Two former heads of West Virginia's Republican Party are in the news this week, for somewhat different reasons.
Rob Capehart has been approved by the Higher Education Policy Commission to be the next president of West Liberty State College. Capehart is slated to take over at the Northern Panhandle school July 1.
Capehart had chaired the West Virginia GOP for about a year when he was named a Fulbright Scholar in May. He was then dispatched to the former Soviet bloc nation of Moldova, now an emerging democracy, where he worked with its tax officials.
I had a chance to interview Capehart before his five-month overseas assignment. I hope to follow up on how things went over there and also ask about his new assignment. West Virginia Public Radio has a segment as well.
The AP also reports that Steve LeRose has filed to run for mayor of Summersville, a post he held from 1985 to 1999.
Just days after losing a June 1999 re-election bid, LeRose pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from a $3.3 million check-kiting scheme.
LeRose had been GOP chairman for about two and a half years when he resigned in December 1996, after evidence of the check fraud scheme first surfaced. LeRose's three brothers also pleaded guilty to felony charges in the case. LeRose was sentenced to 27 months.
The 57-year-old was released in November 2001. "I made a mistake and have accepted responsibility for it. I completed the punishment given,'' LeRose told the Register-Herald of Beckley. "That was the past and I am looking forward to the future."
12 February 2007
A Tale of Two (Ex-) Chairmen
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4 comments:
Well if Lerose gets rid of the speed trap, he has my vote
LeRose got things done and he cares about the little guy as well as families. He has the experience and the connections to govern our town.
Steve LeRose has been taking care of Summersville for a long time. He knows our needs and how to get us our share of the pie! Only a lion can bounce back after biting the dust. We need a hero and Steve has what it takes.
You say he takes care of the little guy--he treats everybody like his friend. I've met the guy and you can't help but like him. He's a guy who always sees the best in you and gives you a chance to be your best. He found my brother a job and I'll never forget it.
Steve can't get rid of the reputation Summersville has as a speed trap because he is the one responsible for creating it...and I find it hard to believe someone thinks he is for the working man or the people of Summersville...he is a crook who throughout his entire life has done nothing but take advantage of and steal off of the hard working families of Nicholas County
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