Benwood Council Wants Terry Out
By JOHN McCABEArticle Photos
BENWOOD - Charles Terry is not wanted as a member of City Council, members decided Tuesday.
By a 4-0 vote, with two abstentions, council gave a vote of no confidence in Terry, who currently is awaiting a preliminary hearing in Marshall County Magistrate Court on a wanton endangerment charge after he allegedly shot his neighbor's pick-up truck last Wednesday in a property dispute.
Council members who approved the non-binding vote were Larry Ferrera III, John Kazemka, Curtis Mele and Jackie Olson. Councilwoman Lori Longwell and Councilman Walter Yates abstained from voting. Neither Terry nor Councilman Bob Rose attended the meeting.
Terry currently is free on $1,500 bond. The no-confidence vote does not preclude him from attending future council meetings, city attorney Eric Gordon said.
In fact, Gordon informed council members they have no legal authority to remove Terry from his elected post. A written petition from the county prosecutor, elected officials in Benwood or 1 percent of the city's registered voters is needed to start the removal process, Gordon said.
If a written petition is filed, "then a three-judge panel ... appointed by the West Virginia Supreme Court would hear testimony" and decide if Terry is to be removed, Gordon said.
"I have no idea what the timeline would be for that ... but I image it would take several months to convene three judges," he said.
Mayor Ed Kuca and Police Chief Frank Longwell both said they met privately with Terry on Tuesday and asked him to resign his post.
"These are very serious allegations," Longwell said. "Chuck's a good friend of mine, and he's served a long time on council. But actions like this are reprehensible.
"We are a small, tight-knit community, and there are going to be disagreements, but you just don't act this way. When you have a dispute with your neighbor you call the police."
A criminal complaint indicates that Terry confessed the shooting to a West Virginia State Police trooper, saying his neighbor, David Davies, was lucky he didn't get shot instead of the truck.
Former Benwood Mayor Larry Ferrera Jr. addressed council on the shooting, calling on Terry to resign his post.
"A better person would have resigned by now," Ferrera said of Terry. "I know this councilman personally and I expect this to become a long, drawn-out affair. ... I commend council for taking this action tonight."
Ferrera also read a letter from former councilwoman Trudy Forester, who said the shooting has embarrassed the city.
"Our city has suffered much embarrassment in the past few years and we are becoming the laughing stock of the valley," Forester wrote. "... Benwood people are good people and do not deserve the negative publicity we have received. Just when some of that publicity was beginning to subside ... (the shooting) once again places us in the category of 'Well, after all it is Benwood.'"
In other matters, Kuca informed council of concerns he and Longwell have over Consol Energy Inc.'s activities off Boggs Run Road. Kuca said there is concern that Consol's new conveyor belt will limit access to a water tank the city owns, and that Consol's operation may be impacting nearby residents.
Longwell said he would like someone from Consol "who can make a decision" to meet with Benwood officials.
"We are concerned with what's going on up there," Kuca said. "We are working our best to keep our residents informed, but it's not been easy."
Consol officials did not immediately return phone message seeking comment late Tuesday.
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EllisWyatt
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09-26-08 7:07 PM
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walters So, an official of a town cannot be arrested by the police officers of that town because he or she is the "supervisor" of the officers? This is false, it is a cop-out (excuse the pun) and it stinks of lying. There is nothing to prevent Benwood's officers from taking the councilman into custody. Perhaps they didn't want to do it out of fear or because a State Trooper doing it could somehow be twisted to show that the crime wasn't a Benwood issue because Benwood didn't arrest the perp. I wonder.......
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walters
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09-26-08 9:33 AM
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First off, the Federal Marshall's office has to be called in to an official arrest like the president, or a governor. Second, you must live in Glendale because the only way those prim and proper retarts that cant find a real job without special favors know how to get into the new or feel important is to talk about stuff that they dont know crap about. You must be pea brains must have slep through history class because government education teached this stuff in the 7th grade. You Glendale natives need to stay and keep your business on the south side of the Narrows where it belongs!!!
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EllisWyatt
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09-26-08 6:17 AM
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walters The head of the FBI could arrest a sitting President, I believe. State Attorney Generals can arrest a sitting governor. Capitol police can arrest drunk driving Congressman. Why couldn't a Benwood officer arrest a councilman in a town of 1,500? Did they do this as a favor or to try and spin the crime reporting so that the State Police would have to do the paperwork and Benwood could claim that it never happened? It is a strange thing if an officer cannot arrest a resident of his town after said resident fires a shotgun into a truck in a residential area. Why should Benwood even pay for a police department if they have to call the Stateys? Those taxpayers could save $500,000 per year. With a budget surplus of $500,000, that is $1 million that could be returned to probably 900 taxpayers and some businesses.
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walters
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09-25-08 11:33 PM
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Anfd by neutral, i mean Trooper Hoge=an was called in Because he is neutral, the officer cant arrest one of his bosses.
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walters
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09-25-08 11:31 PM
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first off, letsremeber something. a couple years back, a local woman by the name of Szymialis was working for hte city of benwood, and not long after she was fired, Larry Ferrera resigned. So he quit. So why now Larry, why are you coming into the picture now, when you quit the last time the heat got hotter? Next, for those ofyou that want Chief Longwell to resign. I would like to thank him. Was it Szymialis or Ferrera that Hired the officer on scene that night? No, it was the chief, he was the one that picked the officer to work for him. The same officer that ran to the house on a call of gun shots, and found terry. Was the officer worried about the gun? of course, but that didnt stop him from getting the area safe for davies and his family. Have you people ever herd of Neutral? the benwood officer wason scene of a city councilman. He couldnt make the arrest. any pea brain knows that. My point is Larry Ferrera quit. End of story.
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Mom2Four
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09-25-08 8:13 PM
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At least there is not as much white trash in Glen Dale as there is in Benwood or McMechen ========== Have you checked out the Crestfield apartments lately? Glen Dale has all the pervs and drug dealers. The dealers sell to Benwood/McMechen. They elect the pervs to city offices and let them coach baseball teams.
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gabound
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09-25-08 7:01 PM
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the people of benwood have no one to blame for keeping longwell employed but themselves for continuing to elect him. just like the people of s. wheeling, the island and warwood for continuing to elect henry, seals and delbrugge.
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EllisWyatt
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09-25-08 6:52 PM
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Is the private security company collecting any money from Benwood? Are city resources being used to assist the business? Should towns elect their police chief rather than conduct a search for the most qualified candidate? Though not illegal, isn't there some moral issue with the chief of police owning a gambling establishment? McDaleWood is full of crackers. I would venture to say that 10% of Benwood's residents live in taxpayer funded public housing. This is sure to attract new jobs to the community. Where did the $500,000 budget surplus come from? Where did it go? Maybe the Highlands Leech sucked the surplus right out of town?
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TheRealityPolice
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09-25-08 6:42 PM
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FRANK HAS A PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANY???? Are you KIDDING???? OMG - he has a business? Oh please get me the name so we can check out if it is really legit - he knows as much about running a business as the toad that lives under my garage. Does he have any more relatives to hire to work for him? Aren't they all working for the city already?
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TheRealityPolice
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09-25-08 6:40 PM
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Although I hate to lump Glen Dale in with Benwood and McMechen, I call the 3 towns "McGlenWood" or "McBenDale" since they are one long continuous speed trap. At least there is not as much white trash in Glen Dale as there is in Benwood or McMechen. My fondest memory of Longwell is the pic this very newspaper ran a couple of years ago with him sitting lopsided on a horse. Saddle slipped 45 degrees to one side - I wonder WHY? I bet it is swaybacked by now, unless they used it for meat at his new sandwich shop.
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Mountaineer4life
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09-25-08 3:50 PM
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Something is up here. I have read four different comments on here asking a question, and the blog keeps being removed by the newspaper. I think someone within the paper is involved with this benwood bashing.
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PCGS70
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09-24-08 10:17 PM
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Gloria and Vern moved to Benwood. Everything will be fine as soon as they get their fingers in the mix. Don't worry about a thing. Seabright and Yost are coming also
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gabound
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09-24-08 8:34 PM
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speaking of the city of benwood suffering much embarrassment, have any of you benwoodians ever seen or heard frank longwell speak? nothing more needs to be said.
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Mom2Four
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09-24-08 7:40 PM
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Longwell said. "Chuck's a good friend of mine =========== Why does this come as no surprise to me. They are pretty much made of the same cloth.
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Chickenhawk
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09-24-08 6:05 PM
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from what we have heard, the City had plenty of money when the Mayor retired. It was those that took over, after getting rid of the City Clerk, that didn't know what they were doing. All the garbage that was in the papers was propaganda to cover their butts in a potential lawsuit. consider the source when some Benwood officials say anything. Most of their information is fabricated to make others look bad and make themselves look good. they create problems and mysteriously solve them,same goes for the finances of the city. we heard city officials begged him to stay on. mountaineer4life do you always hang around losers. You blogs stink. wake up benwood its time to clean house.
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EllisWyatt
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09-24-08 6:03 PM
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onlyinbenwood You can't post things like that in this forum. There is no corruption in Benwood. All of the public "servants" are duly elected and all serve for the good of the people. There is no crime in Benwood, there is no budget surplus, there is no nepotism and there is no lack of economic development. There are no public housing projects but there are new upscale housing developments planned. The CONSOL plant will happen and businesses are lining up to move into the Ames plaza. Oh, yeah, and the Highlands brings nothing positive to the people of Benwood. To suggest otherwise will get you a ticket.
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Mountaineer4life
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09-24-08 4:46 PM
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Benwood Council did the right thing here. The only thing that concerns me is why is Former (quiter) Mayor Larry Ferrera is getting involved? The last time I heard his name is when he "bailed out and quit" on the people of Benwood. I remember reading about how broke that city was when he was mayor. I hope for Benwood's sake he isn't trying a comeback!
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FireCN
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09-24-08 2:46 PM
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Yet another Black-Eye for the Northern Panhandle. Maybe we could trade Benwood to Ohio for three townships and a village to be named later.
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acousticportal
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09-24-08 8:23 AM
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What's up the those two abstaining from voting...do they have some doubt that Terry's behavior was insane? This makes me question their judgement.
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TheRealityPolice
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09-24-08 6:27 AM
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"In other matters, Kuca informed council of concerns he and Longwell have over Consol Energy Inc.'s activities off Boggs Run Road. Kuca said there is concern that Consol's new conveyor belt will limit access to a water tank the city owns, and that Consol's operation may be impacting nearby residents." And here is where Benwood will screw themselves over their new deal with Consol. They will lose the entire project.
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EllisWyatt
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09-24-08 6:20 AM
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Finally, Benwood did the right thing in asking for Terry's resignation. Of course, since they cannot force him to resign, it was an empty gesture but at least they got their names out there. This proves that if you get out in front of an issue, you can control it to some extent. The only questions I have now are 1: why did Benwood police call the State police to handle a Benwood matter? and 2: why is Terry free on $1,500 bond after shooting his neighbors' truck with children nearby? Bravo to Benwood for taking a public stand.
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