CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former Dunbar mayor Roger Wolfe, who was removed from office in October after a three-judge panel ruled that he repeatedly and illegally overstepped his authority, has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court.

In a 41-page petition filed Monday in Kanawha Circuit Court, where the lawsuit by Dunbar City Council members to remove Wolfe from office originated, Wolfe argues that the charges against him did not justify his ouster from office.

"The critical question raised is whether these actions taken by Mayor Wolfe, which he believed he had the legal right to implement, somehow constitutes such wrongful actions that only the drastic remedy of removal from office is the only appropriate result," wrote Wolfe's lawyer, Charleston attorney Lonnie Simmons.

Wolfe's appeal also maintains that his removal violated his right to due process, and that the panel did not have the jurisdiction to get rid of him because the petition to remove him was not properly processed.

The petition asks the high court to overturn the panel's decision and reinstate him as Dunbar's mayor.

"[T]he media discussion over this case has suggested that he should accept the erroneous decision by the Panel and not file this appeal," Simmons wrote. "However, what the media appears not to appreciate is that the loser in this case was not Mayor Wolfe, but rather were the voters in Dunbar who elected Roger Wolfe as the Mayor of Dunbar to serve out his four-year term."

During his tenure, Wolfe clashed repeatedly with members of city council over a number of issues, including raises for four department heads, buying an $8,000 truck without their approval and other expenditures.

Council members claimed that Wolfe's unilateral decisions ignored their legal control over the city's finances.

The panel, composed of Wood Circuit Judge J.D. Beane, Upshur Circuit Judge Thomas H. Keadle and Nicholas Circuit Judge Gary L. Johnson, sided with the council members.

"All the corporate power of [the] city shall be vested in and exercised by council or under its authority," the judges wrote. "The council shall exercise all of the legislative functions of the city government ... council shall fix the salaries of all officers ... [and] council has authority and control of all monies," the panel's opinion states.

In November, council members appointed retired Marshall University professor Jack E. Yeager to serve the remainder of Wolfe's term.

Wolfe has already announced that he intends to seek another term as mayor in Dunbar's June election.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former Dunbar mayor Roger Wolfe, who was removed from office in October after a three-judge panel ruled that he repeatedly and illegally overstepped his authority, has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court.

In a 41-page petition filed Monday in Kanawha Circuit Court, where the lawsuit by Dunbar City Council members to remove Wolfe from office originated, Wolfe argues that the charges against him did not justify his ouster from office.

"The critical question raised is whether these actions taken by Mayor Wolfe, which he believed he had the legal right to implement, somehow constitutes such wrongful actions that only the drastic remedy of removal from office is the only appropriate result," wrote Wolfe's lawyer, Charleston attorney Lonnie Simmons.

Wolfe's appeal also maintains that his removal violated his right to due process, and that the panel did not have the jurisdiction to get rid of him because the petition to remove him was not properly processed.

The petition asks the high court to overturn the panel's decision and reinstate him as Dunbar's mayor.

"[T]he media discussion over this case has suggested that he should accept the erroneous decision by the Panel and not file this appeal," Simmons wrote. "However, what the media appears not to appreciate is that the loser in this case was not Mayor Wolfe, but rather were the voters in Dunbar who elected Roger Wolfe as the Mayor of Dunbar to serve out his four-year term."

During his tenure, Wolfe clashed repeatedly with members of city council over a number of issues, including raises for four department heads, buying an $8,000 truck without their approval and other expenditures.

Council members claimed that Wolfe's unilateral decisions ignored their legal control over the city's finances.

The panel, composed of Wood Circuit Judge J.D. Beane, Upshur Circuit Judge Thomas H. Keadle and Nicholas Circuit Judge Gary L. Johnson, sided with the council members.

"All the corporate power of [the] city shall be vested in and exercised by council or under its authority," the judges wrote. "The council shall exercise all of the legislative functions of the city government ... council shall fix the salaries of all officers ... [and] council has authority and control of all monies," the panel's opinion states.

In November, council members appointed retired Marshall University professor Jack E. Yeager to serve the remainder of Wolfe's term.

Wolfe has already announced that he intends to seek another term as mayor in Dunbar's June election.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.