The Charleston Gazette-Mail published this editorial on Tuesday, Aug. 6:
When it comes to ethics in government, or at least enforcing the concept, West Virginia has a unique problem in that everyone in a position of power seems to know everyone else. In some cases, those relationships go beyond mere friendship.
Most recently, unsuccessful Republican secretary of state candidate Ken Reed filed an election law complaint with the current administration in the office he was seeking, asking for an investigation into ties between Kris Warner, the winner of the GOP primary, and a political action committee, Conservative Policy Action. The PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads backing Warner and attacking his opponents, such as Reed. (In the interest of full disclosure, one of those other candidates was Democrat-turned-Republican Doug Skaff Jr., who is president of HD Media, which owns the Gazette-Mail).
Warner currently heads up the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, which, as the Gazette-MailƵs Mike Tony reported, is a powerful public corporation that approved hundreds of millions of dollars of support for entities led by many of the largest contributors to the Conservative Policy Action super PAC. Reed wants any ties between Warner and that PAC investigated, along with any ties Warner or the PAC might have with Mark Scott, former secretary of the West Virginia Department of Administration. Scott resigned from his post July 31 amid concern regarding Scott holding his government job (which included overseeing state purchasing, personnel and facility management) while also serving as chairman of the Conservative Policy Action PAC.
ReedƵs claim in a simple one. He believes Scott and Warner used their power over awarding state contracts to leverage fundraising for WarnerƵs campaign, calling it a Ƶmassive conflict of interest.Ƶ And it would be, if thatƵs what happened.
Unfortunately, the situation gets thorny when considering the agency responsible for an investigation is headed by outgoing Secretary of State Mac Warner, Kris WarnerƵs brother. Mac Warner is vacating the office in January after an unsuccessful bid for governor.
To be clear, no one is accusing Mac Warner of providing cover for his brother. No one is suggesting there isnƵt a process to conduct an investigation with Mac Warner recusing himself from any involvement. But it would be challenging for both Warners to avoid scrutiny along those lines, should the complaint get tossed or even if it moves forward. It doesnƵt help that these situations seem to occur all the time in West Virginia.
ItƵs not that conflicts of interest donƵt occur in other places, itƵs just much easier to see in West Virginia. Maybe thatƵs because the stateƵs population is roughly 1.7 million and there is an almost dynastic presence of political ruling families (of which the Warners are one) that always have been Ƶ and seemingly always will be Ƶ in charge, one way or another. Factor in that a high percentage of West Virginians live in poverty or make very moderate incomes, and the state winds up with a wealthy few who also help call the shots. And itƵs all pretty much out in the open in the Mountain State.
Look at the state Public Service Commission. ItƵs stacked with former coal lobbyists and attorneys who consistently rule in favor of raising utility costs so power providers can keep insanely expensive coal-fired plants operational. Look at the business interests of the governor who put them in place. ItƵs not exactly a secret.
Look at how Gov. Jim Justice imposed his will on the Board of Governors at Marshall University, stacking it with loyalists who ran the previous university administration out of town, seemingly because they werenƵt rewarding JusticeƵs friends.
Or go back to 2008, when photos emerged of then-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and then-West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elliot ƵSpikeƵ Maynard together on the French Riviera in 2006, after the high court had ruled in MasseyƵs favor on a huge case, sparing the company $76 million in damages. It got worse when it came out in another 2008 complaint that Maynard, who died in 2014, had a chance to disclose or clarify his ties to Blankenship but didnƵt. Sure, it made sense that these two guys knew each other, and maybe it was all a coincidence. But the fact that it was a high-roller vacation in Monaco during a time when a case that each man was involved in was ongoing made that hard to believe.
Countless stories like this exist throughout the stateƵs history. Some are certainly worse or more complicated than others. The fact remains that West Virginians always seem to run into the same names at the top, and the owners of those names need to be very transparent and cautious when situations like this arise.
