LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Setting The Record Straight
BY DENISE BINION, Chair of the West Virginia Mountain Party
The West Virginia Mountain Party, affiliate of the national Green Party, condemns the questionable appointment process employed by the Jefferson County Commission.
The major parties have repeatedly made attempts to hijack the privileges afforded to ballot qualified minor parties. A disgruntled GOP commissioner, Jennifer Krouse, prior to being ousted had defected to the Mountain Party without any true adherence to our party’s platform.
While the intentions of Krouse’s change in affiliation are unclear, especially since she declined to speak with Mountain Party leadership, there is speculation that they foolishly believed her switch in affiliation would force the commission to appoint an actual Mountain Party member from Jefferson County. Whether this switch was intended as “punishment” should the commission proceed with the officeholder’s removal or possibly to pave the way for another party-switching person, who has tried repeatedly to gain a seat on the commission and also masquerades as the Mountain Party chair, is unclear.
On May 1, a three-judge panel removed commissioner Krouse for dereliction of duty. Consequently, the legitimate Mountain Party took the unfolding situation to appoint a temporary replacement for Krouse seriously and began a quick, yet thorough review of registered party voters from Jefferson County. With less than 150 registrants in the county and being mindful that a qualified candidate who had the time and inclination could be difficult to find, we did identify a well-qualified individual who also happened to be a resident of the Shepherdstown Magisterial District.
Our choice was Todd Cotgreave, a longtime member of the Mountain Party who is known and active in his community. Despite our honest efforts, it is clear that our recommendation of Mr. Cotgreave was not given serious consideration by the commission. It appears that the commission had already decided to appoint someone unknown to the Mountain Party, who had switched their party affiliation only two weeks prior to the candidate submission deadline.
It seems clear that the aim of this entire political fiasco was to select a person that would be in agreement with the existing commissioners rather than represent the concerns of citizens in the Shepherdstown Magisterial District.
###
Updated June 2, 2024 at 1:35 PM
