The Greenbrier County school board is set to discuss a grievance by Gov. Jim Justice over a basketball coaching job he hasn’t gotten, and a former legislator has notified the governor he intends to resume a lawsuit over the governor’s residency.
They’re two separate actions, but they collide in the ongoing public debate over whether it’s appropriate for the Governor of West Virginia to pursue a second high school basketball coaching job in Lewisburg.
“Jim Justice needs to decide what he wants to do with his time. He’s a part-time Governor, part-time businessman, and part-time basketball coach. The only thing that he’s doing full-time is residing in Greenbrier County.
“That’s going to end, and he will abide by the Constitution whether he likes it or not,” former Delegate Isaac Sponaugle said in a press release about his intent to pick back up on a previously-settled lawsuit over the governor’s residency.
Justice has coached the girls basketball team at Greenbrier East High School and now is pursuing a public employee grievance after the county board rejected his application, 3-2, for coaching the boys team.
The local question is whether the two basketball teams would receive the time and attention they need from someone also serving as the state’s chief executive.
The state question is whether the chief executive would be able to focus on his duties while also coaching two basketball teams.
Justice filed a grievance this week over his rejection for the boys basketball coaching job. The Greenbrier County board is set to discuss the grievance — but not the basketball position as a personnel matter — during a 12:30 p.m. Friday special meeting.
Meanwhile, Sponaugle sent a letter to Justice today saying he intends to resume a lawsuit over whether the governor abides by the state Constitution’s requirement to reside at the seat of government.
The lawsuit was settled this past spring with Justice pledging to live up to the constitutional requirement.
The same law firm that filed the coaching grievance on behalf of Justice represented him in the settlement over the constitutional residency issue.
Steve Ruby, a private attorney for Justice, today responded by questioning Sponaugle’s motives and by pointing toward Justice’s accomplishments in office. But his statement did not address the residency issue.
“We were disappointed to see Mr. Sponaugle grasping for media attention by trying to revive this pointless case, which he already took $65,000 in state money for settling once. It’s simply out of touch with the objective facts of Governor Justice’s accomplishments, which exceed those of any administration in memory,” Ruby stated.
“The people of West Virginia know exactly how hard Governor Justice works and how much he’s accomplished for the state. They know he’s on the job for them every day, either in Charleston or out among the 99% of West Virginians who don’t live in the capital. And they know his commitment to the state is matched only by his commitment to young people; when he’s not solving the state’s problems, he’s mentoring youngsters as a volunteer high-school basketball coach.”
The state Constitution says governor and other members of the Board of Public Works must live at the seat of government. But Justice, prior to the settlement, had said he makes his home in Lewisburg, a couple of hours from the Capitol.
In the state Supreme Court case, lawyers for Justice argued the word “reside” in the state Constitution is discretionary. His lawyers had cited case law suggesting residency is “slippery like an eel.”
Justice Evan Jenkins wrote last November that’s not the case.
“We now hold that, for the purposes of the residency provision located in Section 1, Article VII of the West Virginia Constitution, ‘reside’ means to live, primarily, at the seat of government and requires that the executive official’s principal place of physical presence is the seat of government for the duration of his or her term in office,” Jenkins wrote.
Sponaugle now contends the governor hasn’t lived up to that standard.
“Jim Justice hasn’t lived up to his word that he would reside at the seat of government,” Sponaugle stated in the press release. “It’s his choice on how this will proceed, but he will reside at the seat of government, either voluntarily or involuntarily, as long as he remains Governor of the State of West Virginia,” he said.
Sponaugle sent a letter to the governor, providing 30 days notice of intent to sue.
He wrote, “The terms of the agreement were that you intended to ‘reside’ in Charleston consistent with the definition of ‘reside’ in the opinion issued by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on November 20, 2020. From numerous and consistent news reports since we entered into that agreement, you have disregarded the agreement.
“You can bring your actions within conformity of the agreement within the next 30 days or we will go back to court to resolve the matter.”
Justice has been pushing since August to take on a second high school basketball coaching job in Greenbrier County, two hours away from Charleston.
A dozen of his supporters spoke in favor of his taking the position earlier this week, but members of the boys basketball team have said they deserve a coach who will give them full-time attention.
Justice already coaches the girls basketball team at Greenbrier East, and his second term as governor through 2024.
The board first considered Justice’s candidacy for the boys basketball job August 10 but tabled the decision before voting against it later in the month.
A level one grievance would go to the chief administrator, in this case the superintendent. Superintendent Jeff Bryant has been a supporter of Justice and has a second job as entertainment director at The Greenbrier Resort, owned by Justice’s family. The law says this duty could be delegated to a designee.
An appeal could go to mediator or it could go on to an administrative law judge. The steps after that are to Kanawha Circuit Court, located at the seat of state government.
The governor’s coaching grievance makes the case that none of the other candidates have head coaching experience and that his record on the sidelines has been exemplary. It does not address issues like whether he would be available to oversee practices or how he would balance the state’s executive branch duties with the basketball schedule.
“Failing to select the candidate who is by far the most qualified — whether out of personal animus, political opposition, or any other reason — is arbitrary and capricious,” wrote lawyers for Justice.
When Justice first heard he didn’t get the coaching job, he made reference to legal action.
In those remarks, Justice twice generally described how state law might apply to the situation.
“From the standpoint of where we move forward and how we do things within our state, these are the very reasons that our employees across our state have laws. These are the very, very reasons. There could never be a more shining example. There’s no way,” Justice said at a state briefing.