MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Commissioners in Monongalia County elected leadership, approved the hiring of five school safety officers, and answered questions about residency questions at the Catholic Charities Grace warming shelter at Hazel’s House of Hope.
Commissioners unanimously elected Jeff Arnett as president and Tom Bloom as president pro tem for 2025.
Commissioners also approved five school safety officers for Monongalia County Schools. The officers will have no other duty than security and being the initial response in the event of an active shooter. The Monongalia County Board of Education is expected to approve a reimbursement agreement with the county at their meeting next week.
The warming shelter at Hazel’s House of Hope has been in operation since December 11 from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The shelter has been expanded to 30 beds with the approval of the Morgantown Fire Marshal. The operation is funded by both the city and county, and one of the requests is to give preference to residents of Monongalia County.
Lindsey Jacobs from Mountain State Justice told commissioners during their regular meeting Wednesday the question is unwelcoming and does not provide useful data.
“This question is a bogus question; it doesn’t get us the data we’re after, and any statistician who looked at that question would say that’s a bad question, so if we want to ask the question, there are better ways to ask it,” Jacobs said. “It actually reminds me of an anti-immigrant sentiment.”
Commissioner Tom Bloom’s words were guarded due to pending legal action against the county by MSJ regarding the recently passed Vehicle and Pedestrian Safety Ordinance keeping people out of the rights-of-way of major roads. Bloom said they do not have a policy to turn non-residents away, but it was their intention to give preference to local residents.
“We are trying to help everyone. Not once did we say we’re turning anyone away or telling them they can’t go to that shelter,” Bloom said. “What we did was ask to try and prioritize so we could help our citizens, and that is what the facts are.”
Jacobs likened the commission to a group of dragons protecting their horde of cash (taxpayers money). Commission President Jeff Arnett explained they willingly support several nonprofits that work with the less fortunate, and they have tried to thoroughly vet requests so taxpayers get the most value for their money.
“We go to great lengths to make sure every dollar is used and also capitalized to create more dollars,” Arnett said. “In situations like this we have increased our input to the warming shelter well over tenfold.”
Sikora said the questionnaire and monthly reports from the shelter are important tools for them to plan for the future and even make changes to improve the services they offer.
“The only thing we were trying to do with this, and we did the same thing with our bus pass program, is trying to get data,” Sikora said. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can take you there, and it’s not a bad thing to try to get data on the people we’re serving so we can better serve those people.”
Bloom said there’s nothing out of the ordinary with a policy to protect residents of the county with the tax proceeds they provide to the county.
“Our taxpayers want to make sure that we’re providing funds for our individuals,” Bloom said. “When we see the individuals are using are not from our county, it comes to be a problem.”