Trending
By DOUGLASS HUXLEY
Staff Reporter
PARKERSBURG -- With the selection of an interim board member potentially impacting the upcoming May 14 election, the Wood County Board of Education has moved up its timetable for making the choice.
The board announced Tuesday evening it will meet in special session on Monday, Feb. 12, to conduct candidate interviews and appoint someone to the seat from which Debbie Hendershot resigned last month.
The release said the online application period for those interested in applying for the interim position will close at 5 p.m. Monday. The board meeting will begin at 5:30 to announce the candidates, and interviews will follow beginning at 6. An appointment announcement will follow the completion of those interviews, the release said.
Those submitting an application by Sunday will be informed of their interview time before 10 a.m. Monday, the release said. Applicants submitting on Monday will be contacted as applications are received throughout the day to have interviews arranged for that evening.
Hendershot stepped down Jan. 30 to run for Wood County magistrate, which makes her ineligible to serve on the board. The board's appointment would fill the seat until a special election in November determines who will serve the remainder of the term.
Although the board has up to 45 days to name a replacement, they originally planned to begin interviews on Feb. 24 and announce and swear in the new member at the regular meeting on Feb. 27.
But a representative of the Wood County Clerk's office said the language on the ballot will depend on the district in which the interim appointee lives.
By law, no more than two members can be seated from the same magisterial district, of which there are three - A, B and C - in Wood County. The candidates who filed for the ballot are:
≤ Ron Tice, District A
≤ Robert E. Mercer, District A
≤ Judy Johnson, District B
≤ Chad Conley, District C
≤ David A. Wilson, District C
Tice and Johnson are incumbents already serving on the board, while the remaining board members, Justin Raber and Sarah Townsend, are from Districts B and C, respectively.
The board cannot appoint an interim member from District B. If they appoint someone from District A, then the highest vote-getters in May will be seated on the board, as long as they are not from the same district.
But if an interim member is appointed from District C, no candidate from that district could be seated.
If the board appoints someone from District A, the wording on the ballot would remain the same stating, "vote for no more than two: District A-1 and District B-1; Or District C-1". But, if the board appoints someone from District C, the wording would change to, "vote no more than two: District A-2; Or District A-1 and District B-1; District C-0".
The representative of the Wood County Clerk's office said the deadline to withdraw from the ballot is 4:30 p.m. Feb. 13, via a notarized request form submitted in person at the clerk's office.
The wait for an appointment is delaying processes the clerk's office must do in preparation for the election, including testing and getting approval from the ballot commission, the representative said.
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com.