Clarksburg’s new mayor is Bridgeport businesswoman, Cathy Goings.

 

Owner of Embellishments Too - as well as its mother stores Embellishments and Wicked Sisters in downtown Clarksburg - Goings was sworn in Monday night at Clarksburg Council Chambers.

 

She’s excited and honored to lead the city’s governing body, of which she has been a member for the past two years.

 

“I was really kind of the new kid on the block. They had voted me in as vice mayor my very first year and I was still trying to learn what a council person does,” Goings said. “But, fortunately for me, I had experienced people on council who kind of led me and showed me the way. I worked closely with Mayor Patsy Trecost for the last two years and he kind of groomed me for this position.”

 

Goings and Vice Mayor Gary Bowden were voted into the positions by their fellow members of Clarksburg City Council. Any one of them was capable and qualified to serve as mayor, Goings said.

 

“I was honored that they felt I could be the voice for our city,” she said.

 

Major city improvement projects in the works include the recruitment of a downtown Clarksburg hotel and possibly a convention center, as well as the restoration of the Robinson Grand Theater.

 

Goings is also quite passionate about developing a neighborhood improvement program.

 

“I’d like to see us be a little more active in each of the individual neighborhoods,” she said. “I’ve talked with other cities around the country which have programs like this and I’ve been told it works well. We need to take back our neighborhoods to improve quality of life.”

 

The city also recently revised its business incentive package with intent to entice business owners to choose downtown Clarksburg as a location.

 

“We do have some new businesses that have expressed interest in coming into downtown,” she said. “I think we’ll see more unique little stores and specialty shops. I am a small business owner and certainly would be there to help them every step of the way.”

 

Goings and her husband Rick opened Embellishments in 2000, the additions of Embellishments Too (originally located at The Shoppes of Averil Place in Bridgeport) and Wicked Sisters in 2004. The couple also owns The Fifth Floor, an upscale restaurant/bar, also located in downtown Clarksburg.

 

Interestingly enough, Goings’ Main Street, Bridgeport business is just across the street from Best Care Pharmacy, co-owned by newly-elected Bridgeport Mayor Mario Blount. 

 

Read about Embellishments Too at this May 6, 2012 Connect-Bridgeport story.