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W. Va. Town Council Members Appear Before Ethics Commission
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Two Piedmont Town Council members thought they were justified in authorizing $10,000 toward the legal fees of a town employee who later was sentenced for taking surplus government travel trailers for personal use.
Paula Boggs and Grace Russell testified before a state Ethics Commission examiner Thursday in Charleston. They are charged with ethics violations. Russell is an ex-council member and Boggs remains on the council.
The Charleston Gazette reports Boggs testified she motioned to authorize the funding in 2011 because she believed John Shingler would be cleared of wrongdoing. Russell seconded the motion.
Shingler was sentenced to three months for theft of government property. Shingler obtained the trailers while serving as the Mineral County town’s foreman in 2009. He and others then paid to take them for personal use.