I spoke to Senator Russ Weeks regarding his recent mistake in unwittingly awarding $25,000 in Budget Digest funds to Wyoming County Council on Aging and Bob Graham. The Senator told me in no uncertain terms that he had “put a stop to it.” Obviously his promise to the Daily Mail to withdraw his portion of the budget digest funds was not an empty one.

I am convinced from working with Senator Weeks that he has a genuine desire to use his position to do all he can for his constituency.

Senator Billy Wayne Bailey, however, is refusing to withdraw his $30,000 award to a department that has squandered thousands of your tax dollars.

“The Wyoming senior program has been under investigation since early 2004 after it was revealed that Graham, the executive director, earned a base salary of $460,000 in 2003.

“A yearlong investigation of Graham has found he was keeping an upper-floor apartment in the Itmann senior center where he stored his personal tanning bed and his clothes. He was driving a $50,000 Lincoln Navigator paid for by the agency. He received free health insurance, and his wife, also a Council on Aging employee, had personal use of a Sam’s card also covered on the agency’s tab. As program coordinator for Graham, she collects a salary of more than $80,000.” (Daily Mail)

They frolicked with thousands; what makes the Senator so confident they will not mismanage the money again?

I guess he needs to pay his $25/hour salary he draws from the Council on Aging. Yes, Senator Bailey receives what amounts to — if he worked a typical 2,080 hour year — a $52,000 yearly salary for catering. The catering is needed, he says, there are not many places to eat in Wyoming County. Have the economic conditions stooped to such depths that the taxpayers need to subsidize a diner? What about making the economic conditions conducive for business? I doubt a private company would ask Senator Bailey to flip burgers, but if the Senator gets a new roof for the Council on Aging, his chances of winning a contract with them appreciates considerably. It’s called quid pro quo.

Senator Bailey’s brazenness helps illustrate the problem with the one party nature of his district. Until Senator Weeks came along, he lived securely in a Democrat utopia. The new reality is that the people of southern West Virginia are increasingly getting a choice.

On another note, Senator Bailey hates Republicans — I mean he really hates Republicans. Someone gave him a safari-themed calendar for his children, but he would have none of it because it had…elephants.