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.
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Photo by John McCabe
Benwood's council meeting draws a packed house Tuesday.
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.