3 days ago
Terra Alta council appoints mayor, recorder at emergency meeting
TERRA ALTA, (WBOY) — Following the recent resignations of its mayor and town recorder, Terra Alta's Town Council held an emergency meeting Thursday evening to appoint people to serve as interims in those positions.
During the emergency session, the council appointed James 'Monk' Tasker as interim mayor and Jason Verbonitz as interim town recorder, both will serve in these roles until July 1. The town's municipal election will be held on June 10.
'So, filling that vacancy of mayor and recorder, we had to fill that so that we can continue to move forward to pay our bills, our utilities, things like that so we aren't falling behind with late fees and things being shut off,' Terra Alta Town Clerk Kambra Sisler said. 'So, now that we do have an active mayor and a recorder, we can proceed with paying our monthly bills as usual and try to take steps forward to get moving in the right direction.'
Earlier this month, former Terra Alta Mayor Dan Hauger took responsibility for the town's failure to meet its 2025-2026 budget deadline, which could jeopardize the town's ability to collect taxes for the next fiscal year. The West Virginia State Auditor's office previously told 12 News that the town was seven weeks behind on submitting an extension to submit its budget.
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'We did submit the budget last Friday, [May 23], we sent that by email to the state,' Sisler said. 'We got an email back that said that 'it was their standard acknowledgement that we submitted the budget, and that they had received it, that the acknowledgement does not imply it is being processed at this time. I must speak with our legal department before I consider processing this budget document that you have submitted.' So, I do have phone calls into the state today.'
During the meeting, concerned community members questioned the four council members about the town charter and the recent appointments of the mayor and recorder. Town officials admitted they could not locate the current charter and only found an outdated version from before the town was officially established. They also explained that they were following guidance from the state code in making the appointments.
Despite Hauger's resignation, he is the sole candidate listed on the ballot for mayor in the upcoming election, making his re-election highly likely. Should Hauger be re-elected, he will be required to resign once more, prompting the council to appoint a new mayor for the term beginning July 1.
A comparable situation applies to former town recorder Mikaela Bernard, who is running as a write-in candidate against two others. If elected, she would also need to resign, and the council would once again appoint someone to fill the position.
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