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Clarksburg council splits over CVV nomination, approves Parker Business Bureau appointment
Summary
Council approved a Parker Business Bureau appointment but rejected the nomination of Doug Cohen to the city—VV board after members raised conflict-of-interest and "optics" concerns; CVV director told council she is rewriting the board—ylaws and said recusal rules would apply for relatives.
Clarksburg City Council on a split vote approved an appointment to the Parker Business Bureau and rejected a separate nomination to the city's CVV board after council members raised conflict-of-interest concerns about the nominee's family ties to the CVV director.
The vote approved the appointment of Martha (last name reported in the minutes as —Martha Jones—/ —Martha Jett—) to the Parker Business Bureau by voice vote. The council then debated and recorded a roll-call vote on the nomination of Doug Cohen to the CVV; the roll call shows Ryan Deese and Martin Haft voting "yes," and Will Hunt, Wayne Wirth, Vice Member Hoehl and Mayor Mahft voting "no," leaving the nomination short of approval.
The disagreement centered on the relationship between the nominee and the CVV's director, identified in the meeting transcript as Amy. Amy told council members she has been restructuring the CVV, rewriting bylaws and planning to reserve seats for certain city offices so that those seats are held by whoever occupies those positions. Amy said she and her brother (the nominee) are "very compartmentalized" at work and that any personnel or conflict matters would trigger recusal: "If it's not Doug, then it needs to be the guy that he hired to run the amp... If there's a conflict of interest, that person recuse[s] himself," she said during the discussion.
Council members who opposed the Cohen nomination said the relationship created an unfavorable public appearance even if mechanisms for recusal existed. A council member who voted "no" summarized the position as an optics concern rather than a question of competence: "I think with the optics of just having your brother as your... running things, to me that created concern," the member said in explaining the vote.
The Parker Business Bureau appointment was handled earlier in the meeting. The clerk recorded a motion and second for the appointment; a voice vote followed with "Aye" and the mayor declared the motion carried.
Votes at a glance: - Appointment of Martha (Jones/Jett) to the Parker Business Bureau: motion and second recorded; voice vote "Aye"; outcome: approved (motion carries). - Nomination of Doug Cohen to the CVV: motion and second recorded; roll-call votes recorded: Ryan Deese (yes), Martin Haft (yes), Will Hunt (no), Wayne Wirth (no), Vice member Hoehl (no), Mayor Mahft (no); outcome: not approved.
Discussion points and next steps included Amy's statement that she is rewriting the CVV bylaws and intends to reserve seats for designated city positions (parks superintendent, the RG representative, the history museum and the city manager or equivalent) so those positions carry a seat by virtue of office. Amy said the CVV has mechanisms to require recusal when a member has a conflict, and she described past practice of recusals on grant decisions. Council members asking for clarity on the bylaws were told changes would come to council as appointments and bylaw revisions are finalized.
The council's vote sequence and recorded roll call determine the official outcomes included above. The transcript shows both the voice approval for the Parker Business Bureau appointee and a recorded roll-call that resulted in rejection of the CVV nominee.
