The race for a seat on the Wetzel County Commission is one of the mostly hotly contested races in Wetzel County. Four Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination: Cindy K. Glasscock, Scott Lemley, Steven R. Steele, and William (Bill.) Grimm. Larry Weekley is the sole Republican candidate.



Cindy K. Glasscock resides in Folsom with her husband, Jimmy. They are the parents of three sons, Jimmy II, Timmy, and DJ. They also have two granddaughters, Autumn and Emersyn.

She is a 1977 graduate of Valley High School and a 2005 graduate of Fairmont State University’s two-year paramedic program, making the dean’s list each semester, with her name appearing on the National Dean’s List in 2004-2005. She was also inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Society International Scholastic Order of the Two Year College, Alpha Tau Pi chapter.

Glasscock has over 14 years of experience as a business owner, dealing with budgets and accounting practices. She owns Grab-N-Go Mart, a convenience store located in Wallace, as well as Glasscock Construction & Remodeling Co. Inc. located in Folsom. She is also a Certified Medical Assistant with several years experience working in physician’s offices, urgent care facilities, as well as the hospital setting.

Glasscock has over 20 years of community service, serving as an EMT, paramedic, EMS director, fire department treasurer, PTA president, and parent volunteer. She is also a member of the Wallace First Baptist Church and serves as a board trustee and substitute Sunday school teacher for the nursery and pre-school class.

Scott Lemley is the son of Bill and Diana Lemley of Hundred, the grandson of Phyllis and Scott Yost of Hundred, and the grandson of the late George and Lela Lemley of Hundred. He is a member of the Harmony Baptist Church in Burton, W.Va. He has been a lifelong resident of Hundred. He graduated from Hundred High School in 1999 as valedictorian. He continued his education at Fairmont State University and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 2003; his majors were Finance and Management. He obtained his Executive Masters in Business Administration from West Virginia University in 2007.

Lemley has worked for First Exchange Bank for the past six years and has held different management and officer positions during that time. He started his role in public office by being appointed to the Hundred Town Council in 2000 and then ran for Mayor of Hundred in 2001 and served a two-year term. In 2004, he decided to run for a seat on the Wetzel County Board of Education. In January 2008, Lemley had to resign his seat on the Wetzel County Board of Education to place his bid for Wetzel County Commissioner because of the restrictions described in West Virginia Code 18-5-1a.

Steven R. Steele is a lifelong resident of Wetzel County and is married to Priscilla (King) Steele. He is a 1975 graduate of Magnolia High School. He was a UMWA coal miner at the No. 4 coal mine for 12 years, and he owned and operated Steele Construction, Ltd. for 24 years and The Home Store, Inc. for eight years. Steele retired from his business in July 2007 to run for county commissioner as this will allow him to devote all of his time to the job.

Steele has been as long-time supporter of the Future Farmers of America and is a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in New Martinsville. He is also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and Wetzel Lodge No. 39, AF and AM. He personally knows Senator Larry Edgell, Delegate Dave Pethtel, and is a close personal friend to the governor’s aide in this region.

William (Bill.) Grimm did not return a photo or questionnaire with biographical information.

Larry Weekley is a lifelong resident of Wetzel County. He is the son of Faye Weekley of New Martinsville, formerly of Porters Falls, and the late Robert Weekley. He is married to Wetzel County native Donna (Yost) Smith Weekley and they live in Porters Falls. He has three children, one grandson, two granddaughters, two step-children, and three step-grandsons.

A 1967 graduate of Valley High School, Weekley also graduated from Fairmont State College in 1972 and Marshall University in 1978. He worked three summers at PPG and was a member of the International Chemical Workers Union.

Weekley has been a Wetzel County educator at VHS for 36 years, during which time he also served as a coach all 36 years. He is the former Athletic Director at VHS, a position he held for 20 years. Weekley is retiring from teaching and coaching this summer.

He is a former two-term president of the Shortline Lions Club and former two-term treasurer of the Wetzel County Republican Committee. Weekley is a member of the First Church of God, Russell Ave., New Martinsville.



This spring the statewide group of county commissioners did not support the West Virginia Surface Owner’s Bill of Rights. Do you support it? Why?



Glasscock: Yes, I do support the surface owner’s Bill of Rights. Simply because I feel the oil companies should have to notify the owner well in advance of their intentions (greater than 15 days).



Lemley: Yes, I do support the West Virginia Surface Owner’s Bill of Rights. I understand the position the County Commissioner’s Association has on the issue because of the additional revenues a county can receive as a result of oil and gas drilling that takes place within a given county. The economic benefits of these drilling are great; however, we should not ask the landowners to pay a high price for drilling activity. We need more effective communication between the surface owner and the mineral owner of the properties that are being affected by the drilling. The West Virginia Legislature’s Rule-Making Review Committee has approved a new rule proposed by the Department of Natural Resources to control oil and gas drilling in state forests. The rule requires the driller provide earlier notice to state forest officials and the public about drilling and maintenance activities in our forests. The rule also requires the driller to consider recreational uses, natural resources, and endangered or rare species. It allows the DNR to suspend road building and other activities, other than actual ongoing drilling, during inclement weather. Improved road maintenance practices are required. If these rules are needed for the protection of state forests, why not give the landowners of the state the same protection?



Steele: Yes, I do support it. Why? The goal is to try to reach a “happy medium” between the surface rights owner and the mineral rights owner/drillers. Currently the legislature is doing a one-year study which will conclude in January 1, 2009.



Weekley: I need to research why the commissioners did not support this issue. This is very important, especially in Wetzel County, at this time. This is a problem not only for the landowners but the safety issues on our county roads.

I do support landowners and their rights. Although the county has taken in revenues close to $100,000, outside companies have exploited Wetzel County and our mineral rights with very little profit for Wetzel county citizens and numerous damages to property and our roads.



A woman comes into the county commission meeting who lives outside of any municipality. She is upset because her neighbor is an animal hoarder and puts out feed attracting stray dogs, cats, raccoons, rats, etc. She wants to know what you are going to do about it. What do you tell her?



Glasscock: Not knowing the entire situation (assuming that this question was not just fabricated and actually has arisen before the present commission) I am reluctant to answer at this time.



Lemley: Currently, the Wetzel County Commission does not have any nuisance laws. We can contact the animal control officer or dog warden to help set up traps to alleviate some of the stray animal concerns. West Virginia does not have a law that requires dogs to be leashed. It does, however, have a law that holds dog owners and keepers liable for all damages caused by dogs that are permitted to run at large.



Steele: Tell her that we will contact the neighbor to try to resolve the broadcast feeding. I would also contact the animal shelter to see if they could help with the stray dog and cat problem. The rat and raccoon problem could pose a health hazard. Possibly, the Health Department would need to be contacted as well.



Weekley: I would tell her we would need to speak with the conservation office and see what recourses are available for this situation. There is no law that I am aware of that prevents one from feeding stray dogs and cats, but there are other scavengers that seem to always show up.



Wetzel County ranks third in the state in unemployment; it has the largest increase in unemployment since last year according to January 2008 data. What can the commission do to turn that trend around? What would you personally do as commissioner?



Glasscock: As a commissioner, I would work with large corporations to encourage them to bring their businesses into Wetzel County rather than into our neighboring counties (i.e. the new dry wall company that recently settled into Marshall County). I would even support giving these companies a five to six year property tax break in order to get their businesses into Wetzel County. Wetzel County desperately needs new jobs (good paying jobs) in order to keep our young families here.



Lemley: We have to utilize more of our trade skills in Wetzel County. These skills include but are not limited to: welding, electrician work, auto body work, plumbing, mechanics, etc. These valuable trades are being lost everyday, and it is very disheartening because a man or woman could provide their family a reasonable income and lifestyle on the wages these trades provide. Also, we need to ask the citizens what traits they possess so we can help them find employment in order to earn a decent wage and provide a healthy standard of living for their families. Unfortunately, Wetzel County does not have a large industry base; however, we can utilize certain trades that are used within these large industries to help decrease our unemployment rate.

I would look at counties that have very low unemployment rates to see how their county manages to keep their citizens with jobs. We can learn a great deal from what other counties do without trying to “reinvent the wheel” in our own county. Also, we have to work with the West Virginia Development Office whose function is to provide economic development within our state.



Steele: Improve our infrastructure for the ability to attract new industries to the area and work on locating new industrial sites throughout the county for new companies to locate on.

I personally have already been researching different areas of the county for economic development sites. I would like to create a Web page for the county to display the availability of our great work force and current resources we already have at hand.



Weekley: The fact that Wetzel County needs economic development is no secret. I believe we could work with commissioners from other counties, brainstorm ideas, then work with other state and local agencies to help draw in new businesses.

We can even expand this idea to working with our neighbors in Ohio to help us all. We have various industrial sites like the Viking complex, the old Carbide area in Hastings, the Manufacturers land in Hundred and the various empty sites in New Martinsville, especially the Plaza in North Steelton.