CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The list of candidates to finish the term of the late Frank “Chunki” Angotti has been narrowed down to three.
Commission President Ron Watson presented Jim Smith, Joe Minard and David Peasak at Thursday’s meeting, all of which were agreeable to Commissioner Bernie Fazzini.
“We can’t go wrong with anyone of those, so let’s just pick one,” Fazzini said. “We may draw one out of a hat. We may have to do that because it’s a tough decision.”
The commissioners will mull over the choice between the man with budget experience, the former state senator and the local business owner in the medical field for a week and then make a decision at their March 3 meeting.
The vacancy became available after the death of Angotti last month, who suffered from heart complications while helping a neighbor remove snow from Winter Storm Jonas.
He had 10 months remaining on the term he was appointed to finish after Mike Romano stepped down to fill his seat in the state Senate.
At last week’s meeting, the apparent front-runner to receive the appointment was former legislator Sam Cann.
However, he requested Thursday that the commission remove his name from the list of potential candidates so he could focus on his campaign to be elected to the position in the upcoming election.
“[The appointment] might not of been in his best favor,” Watson said. “I really appreciate what Sam did by withdrawing his name from us considering that.”
The remaining commissioners are looking for someone that can step in and immediately help with the duties, especially with the process of creating a budget for the county on the horizon.
With Cann, they were intrigued by the having someone –like Angotti– that has ties to Charleston.
“One of Chunki’s best attributes that he had was his ability to be able to pick up the phone, call Charleston right now and get action,” Watson said. “He was an action guy.”
Part of the reason for narrowing down the candidates to just three was to make it easier on the commissioner to choose.
With so many qualified candidates continually sending their interest, it was making for a more difficult final decision.
Fazzini said it will be a challenge as is.
“This is going to be very difficult. I may call three of them just to chat. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”
An appointment needs to be made by next week’s meeting if the county wants to avoid the process of sending the selection the they local Democratic Party Executive Committee, as it did before Angotti was appointed.