CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — To fill the vacancy left by the late Frank “Chunki” Angotti, the Harrison County Commission went to a name constituents may be familiar with.
Former State Senator Joe Minard was appointed and sworn in Thursday to finish the remaining 10 months of the term.
“I’m looking forward to bringing my many years of expereicne to the commission,” Minard said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to contribute to keep a smooth running organization and make it better for everybody.”
He was selected from three names presented by Commission President Ron Watson at last week’s meeting.
In making the selection, Commissioner Bernie Fazzini said with over a decade serving at the State Capitol, Minard was the best choice.
“That was the difference between Joe Minard and the other two candidates…Joe’s input into the county while he was a senator,” he said.
Fazzini went on to say that it was a tough decision given the quality of the other two candidates, former commissioner Jim Smith and local businessman David Peasak.
“They’re both very, very much qualified and, again, they’re both very good friends. It was a tough decision, it really was. I would have been happy with any one of the three.”
The commissioners see no issues before them now they think Minard can not handle. They will just assign him to committees, catch him up to speed on the issues before them and get ready to create a budget.
“Our little 20 or 30 million dollar budget is nothing compared to the billion dollar budget that he had to be involved with with the state,” Watson said. “The process is the same, it’s just a lot less than what he had to do when he was with the state. Plus, he’s a business guy. He knows how the books have to be handled.”
With Minard being sworn in shortly after Thursday’s meeting, his first commission meeting will be next week.
“It’s always a joy to serve,” Minard said. “I certainly appreciate the opportunity that Commissioner Fazzini and Commissioner Watson have given me and I’ll try to do my very best to help them.”