MORGANTOWN, W.Va. The representatives of Region 4 of the West Virginia First Foundation selected Jonathan Board as their representative. The foundation will allocate close to $1 billion in opioid settlement money to communities recovering from the prescription drug epidemic.
Monongalia County Commissioner Sean Sikora has made it clear that he feels the process was controlled by outside influences from Charleston.
Board was selected over the nominee presented by the Monongalia County Commission, Jon Dower, who is the current director of recovery services for Ascension Recovery Services, committee chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Substance Abuse, vice president of the West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences, president-elect of the West Virginia Association of Addiction and Prevention Professionals, and executive director of West Virginia Sober Living.
On WAJR’s Talk of the Town, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the process was established by state lawmakers, and each of the six regions held an open and transparent nomination and selection process while acknowledging the questions.
“You’re going to have that anytime you have an election process,” Morrisey said. “But, I think overall, when you step back, you see that even regions in the state had a public process to determine who the director from the region would be.”
In previous elections, Northwood Health Systems Medical Director Dr. Steven Corder was elected to represent Region 1 (Northern Panhandle); Berkeley County Community Corrections Director Timothy Czaja will represent Region 2; Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce will represent Region 3; State Health Officer and Bureau of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Matthew Christiansen will represent Region 5; and McDowell County physician Dr. Tom Kelly will represent Region 6.
“I thought things seemed to go very smoothly,” Morrisey said. “Folks have a chance to weigh in and not only present their own candidacies but to get questions from other folks; I thought it was very positive.”
In Morgantown, 28 of the 76 counties and municipalities in Region 4 participated in the selection at Mylan Park on June 14. Morrisey now wants to make sure the leaders in those communities understand the opportunity but also comprehend the work and effort required to manage this one-time cash settlement.
“We had a quorum, and I feel good about that,” Morrisey said. “Going forward, this is really up to the counties, the cities, and the regions to be engaged, otherwise, people are going to be left behind.”
Morrisey said it’s now up to those municipal leaders to get a wide cross-section of their communities to participate in the process. Each region will make important decisions regarding victim compensation, prevention, education, treatment, and prevention programs that will guide the healing and recovery of many broken families.
“Get involved, get engaged; there’s room for advisory panel opportunities and to be part of this process that’s going to help fight back against the drug epidemic in a way the state has never seen before.” Morrisey said.
According to Morrisey, the formation of the foundation was intended to be a multi-step process. He expects Governor Justice to make his five appointments in the coming weeks.
“The board is not really going to get constituted or have any resources until the court makes a final decision on attorney fees and costs because there’s no money in the foundation right now,” Morrisey said.