Patrick Farrell

American Dynamism 🇺🇸

“We had to show them that when we take somebody living on the street to the ER and back to the street, then to jail, it’s the most costly, least effective way to solve this problem.”  news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to optimize organizational structures. This is one of the best pieces I’ve read on how we’ve organized people in the military and business. A question I’ll ponder…“(W)hat does your company understand that is genuinely hard to understand, and is that understanding getting deeper every day?”

Marc Andreessen on raising his homeschooled 10-year-old in the AI era: "AI takes people who are good and makes them very good… but the really great people are becoming spectacularly great. Top coders say they’re suddenly 10x as good." Goal for kids: Become super-empowered individuals who go deep + fully harness AI. Watch from ~12 mins: youtube.com/watch?v=87Pm0S…

Huntington in Progress: February 12, 2026 patrickjfarrell.substack.com/p/huntington-i…

Huntington in Progress: February 12, 2026 - City Manager: Huntington names William B. Annie as next City Manager. - Winter Weather Response: Nearly 2.3 million pounds of salt used across 189 miles of city streets. - Pothole Season Ahead: Crews transitioning from winter response to spring repairs. - Budget Released:  FY27 budget, $87M in annual spending, and a clear-eyed look at unfunded liabilities. - One River Moment: A rare Ohio River freeze and an unforgettable moonrise. Full update below

A lot of people are working extremely hard to bring good things to this city. Some of that work is visible. Some of it is happening behind the scenes. All of it is focused on building a stronger Huntington and you’re going to start seeing the results.

A Common-Sense Fix to Huntington’s Transit Levy Language: Removing outdated restrictions so TTA can protect bus service and take care of Pullman Square patrickjfarrell.substack.com/p/the-tta-levy…

A Common-Sense Fix to Huntington’s Transit Levy Language: Removing outdated restrictions so TTA can protect bus service and take care of Pullman Square Full post 👇

Today I learned a new term: “conflict entrepreneurs." They are people who use conflict to try to gain money, power, or attention by escalating problems instead of solving them. The conflict is the product. They want to pull you in with outrage, division, and “us vs. them” so they can profit from your engagement. This video explainers how to spot one. cbsnews.com/video/reporter…

2025 End-of-Year Update patrickjfarrell.substack.com/p/huntington-i…

Huntington in Progress: December 23, 2025 The link to my End-of-Year 2025 Update is below.

Huntington in Progress: December 9, 2025 patrickjfarrell.substack.com/p/huntington-i…

Huntington in Progress: December 9, 2025 Opioid Litigation: Federal appeals court reversed the lower ruling; December 16 hearing is next step. The Hub Transition: The Huntington Homeless Services Hub is becoming an independent nonprofit with broad community partnership. Dietz Hollow Landfill Liability: We’re working with WVDEP and legislators to fix a $25M+ environmental burden from decades ago. Accountability Results: Through liens, notices, and litigation, we’ve collected $599,670 this year from delinquent property owners. Read more👇

Our economy and the business world are changing, and companies are adapting in their own way. I have been in contact with leadership at both Steel of West Virginia and Amazon. Each is adjusting to new market realities. Steel of West Virginia is downsizing their melt plant while investing $30 million to modernize their rolling mills, and Amazon is restructuring how it serves customers nationwide. These changes are not happening because of where they are located. They are happening because of market dynamics. The foundations that make this city a great place to do business remain the same: dependable infrastructure, affordable costs, and people who take ownership of their work. Operating here means lower energy, labor, and real estate costs than most of the country. Marshall University’s new Institute for Cyber Security and Innovation District show that Huntington can produce the kind of talent the modern economy demands, adaptable and detail oriented people who take pride in doing things right. And investments like Nucor’s show that we still produce people who build with skill, grit, and pride. Change is constant. What matters is how we meet it, and in Huntington, we are meeting it head on.

Unpopular opinion: let’s move election day to coincide with Veterans Day. Since it is already a federal and state holiday it would make it easier for people to vote while honoring veterans and reinforcing the idea of civic duty. #VotingonVeteransDay

At the beginning of this year, when I took office, I made a simple promise: no one who served our country should ever have to sleep on the streets. That was the idea behind Mission Zero, a city-led pilot project to identify every veteran experiencing homelessness and connect them to the housing and services they’ve earned. Read more about it below.

It’s happening. On November 1, Huntington will open Phase 1 of the Homeless Services Hub at 96 3rd Avenue West, a place built to bring order, safety, and compassion under one roof. Read more about it 👇