Public business must be carried out in the open. That’s self-evident, but it still does not always happen.
The latest example of the failure of a local government in West Virginia to be open about the public’s business comes from the Nicholas County Commission.
Last August, the Commission hired Roger Beverage as the county administrator at a salary of $60,000 a year. A local citizen, Tim Clifford, challenged the hiring, claiming the Commission acted illegally.
Clifford, who represented himself in the legal fight, took the Commission to court, and the court took the Commission to task. The state Supreme Court appointed Webster County Circuit Court Judge Jack Alsop to hear the case, and Alsop unloaded on the commissioners.
Alsop found, among other things: Continue>>>
======