The Times West Virginian

Local News

October 6, 2008

Dems file motion to intervene in lawsuit

By Misty Poe

FAIRMONT — The Democratic executive committee has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the Marion County Commission president and his political opponent.

Asking filing motion as amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” the committee is asking the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to dismiss a petition filed by Commission President Alan Parks against Democrat nominee Burley “Butch” Tennant Jr. and the county’s ballot commissioners, County Clerk Janice Cosco, David DeMoss and JoAnn Williams.

An amicus curiae brief is typically filed by someone not a party in the lawsuit, but to give the perspective of third parties who might be affected by the outcome of the lawsuit.

In this case, it is the voters of Marion County who will be injured if Parks succeeds in his request to have Tennant’s name removed from the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

On Sept. 26, Parks filed a petition with the court, asking that it order local officials to remove his political opponent’s name from the county’s Nov. 4 ballot. In his petition, prepared by Jeffrey Lilly of the Fairmont law firm Rose Padden & Petty, Parks argues that Burley “Butch” Tennant is not eligible to be a candidate for county commission because at the time of the primary, he was not a resident of the Middletown magisterial district seat he is running for.

The court will consider the case in conference Thursday and decide whether it will hear the case.

Tennant, a Democrat, owned a home in the Palatine District through July of this year. His home was purchased by developers of the Volcano Island Resort and Waterpark, and this summer he purchased a home on Sylvan Avenue within the Middletown District, where he now resides. The makeup of the commission requires one commissioner from each of the county’s three magisterial districts — Palatine, Middletown and West Augusta. The open seat represents the Middletown District, which is currently represented by Parks.

The case isn’t about rules, however, argues Roger Curry, attorney for the Marion County Democratic Executive Committee.

“It’s about politics,” Curry writes in his brief to the court. “Vigorous politics is not a bad thing, as it brings substantive issues into direct testing conflict. Politics has never been, is not, and should not be an afternoon tea party at the Little Church in the Valley.

“But let the fight be open and honest about the issues and government, not about blitzkrieg,” Curry writes.

And in the end, every voter loses with one candidate on the ballot, Curry argues.

“There is a deep and abiding satisfaction in knowing that you as a voter are making a difference when you cast a ballot in a fairly contested election,” he says. “It is unlikely that voters of one-party, one-candidate China take much comfort from being part of the winner’s 100 percent of the vote.

“We can do better,” Curry writes.

If Parks is successful in his petition to have Tennant removed from the Nov. 4 ballot, there will be no Democrat as a county commission candidate. The deadline to slate a candidate in an unusual circumstance, like death or by court order, was Aug. 20.

Belinda Biafore, chair of the executive committee, said the motion was filed to not only support Tennant, but to protect the rights of voters.

“I believe in the two-party system, but when you start messing with voter rights or try to cause confusion for voters, I get extremely upset,” Biafore said. “This is not just about Democrats. This is about the importance of voting. We spend too much money and volunteer hours trying to inform people about deadlines, the importance of registering to vote and voting for this.

“(Parks) is an elected official who took an oath to protect the best interests of the people of Marion County, and I just don’t think he’s done that,” she said.

E-mail Misty Poe at mpoe@timeswv.com.

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