At the April 17, 2014 meeting of the Morgan County Commission in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, a group of citizens requested that the Commission vote on a resolution to support the school levy, up for a vote on May 13.
Commissioner Stacy Dugan said that the West Virginia Ethics Commission last year advised that “the Commission itself should not take a stand on it.”
“If it were up to me, I would love to (have the vote on the levy),” said Commission President Brad Close.
Close put the issue on as an agenda item for the May 8 meeting.
But then this week, Close said there would be no vote on on the resolution, and the item was taken off the agenda.
Why?
“I simply believe the Commission is not the place for something like this,” Close said.
Close is an open supporter of the levy. Commissioner Bob Ford is against the levy. His wife Jeannie Ford heads the organization working to defeat it. And Stacy Dugan has yet to take a public position on the issue this year. Last year, Dugan and Close each took out an ad in the Morgan Messenger in favor of the levy, which went down to defeat by a vote of 56 percent (1,672) to 44 percent (1,323).
Close said that he had spoken with the school board about this and that the school board agreed with him that a public debate before the Commission would hurt the chance of the levy passing.
But David Ambrose, President of School Board, said that the board never discussed the matter.
“If the Commission wants to pass a resolution, that would be great,” Ambrose said.
“If they would rather do something else — like take out ads in their own names, like Brad and Stacy did last year, that’s great too.”
“I don’t know where this idea came from that the school board is opposed to the idea of the Commission passing a resolution in favor of the levy,” Ambrose said. “Whatever they are comfortable doing is fine.”
Dugan claimed at the April 17 meeting that the West Virginia Ethics Commission advised the Morgan County Commission against voting on a resolution for or against the levy.
But a review of the audio of that June 26, 2013 meeting, where West Virginia Ethics Commissioner C. Joan Parker appeared before the Commission, finds that Parker hesitated about giving a definitive opinion when questioned about whether the Commission could vote on a levy resolution.
“It may be one of those situations that requires it’s own advisory opinion,” Parker said. “Contact me informally for advice. Or when you have a unique question like this one, it might need it’s own advisory opinion.”
We rang up Parker and she said that while the Commission may not spend money on ads for or against the levy, it could vote on a resolution — because that’s considered not spending public funds on a matter.
In an e-mail, Parker said that the two relevant advisory opinions “may be interpreted to permit a county commission to vote to take a position on a school levy, since doing so falls within the performance of usual and customary duties or the promotion of public policy goals.”
Meanwhile, Joel Tuttle, who is running for County Commissioner in the Republican primary May 18, today came out forcefully for the levy.
“I support the levy 100 percent,” Tuttle said. “I support our children. And I support education. After the levy was defeated last year, the Board of Education did everything it was asked to do by those who came out against it. It’s a much better levy call now.”
When asked why the levy lost so badly last year, Tuttle said — “I like to believe that the economy drove that decision.”
“You can’t blame some of the folks who voted against the levy,” Tuttle said. “They are facing some pretty tough times. It’s no secret that the economy is in pretty bad shape. Budgets are tight. And people were looking for a way to save money. It’s the only tax that people can vote against. And it’s the only tax where we know where the money is going. The money is going to our local school system and ultimately to our children.”
What happens if the levy is defeated on May 13?
“That will be a disastrous situation for Morgan County,” Tuttle said. “We will be the least funded county in the state of West Virginia per student. We won’t even be close to Hardy County, which is second to last. We will lose a handful of teachers to other counties that value education and where they can earn a decent wage. When the school year starts next year, we are going to lose a whole slate of invaluable programs, including the alternative education program, advanced placement courses, some of our enrichment classes such as music, art, theater. We will lose eight remedial specialists. These are people who specialize in helping kids who are falling behind in the classroom academically. We will also lose interventionists, who are folks who help kids who are falling behind behaviorally.”
“We will also lose about $500,000 a year in the maintenance budget. They won’t be able to afford some preventive maintenance on these buildings. That’s $2.5 million over five years.”
How will the defeat of the levy affect businesses seeking to locate to Morgan County?
“I’m afraid that if a business looks at Morgan County and they see that we don’t value education, they are going to just drive right on by,” Tuttle said. “I don’t think they will come here at all.”