CHARLESTON, WV — (LOOTPRESS) The rhetoric has gotten more ominous in the Cabell County 2022 election fiasco.
Community activist Jan Hite King confirmed Tuesday that she “and other interested parties” have retained the services of former Kanawha County Prosecutor Michael Clifford to represent them in the dispute.
While there are many aspects to the case, Clifford issued a warning to those he said are “spreading vicious rumors about my clients.”
Clifford said, “Those who are lying about my clients might want to prepare to tell us where those stories came from.”
It’s difficult to even explain how the dispute originated and got so far.
It’s safe to say realignment of Cabell’s magisterial districts — required every 10 years by the federal census results — coincided with the regularly-scheduled 2022 off-year election to add to the confusion.
Since state law allows no more than one county commissioner to serve from any one district, it was generally accepted before September 2021 that the commission term of Democrat County Commission President Jim Morgan would be up for grabs this year.
But sometime between then and December, someone hatched the idea of consolidating the magisterial districts from the existing five to three. That meant, if that plan was approved, each of the three districts would have a commissioner.
Prior to redistricting from five districts, two were not represented on a rotating basis.
It appears that County Clerk Phyllis Smith had hired Doug McKenzie of Summerville to map the new districts. Although commissioners, clerk and staff deny any improper communications, the mapper somehow learned of commissioners’ desire to consolidate from five districts to three.
Eventually, on the votes of Morgan and Democrat Commissioner Nancy Cartmill, the three district consolidation was approved. Republican Commissioner Kelli Sabonya voted against the plan. There was limited discussion although King and another activist questioned how McKenzie was hired. There was no explanation.
The fallout from the vote was instantaneous. King and others claim Morgan looked at Sabonya and said something to the effect, “you know you two have been serving from the same district for two years.”
King and others concluded that Morgan was alleging Sabonya and Cartmill had been serving from the same district. Morgan has not elaborated but King says an audio tape of the meeting confirms the comment.
King and another potential candidate attempted to file for Commission Saturday, the deadline for 2022 filing.
There is considerable dispute about what happened after that, with each side saying the Secretary of State’s office and County Commission counsel gave conflicting advice.
Clifford said, however, that “all the comments being made on social media and elsewhere is not helpful in resolving this dispute.”
He went on, “I’m serving notice to all involved. My clients (the only client he named specifically is King) are not going to sit back and have their reputations attacked and do nothing about it.”
This is a developing story that will be regularly updated.