races.
"The last municipal elections, [the turnout] was abysmal," he said. "The turnout for county elections is far better than just the municipal elections."
No one spoke in opposition to the ordinance during its first reading on Dec. 5.
It's up for a second reading during Council's meeting and public hearing on Dec. 19.
"Everyone I've contacted seems to think this is probably the best move to make, considering of lack of parties putting platforms together," Callaway said. "And it saves the city quite a bit of money."
Nine members of St. Albans City Council represent the city's wards, while the other three are at-large members.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.