West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says his office has lived up to the 17 goals he set for his first 100 days in office and he has a 279-page report to prove it.
“We’ve worked very hard to accomplish all our goals but also keep the trains running on time,” Morrisey said. “You have to meet day-to-day client demands.”
Tuesday marked day 100. Wednesday Morrisey held a news conference at the state capitol to update the public on what has been accomplished.
“We’ve worked some really long hours so we could live up to our promises,” according to the attorney general.
Morrisey introduced the goals back on November 8. They include: sending settlement monies back to the state Legislature and the taxpayers, establishing a competitive bidding process for hiring outside counsel to reduce political influence and collaborate with the Legislature to enact ethics reforms.
Morrisey says he knew it would be a very ambitious plan but was determined to make sure all 17 points were addressed by the April 23 deadline. He says that’s been accomplished but there’s a lot of work in order to mark them off the list.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. The state’s business climate is not going to be changed overnight. The prescription drug abuse epidemic is not going to be eradicated overnight,” admitted Morrisey. “But if we continue to focus on these promises and some additional matters, I think we’re going to make huge progress in the future.”
Morrisey has made no bones about the fact he started work on an uneven playing field. He claims former Attorney General Darrell McGraw left the office with very little transitional assistance, an antiquated computer/telephone system and case files that were jumbled together.
“We spent a lot of time digging out during the first 30-days,” according to Morrisey. “I think that’s why, perhaps, we weren’t able to accomplish even more.”
Nevertheless, Morrisey is giving his office high marks for those first 100-days in office.
“If you were to ask me, I’d say that we’d probably get a grade of a B-plus. That means we’ve worked really hard. We’ve made a good faith effort to live up to our promises,” says Morrisey. “Have we been able to get everything that we want done? No. But fortunately there are another 194 weeks left in my term.”
Morrisey is confident, by the end of his term in 2016, his office will rate an “A.” He describes that as “distinct excellence.”
To read the 279-page report compiled by Morrisey’s office, log on to www.wvago.gov.