FAYETTEVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Fayette County Assessor Harvey “Eddie” Young has been named as the recipient of this year’s Richard Shelton Memorial Award.
Award recipients are selected annually each year by the West Virginia Association of Counties and are chosen based on having demonstrated exemplary public service throughout their career.
Fayette County Sheriff Mike Fridley announced Young’s selection for the award on Wednesday stating,
“Congratulations to our Fayette County WV Assessor, Harvey “Eddie” Young, for being awarded the Richard Shelton Memorial Award at the annual West Virginia Association of Counties meeting. Great work Assessor Young!”
Young began his career with the county in the Summer of 1989 as an appraiser and quickly ascended through the ranks. After 10 years as Chief Deputy Assessor, Young was appointed as Fayette County Assessor in 2004.
“I’ve been here almost 34 years,” Young tells LOOTPRESS following the announcement of his selection as the 2023 recipient of the Richard Shelton Memorial Award.
“Meeting the people of Fayette County, I’ve made so many friends over the time that I’ve been here, and everyone has treated me just wonderfully.”
Despite the high honor he’s just received, Young spends noticeably little time talking about himself during our discussion, instead preferring to highlight the efforts of the staff around him and the community members who make his work possible.
“An assessor can’t do his job unless he’s got a good staff and I’ve been blessed with a good staff through my whole tenure here,” he explains. “I give them a shout first and foremost.”
Characteristically, he dismisses the notion of taking full credit for the recent accomplishment and informed his staff of such following the award announcement.
“I told my staff when I got back from that meeting, I said ‘This is not my award, this is our award. Because you guys help me do my job and I couldn’t do it without you.’”
As far as what the award means to him personally, Young insists that his focus remains primarily on the work of the Assessor’s Office, but that he is grateful for the recognition of his colleagues in having selected him for the honor.
“I’ve always just tried to do my job here in the Assessor’s Office to the best of my ability,” he says. “Actions speak louder than words, in my opinion, but it means a lot to me that my colleagues throughout the state voted for me. That’s an award that I had no inkling that I would ever receive, so it was a shock, and it was a blessing as well.”
Some past recipients of the Richard Shelton Memorial Award include Ed Hawkins, Susan Thomas, Verlin Moye, and David “Bugs” Stover.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the Fayette County area can be found here.
