JOINT STATEMENT
of MAYOR ELLIOTT, VICE MAYOR THALMAN, and CITY MANAGER HERRON
At the March 1 6th meeting of Wheeling City Council, the three presidents of West Virginia Northern Community College, Wheeling University, and West Liberty University, respectively (Dr. Daniel Mosser, Ms. Ginny Favede, and Dr. W. Franklin Evans), signed up to speak on the topic of the non-binding memorandum of understanding between the City of Wheeling and Bluefield State College ("BSC") for a potential lease of a portion of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center ("OVMC") campus (the "MOU"). Each was afforded the customary three-minute time period during the meeting for public comment. With the exception of approximately one minute of time used by Dr. Evans himself, both he and Ms. Favede yielded the entirety of their time to Dr. Mosser, who spoke for approximately eight minutes.
During his presentation to City Council, Dr. Mosser made multiple allegations of misrepresentations made by and ethical and/or criminal violations committed by each of Mayor Glenn Elliott, Vice Mayor Chad Thalman, and City Manager Robert Herron (collectively, the "City Officials") in the course of negotiations surrounding the MOU. Specifically; these allegations included the following:
- That the City Officials (i) have secretly arranged for the City to fund the rehabilitation costs for space to be leased by BSC at a cost of $1.5 million and charge BSC zero percent interest on the lease and buildout and (ii) have concealed this arrangement from other members of City Council and the public;
- That the City Officials' undisclosed agreement with BSC will cost the City's taxpayers approximately $2 million annually;
- That the City Officials have "created a 'Friends and Family' plan just for their ethically challenged and politically connected friend, Robin Capehart [president of BSC]";
- That Vice Mayor Thalman had concealed his prior familial relationship with Robin Capehart, who was previously married to the former's aunt;
- That through the aforementioned actions City Officials "deliberately gamed and misled" residents of the City of Wheeling and "dragged City Council members into their scheme"; and
- That the City Officials "think they will convince City Council members to buy into their GOB [Good Old Boy] scheme."
Prior to the meeting, each of these three local institutions had voiced their opposition to the MOU both publicly and privately to many, if not all, members of City Council. And with the appearance of the three presidents of these institutions at said meeting, members of City Council fully expected to hear that opposition reinforced through their public comments. But what everyone on City Council failed to anticipate is that these three highly respected individuals in our community would collectively utilize the public-comment portion of an official meeting to make unfounded and highly inflammatory allegations of ethical and criminal misconduct by the City Officials. Defamatory allegations of this nature have the potential to do lasting harm to the reputation of those they are leveled against, and they therefore demand supporting evidence. And yet no supporting evidence whatsoever was provided by Dr. Mosser in his oral or written statement, which was submitted to the local media. While none of the specific allegations in question were made by Dr. Evans or Ms. Favede, these allegations were in part made during the time slots that each had yielded to Dr. Mosser. Neither took the opportunity at the meeting to disassociate themselves with any of these allegations, and both posed for a photograph with Dr. Mosser in front of the Council dais immediately afterward. And since the meeting, neither has reached out to any of the City Officials to disassociate themselves with anything that was said by Dr. Mosser. Meanwhile, since this meeting, Dr. Mosser has repeated these and similar allegations in multiple interviews with local and statewide media. In one interview, Dr. Mosser said "The devil's in the details, and the devil's not talking" in reference to the City Officials and their involvement with the MOU.
Let us be very clear: The allegations made against the Officials referenced herein are unequivocally untrue. And the making of these allegations in a public forum without any supporting evidence represents the height of irresponsibility. The MOU is a non-binding agreement customary in the commercial real estate context that sets forth expectations and allows both the City and BSC to explore the feasibility of a lease upon the OVMC campus. The MOU does not stipulate any of the terms suggested by the allegations above. It does, however, stipulate the following:
- ·That BSC shall be responsible for all routine maintenance associated with the leased space;
- ·That BSC shall pay a proportional or allocated share of the utilities associated with the leased space; and
- ·That BSC shall pay a proportional share of all capital costs expended by the City that may be required to maintain the quality and integrity of the OVMC campus.
In short, neither the MOU nor any discussions between the City Officials (or anyone affiliated with the City) and BSC contemplate the secret financial arrangements suggested by Dr. Mosser above. If Dr. Mosser, Ms. Favede, or Dr. Evans have any evidence to support these alleged financial arrangements or the accompanying allegations of misconduct by the City Officials, now would be an appropriate time to produce it. Otherwise, we are left to conclude that those making as well as those implicitly endorsing these allegations have done so either with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard thereto. And we would respectfully request that each issue a public retraction immediately.