HAMLIN - A majority of the Lincoln County Commission was not interested Thursday in reconsidering a job given to a former county assessor who pleaded guilty to buying votes.

Jerry Allen Weaver, 58, who spent a year in federal prison, is set to begin work in the office he used to head on Tuesday.

About 40 people jammed into the county commission's meeting room - surrounded by pictures of Democratic Party giants Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Robert Byrd and Bill Clinton - to hear the commission's decision. About a third of those in attendance favored the county giving a job to Weaver.

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Lawrence Pierce

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Pleading guilty with him was then-circuit clerk Greg Stowers, one of the leaders of the Stowers' faction of the Democratic Party in the county. Stowers spent six months in prison.

A handful of underlings also entered guilty pleas to various election fraud and conspiracy charges. The men admitted to attempting to influence elections from 1992 through 2004.

On Tuesday, County Commission President Charles McCann and Commissioner Buster Stowers refused to second proposals by Commissioner Charles Vance asking the commission to reconsider Weaver's hiring because of the method used to advertise for the position.

"He served his time [in prison] and [Assessor] Tracy [Dempsey] hired him," Buster Stowers said.

McCann said that Dempsey decided to hire Weaver. "It's his decision to pick whomever he wants as his employee," McCann said.

Vance said the job ad should not have been run in local newspapers under legal advertisements. Instead, he said it should have been in the help-wanted section.

He said posting newly created jobs "should be done by the commission in a public meeting."

"The advertisement should've been made so that anybody looking for a job would see it," Vance said.

He wondered why commissioners didn't ask the county's prosecutor and the county's liability insurance carrier if Weaver's hiring "could have an adverse effect" on the county.

"He committed crimes against all of us," Vance said. "He admitted it."

Vance also said he did not know the Jerry Weaver whom commissioners agreed to hire earlier this month was the convicted felon and former assessor.

"I certainly knew who I was voting for," McCann countered.

While commissioners listened to several speakers, most asking them to rescind the hiring, McCann pretty well shut down that avenue early.

"I had no doubt who that was," he said of his earlier vote. "If I had to vote again I'd vote for Mr. Weaver to have that job."

HAMLIN - A majority of the Lincoln County Commission was not interested Thursday in reconsidering a job given to a former county assessor who pleaded guilty to buying votes.

Jerry Allen Weaver, 58, who spent a year in federal prison, is set to begin work in the office he used to head on Tuesday.

About 40 people jammed into the county commission's meeting room - surrounded by pictures of Democratic Party giants Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Robert Byrd and Bill Clinton - to hear the commission's decision. About a third of those in attendance favored the county giving a job to Weaver.

Weaver was first elected Lincoln County assessor in 1980. He lost the job in 2005 when he pleaded guilty to federal vote-buying charges.

Pleading guilty with him was then-circuit clerk Greg Stowers, one of the leaders of the Stowers' faction of the Democratic Party in the county. Stowers spent six months in prison.

A handful of underlings also entered guilty pleas to various election fraud and conspiracy charges. The men admitted to attempting to influence elections from 1992 through 2004.

On Tuesday, County Commission President Charles McCann and Commissioner Buster Stowers refused to second proposals by Commissioner Charles Vance asking the commission to reconsider Weaver's hiring because of the method used to advertise for the position.

"He served his time [in prison] and [Assessor] Tracy [Dempsey] hired him," Buster Stowers said.

McCann said that Dempsey decided to hire Weaver. "It's his decision to pick whomever he wants as his employee," McCann said.

Vance said the job ad should not have been run in local newspapers under legal advertisements. Instead, he said it should have been in the help-wanted section.

He said posting newly created jobs "should be done by the commission in a public meeting."

"The advertisement should've been made so that anybody looking for a job would see it," Vance said.

He wondered why commissioners didn't ask the county's prosecutor and the county's liability insurance carrier if Weaver's hiring "could have an adverse effect" on the county.

"He committed crimes against all of us," Vance said. "He admitted it."

Vance also said he did not know the Jerry Weaver whom commissioners agreed to hire earlier this month was the convicted felon and former assessor.

"I certainly knew who I was voting for," McCann countered.

While commissioners listened to several speakers, most asking them to rescind the hiring, McCann pretty well shut down that avenue early.

"I had no doubt who that was," he said of his earlier vote. "If I had to vote again I'd vote for Mr. Weaver to have that job."

Vance, however, insisted the commission improperly advertised the newly created position. He agreed the county does not always advertise for old county jobs that come open, but said they always have with new positions.

McCann brushed that argument aside, too. "If it's wrong, the courts will tell us down the road," he said.

A Kanawha circuit judge has ruled that Weaver is not eligible for a state pension because of his conviction. Weaver's appeal is before the state Supreme Court.

Dempsey said he saw nothing wrong with running the ad for the job in a newspaper's legal ad section. He didn't question why only Weaver applied for the post, which pays about $22,000 a year as a mapper/appraiser and includes use of a county vehicle.

Speakers at Thursday's meeting noted the heavy concentration of out-of-town news media, something unusual for a commission meeting.

"Lincoln County's becoming the laughingstock in the state," said Tracy McClung.

Steve Priestly, who lost in the recent primary election to McCann, noted Weaver was hired after the May election.

"He deserves the opportunity to get employment, but it's not in the courthouse," he said. "You don't put an alcoholic to work in a bar."

After one man gave commissioners a petition he said supported the hiring, Versie Sims said she had a petition from people opposed, but would not submit it to the commission.

Sims, a Lincoln County native who resides in Westlake, Ohio, said those signing her petition could face danger if their names were known to commissioners. "Retaliation and intimidation is alive and well in Lincoln County," she said.

Dottie Snodgrass of Sod suggested some commissioners owed their posts to Weaver.

"Maybe some of the things he did helped put some of you in office," she said.

Greg Stowers and Weaver admitted taking money from candidates and buying votes with cash and liquor.

Dempsey said Weaver had been for and against him in political races over the years.

"It would be possible [Weaver bought votes for him]," Dempsey said.

He said that question could only be answered by Weaver, whom he called "a friend."

Reach Tom Searls at tomsea...@wvgazette.com or 348-5198.