by Ron Gregory
ronjgregory@gmail.com
CHARLESTON — Charleston personal injury attorney Ben Salango has been appointed to the Kanawha County Commission.
Salango was unanimously selected by Commissioners Kent Carper and Hoppy Shores.
Salango will fill the seat held by David Hardy before he resigned to become state revenue secretary. Hardy was originally appointed to his seat on the commission and was subsequently elected, serving 16 years.
Shores, a Republican, and Democrat Carper were charged by law with appointing a replacement of the same political party as Hardy, a Democrat. The replacement also has to live in the same magisterial district as Hardy.
Salango was unanimously selected by Commissioners Kent Carper and Hoppy Shores.
Salango will fill the seat held by David Hardy before he resigned to become state revenue secretary. Hardy was originally appointed to his seat on the commission and was subsequently elected, serving 16 years.
Shores, a Republican, and Democrat Carper were charged by law with appointing a replacement of the same political party as Hardy, a Democrat. The replacement also has to live in the same magisterial district as Hardy.
Salango is a founding partner of Preston & Salango in Charleston.
The commission held interviews for the position with nine individuals who had expressed a desire to be appointed. The entire process of appointing a replacement for Hardy was a continuation of the Kanawha Commission’s “policy of total transparency” according to Carper.
Carper, the Commission President, noted that “unlike some cities and counties, we operate completely in the open here.” He described the process whereby those interested in filling Hardy’ seat submitted statements of interest. He said he and Shores did not discuss the appointment, simply asking all candidates to attend the 5 p.m., Thursday meeting in public.
Each of the candidates was asked two questions from Shores and then followed with an open exchange with Carper before the selection was made.
“We always want the people to feel confident that we are hiding nothing from them” Carper said.
Salango will serve through 2018, when voters will choose someone to complete Hardy’s unexpired term.