newsandsentinel.com
August 9th, 2024
Conley claims Couch ‘vendetta’ denied him placement on WV Route 2 and Interstate 68 Authority
County Commission: 304-424-1984 info@woodcountywv.com
PARKERSBURG, WV — A former candidate for the Wood County Commission is taking issue with the commission over appointments to a board he was recommended for, but ultimately passed over for.
Roger Conley appeared before the commission during Thursday’s commission meeting in regards to appointments the commission were making to the WV Route 2 and Interstate 68 Authority.
Conley ran for the seat currently occupied by Commission President Blair Couch in the May primary. Couch won out of the four candidates who ran, which also included Conley, Wood County Assessor David Nohe and Roger Whited.
During Thursday’s meeting, Couch said the commission had received a letter from the authority asking for Conley to be appointed. Conley told the commission he was willing to serve and had attended their last meeting by phone and went through an interview process with the board.
The board is made up of representatives from Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Monongalia and Marion counties. The board has two spots open for representatives from Wood County that are currently vacant, according to meeting minutes from the authority provided by Conley.
The minutes also stated the board approved Conley as a nominee for Wood County.
Couch said the commission also got letters of interest from Willis Perry and Rob Cornelius as well as the letter from the authority in support of Conley.
Couch moved to appoint Perry and Cornelius to the authority which was seconded by Commissioner Robert Tebay. Commissioner Jimmy Colombo voted against it.
Conley felt he was being pushed aside out of a “vendetta” from Couch because of their past political race against each other.
“They called and asked me to join, I went to their meeting and was approved unanimously by their board,” Conley said.
Colombo said he would rather have done interviews for the position, but told Conley that it was the commission who ultimately makes the appointments to this board as well as other boards they have jurisdiction over.
Conley said he had the support of the authority itself after being contacted by them to join and asked if that carried any weight.
“That should say something and for you all not to approve that also says something very loudly,” Conley said.
Couch said the commission has traditionally not appointed people to committees and authorities who were also seeking elected office as it would give the appearance of endorsing their candidacy, especially when their service on a board can be used to promote their qualifications for the office.
He believed Conley was positioning himself to run for the commission again when the seat occupied by Tebay comes up for election or to run for the House of Delegates again.
Conley, who had previously served in the House, said he hasn’t ruled it out.
“My options are open,” he said.
Conley added the authority is made up of people who served in public office, including the state Senate and House of Delegates. He has that experience and knows how the state legislature works.
“You aren’t making any sense,” he said to Couch. “This is nothing but a vendetta.”
Conley held a press conference later in the day to talk about what he feels happened.
He was contacted by the authority and asked if he was interested in joining and was invited to attend their board meeting on July 15 which he did, via phone. He said he was asked a lot of questions and the authority ultimately voted to recommend him for the position.
Conley said the authority has worked for a number of years to get someone from Wood County on the board.
“They called me,” he said. “I went to the meeting. They interviewed me. They vetted me. They sent a letter asking me to be a part of that authority.”
He said he has regularly worked on economic development, owning Conley Fabrication for a number of years. The two people appointed to the board may be qualified, but he felt he too would bring a lot of experience to that board.
Conley said it was political revenge on Couch’s part.
“There is no room for that,” he said. “I have always served the people of Wood County to see what we can do to improve our state and improve our county.
“There is no place for personal vendettas in our local politics.”
Couch responded by saying he believes Conley is going to seek another elected office.
“We don’t necessarily put people running for office on county appointments,” he said. “This is not new. It is our regular practice.”
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