I love my hometown of Charleston and this beautiful mountain state, and have put a lot of love and energy into the community and economy as a young entrepreneur. This year, I’m asking you to elect me to serve the community as City Councilor at large. I believe there is a lot that can be done better by the city to help develop small business and reduce barriers for startups, and we need to take action for minorities and seniors, leveling the economic environment so we can live together in harmony and comfort.
I grew up in Charleston, and have lived here my whole life besides my time at West Virginia University studying Business Marketing and Music Technology. My father, David Zinn, was born in the small town of Phillipi, WV and would eventually move to Charleston to become the President of the Charleston Newspapers until his retirement. I have always admired his candid nature, compassion for community members particularly his employees. He understands the significance of every individual that makes up our businesses, economy, and community.
My mother, Chris Zinn, was born in Scotland in a city not unlike Charleston in the mountains. She lived half her life in the United Kingdom, eventually landing in Charleston as a mid-wife and became an integral leader in the hospice movement in our rural aging state. I love my mother very much and my heart fills with joy every time I hear stories from people she has touched. It’s her compassion that inspires me to care for those that don’t receive care. We have a lot of disability and health issues in our state, an aging population, and public health issues during a global pandemic. She also reminds me of the importance of immigrants to our community and development of our economy.
I’m a white 30 year old cis-gender male, and I believe in justice for every person on this planet. I do everything I can to stand up for injustice and check my belief systems and perspectives. I grew up with a very comfortable life in South Hills that many do not have access to. I moved to the West Side in 2017 for many reasons: cheap real estate, walkability, access to the river, but truly most of all I wish to celebrate diversity and all live together.
Nothing opens your eyes more than seeing the community come together after a child has been shot. I never knew this as a kid, only reading it in the papers or experiencing distantly through friends at Capitol. It’s an incredibly painful thing to experience as a bystander let alone to be a family that is so closely connected to these murders. At the same time, we see such love in the community in those embracing aftermath moments. These acts of violence aren’t foreign to the United States, but I believe these deaths are preventable over time if we take the right approaches in youth and community development and policy. All of us deserve to live in comfort no matter our upbringing, beliefs, financial situation, or color of our skin.
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