Morgantown City Council Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Morgantown First Responders Vote ‘No Confidence’ In City Administration

First responders in Morgantown have held a vote of no confidence in the city council.

Members of firefighters’ union IAFF Local 313 and the police union Mon Preston FOP Lodge 87 have voted “no confidence” in the Morgantown City Administration.

A vote of no confidence is a vote in which members of a group are asked if they support

the person or group in power, usually in government.

In a press release, firemen cited a yearslong lawsuit with the city over holiday pay for their vote of no confidence. Police cited “recent administrative attacks on the police” including the city’s attempt to create a civilian review board.

The vote comes on the heels of an effort started this summer to recall all members of the city council, as well as a recent controversy around whether the city manager lives in Morgantown.

Morgantown Creates Civilian Police Review Board

Morgantown City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to create a civilian police review board, the culmination of a year-long process sparked by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

In the wake of Floyd’s murder and nationwide protests, Morgantown city officials and community members started to talk about how their city could benefit from a police board with civilian members. The city formed a special committee and it began meeting weekly to hash out the proposal’s details.

“I cannot thank the folks who showed up to the committee enough,” said Deputy Mayor Rachel Fetty during Tuesday’s meeting. “We received the contributions and the careful recommendations and thoughts of really every segment of the population that I can think of, from folks within the department, folks who are married to members of the Morgantown police department, folks who have experienced being policed as persons of color or as members of LGBTQ+ groups, or as human beings.”

The board is the second of its kind in the state, but the first to be created by a city. Bluefield has a similar police review board, formed in the wake of a consent decree by the Department of Justice.

The Morgantown ordinance approved by the council looks markedly different from earlier plans that would’ve given the power to investigate citizen complaints of police misconduct.

The power to investigate was removed from the plan following threats of legal action from West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and the Mon-Preston Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

Wheeling-based attorney Teresa Toriseva, who represents the FOP, told the Dominion Post Tuesday that she will file a lawsuit challenging the legality of the board. Under the ordinance, the police chief will carry out any police conduct investigations and then send the findings and disciplinary actions to the review board.

The review board will be able to accept the police chief’s actions or suggest their own recommendation, a level of oversight Toriseva says is in violation of state code. The FOP’s view on the board’s legality is not universally held.

“What is at issue here is the question of who runs the Morgantown police department, the chief or the FOP and Ms. Toriseva,” said Bob Cohen, a retired attorney and member of the Morgantown/Kingwood branch of the NAACP. “Here, Chief Powell has accepted the process outlined in the ordinance but the FOP says he cannot do so. Under a strange interpretation of West Virginia statutes, the FOP is attempting to dictate the chief’s process and to tie his hands. Council should not bend to their threat.”

Cohen was one of seven speakers during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s council meeting. Community members and representatives from the Morgantown Human Rights Commission, ACLU of WV, and Morgantown/Kingwood NAACP all spoke in favor of the bill.

“Whenever we help marginalized communities, we help everybody,” said Jerry Carr, president of the Morgantown/Kingwood branch of the NAACP. “So, I just want to make sure that people understand that no one got in this business thinking that it was just about helping that one group. This is something that’s ubiquitous, it can impact every facet of what’s going on, including the police department.”

Under the ordinance, civilians can file complaints against police officers with the board. The board will pass them onto the Morgantown police chief for investigation.

Fetty said this is a significant change from the previous system that required community members to go to the police department and file a complaint directly.

“At the end of the day, the most critical piece is that we will, as a community be contributing to this discussion about how policing will work in our community and how we’d like to see it unfold and how we can contribute and cooperate with the Morgantown police department to ensure that policing happens in a safe and careful way that is respectful of everyone’s constitutional rights, and respectful also of the rights that our officers have as employees of the city,” said Fetty.

Morgantown Lessens Penalties For Possessing Small Amounts Of Marijuana

A West Virginia city has voted to change its ordinance for marijuana possession.

Morgantown City County members voted unanimously Tuesday to modify the city’s law on possession of up to 15 grams of the drug, news outlets reported.

The change gives the Morgantown Police Department the discretion to forgo arresting someone caught with 15 grams or less and instead issue a fine of up to $15, officials said.

The change does not decriminalize marijuana and those in possession of the drug can still be charged with a misdemeanor, Deputy Mayor Rachel Fetty said.

The ordinance applies only to the Morgantown Police Department. It gives officers a choice of whether to follow the city rule or to follow state and federal law, she said.

Cannabis Advocates Push Morgantown City Council On Decriminalization

Advocates for the decriminalization of cannabis gathered Tuesday before a Morgantown City Council meeting. Having offered the council draft legislation, those advocates are also hoping to build a movement that pushes decriminalization and legalization efforts from city councils all the way to the statehouse.

About 50 people gathered in downtown Morgantown for a Tuesday night rally. Del. Danielle Walker, who represents Morgantown in the West Virginia House of Delegates’ 51st District was among those leading the event.

Walker said there are many arguments for decriminalization — including giving more people access to medicine and correcting systemic issues within the criminal justice system.

“All the people that are in prisons and jails because of using a plant, of possessing a plant, they get more time than some of these other offenses. And then it becomes a race issue,” Walker said.

As Walker points out, cannabis arrests show a stark racial bias in the American criminal justice system. According to an analysis by the ACLU, African Americans are nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested on cannabis-related charges.

While West Virginia passed a medical cannabis program during the 2017 legislative session, some advocates says getting that program off the ground has been slow going. Applications open next month for those wanting to enter the industry as growers, processors and distributors.

As a cancer survivor who has used cannabis for medical purposes, Rusty Williams is the patient advocate for the program and is also running for the House of Delegates in the 35th District. Williams said current law fails to address big issues related to cannabis policy.

“One of the key elements that was missing from the medical cannabis argument and debate was the fact that we still have a mandatory minimum for cultivation in West Virginia — regardless of if you’ve got a seedling or if you’ve got a whole plant in your backyard,” Williams said. “If you get caught, you’re going to jail.”

Williams drove to Morgantown from Charleston for the rally and the city council meeting. He said decriminalization in Morgantown is a good first step in pushing for similar policy in other municipalities — as well as building up to legalization efforts on the state level.

“I think that once they see [that] a city has done this in West Virginia and the sky isn’t falling — maybe that’s the best way to get the message across. Because if we try to just talk to folks, like I said, they get it. Most folks get it,” Williams said. “Most people see this for what it is. This is not a partisan issue, no matter how much they want to turn it into one. Cancer never asked me if I was Republican or Democrat. It just showed up and tried to take me out.”

Eli Baumwell of the ACLU of West Virginia presented a draft ordinance to the city council that would allow Morgantown to move forward with decriminalization. The proposal would reduce penalties for possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis to a fine of $15 and no jail time.

The measure is now under review by the city council but has not yet been formally introduced.

The Working Families Party, which organized the Tuesday event, says they have collected more than 600 signatures in support of decriminalization in Morgantown.

With Hopes to Curb Couch Burning, Morgantown Passes Outdoor Furniture Ban

In response to the many street fires following big football and basketball games, Morgantown unanimously passed a law Tuesday, April 7, that bans upholstered furniture outdoors.

No one spoke during a public hearing about the new ordinance that would ban people living in city limits from having upholstered furniture in their yards or unenclosed porches.

Morgantown City Manager Jeff Mikorski said the ban is an attempt to stem the number of fires that often spring up after West Virginia University games.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve had over 3,000 street fires because of the quick ability to bring furniture from porches and put it into the streets and put them on fire,” he said.

Morgantown City Council used the state’s Home Rule pilot program to develop the law.

Mikorski said the city’s previous attempt to tie a ban on outdoor upholstered furniture to its health code was struck down by a judge. The new law amends the city’s property maintenance laws.

Mikorski said violators will receive a written warning before a citation is issued. The penalty is a fine of up to $500 dollars.

Two Companies Sue Morgantown, State Over Truck Ban

Two trucking companies are challenging the legality of Morgantown’s ban on heavy trucks in the downtown business district.

Nuzum Trucking Company of Shinnston and Preston Contractors Inc. of Kingwood have filed a lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court against the city, the state Department of Transportation and the state Division of Highways.

The lawsuit argues that the ban is unenforceable and usurps the DOH’s authority over the state road system.

The companies are seeking an injunction to stop Morgantown from enforcing the ban.

Morgantown’s City Council approved the ban in September. The ban applies to commercial vehicles with a gross weight exceeding 26,000 pounds that have a class seven or greater rating.

There are several exemptions, including trucks making deliveries and emergency vehicles.