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The County Commissioner’ Association of West Virginia invites and encourages you to attend the CCAWV Legislative Association Meeting & Educational Training Series. The meeting is scheduled for January 26 – 28, 2014 at the Marriott Hotel, Charleston, WV.
The tentative schedule is as follows:
Sunday, January 26, 2014
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm CCAWV Board of Directors Meeting
4-00pm – 6:00 pm Registration
7:00 pm - Group Dinner
9:00 pm – ??? Networking Event Sponsored by E.L. Robinson
Monday, January 27, 2014
9:00 am – 12:00 noon CCAWV Educational Training Series- Resources for County Government
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm – 5:00 pm CCAWV Legislative Briefing & Association Business Meeting
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CCAWV Legislative Reception at the Marriott (remember to
invite your legislators)
9:00 pm - ??? Networking Event Sponsored by Silling Associates
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
9:00 am-10:00 am Legislative De-Briefing
10:00 am – 1:00 pm Commissioners’ Day at the Legislature (go to Capital & visit with
Legislators / get introduced during 11:00 am floor session - (Lunch is on Your Own)
A registration fee of $225 per county attendee is assessed to cover meeting costs and should be made payable to the County Commissioners’ Association of WV. A block of rooms are available at $129.00 per night by calling the Marriott @ 1-800-228-9290. The cut-off date for the room rate is December 26, 2013.
Please call if you have questions (304) 345-4639. We look forward to seeing you there!
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In October, The County Commissioners' Association of West Virginia launched its annual Regional Roundtable meeting series. The meetings run from October through mid-December and are hosted by eight counties across the state.
They provide an opportunity for commissioners, legislators, and other elected officials to sit down and discuss issues that affect their particular region. Held prior to the legislative session, they are also a good chance for commissioners to review the CCAWV legislative agenda.
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One more and the 2013 regional legislative meetings for CCAWV will be completed. We've had some lively debates at the meetings as well as several requests for a second regional jail summit this spring where commissioners can share and update each other on methods for pursuing jail cost savings. The Association will set a date for it following the 2014 legislative session.
The issue of county officials' salaries was discussed at the November legislative interims and a draft bill was presented by the committee staff. The bill was completely new to CCAWV, with no prior discussions or input from our membership. It would reduce county classifications from 10 down to 5 and impose an approximate 12% pay raise for all offices. The bill does incorporate the CCAWV idea from last year, to allow for small incremental increases (3%) every two years going forward from 2016, however the raise would be automatic instead of at the discretion of the commission. Committee members will vote Dec. 9th on whether or not to recommend the draft to the entire legislature.
The CCAWV position on county official salary increases (as determined by the entire membership) is not to support increasing salaries in 2014 due to current economic conditions in the U.S., the State, and in individual counties. Some of the other elected county officials disagree with this stance and have pooled their individual association resources to hire a lobbyist to seek a 20% salary hike, disregarding the county commissioners' position. Still, it is the responsibility of the office of county commissioner to pursue sound fiscal policy to the best of our ability, including paying the increasing costs of incarcerating inmates from the counties' limited resources. While we are pleased that many legislators seem to like the idea of small incremental increases and hope to work with them on this approach for a future increase mechanism, CCAWV remains opposed to pay raises in 2014.
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I trust all have had an opportunity to attend their regional roundup and/ or will be attending one.
We just finished ours last week and it went very well! Please don't miss this chance to speak face to face with your representatives and explain the CCAWV agenda. Thank you to Vivian and Megan for all their hard work and travels helping us spread the word!!!
I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!
We have a great deal to be thankful for; our families, our health, and the opportunity to live in a country that allows us to be free and express our thankfulness in our own personal way!!!
Have a great holiday season and to hell with the diets!!!!!
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In November, Vivian attended the HUB's board retreat. It is her second year of serving on the board, and she is joined by former commissioners Norm Schwertfeger and Reta Griffith as well as current Fayette County Commissioner Matt Wender.
While it is difficult to reduce the work of the HUB down to a single sentence, its mission has four primary goals: To catalyze community development in West Virginia; act as a liaison to strengthen relationships among community development stakeholders; build community development capacity; and develop and distribute resources for community development efforts.
It is worthwhile for commissioners to familiarize themselves with the HUB and its representatives as it is an excellent resource for community planning and development projects.