MORGANTOWN – Flags at Monongalia County facilities are being lowered to half staff following the passing of former County Commissioner Bill Bartolo. Bartolo died Tuesday night at Ruby Memorial Hospital.
Bartolo was elected to the county commission in 2008 and served through 2014 and working with commissioners Asel Kennedy, Bob Bell, Eldon Callen and Tom Bloom.
“It’s a big loss for this community and what he has done for the county commission and the types of programs he has run in the county,” Bloom said. “He was just a good person.”
“He was a good public servant and a good man,” said current Monongalia County Commissioner Jeff Arnett as he announced Bartolo’s passing during Wednesday’s commission meeting.
“He was a good public servant and a good man and I had the opportunity to meet with him several times when I was running and he was always kind with his time and advice and I appreciate that,” Arnett said. ” We’ll ask our maintenance department to fly the flags at half-staff until his burial.”
Bartolo was extremely proud of the advancements in public safety during his tenure on the county commission, which included the construction of a new sheriff’s building. He was also part of the decision to renovate the former federal building in downtown and transform the facility into the Monongalia County Justice Center.
“It’s sad to hear that and I wish the Bartolo family our condolences, my families’ condolences and the commissions’ condolences,” commissioner Sean Sikora said.
Monongalia County also saw significant economic growth during Bartolo’s time on the commission in Tax Increment Finance Districts approved by the commission at the Morgantown Industrial Park, Mon Health and University Town Centre. He also supported the city of Westover’s bid to annex the Morgantown Mall, concluding a decades long dispute between the city and owners of the property just beyond its borders.
Bartolo was also integral to the effort to make the commission more transparent in the mid 2010s.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.