Hoping for a more transparent West Virginia government in 2025

As 2024 winds down, I have one hope for 2025 — that the new state leadership will take transparency and clear communication more seriously than the Justice administration.

Gov. Jim Justice’s office and the West Virginia First Foundation — while not technically a government office was created by the legislature and is responsible for allocating millions in state dollars — have been among the worst offenders.

Justice began holding virtual press conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic but when other government operations returned to normal, he never went back to holding them in person. It’s easy to understand why: They give him the upperhand.

In person, a reporter is often able to ask a follow-up question, or another reporter in the group might pick up the thread of the questioning. Reporters might even be able to sneak in a few more questions as the governor is walking away. On a Zoom call, the reporter is muted as soon as the question is asked. No follow-up. And when the press conference is over, with a click of a key someone in Justice’s office shuts it down immediately.

And Justice is not the clearest speaker. I understand all of the words that he says individually, but they don’t always form a coherent sentence or complete thought.

After hearing Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey speak during a news conference, I was impressed that he was able to clearly explain himself and that the media were allowed to be there in person — but the bar has been set so low.

Now we’re experiencing issues with the West Virginia First Foundation. While it’s not an official government entity, board members voted to adopt a public access policy to remain transparent with the public and press.

The policy came after  a rocky start where the board didn’t announce its first meeting publicly and West Virginia Watch reporter Caity Coyne spent an entire day trying to confirm the meeting. After the policy was adopted, communication improved.

Until a few months ago. 

In September, the board stopped allowing reporters to ask questions during their virtual meetings, saying it was to ensure accurate answers for a complicated process. Oftentimes Caity is the only member of the press attending the meetings and asking questions. She now has to email her questions after the meeting and wait much longer to get answers.

Last Monday, the board held a special meeting to approve committing $20 million to a regional addiction recovery project. The meeting was confusing without many details. After, a news release was sent out that said the project is the Appalachian Continuum of Care for Overdose Reduction Network or ACCORN. She couldn’t find out if it was a new project or something existing.

She emailed the First Foundation media account at 3:31 p.m. while the meeting was still going on to try to get answers ASAP. At 5:18 p.m., the media account responded by telling her a press release was sent out, and to let them know if she had further questions.

She did.

At 5:46 p.m., Caity responded with her questions. She received a response at 10:04 p.m.

The next morning, she asked if they could provide her with a few of the partners that were involved with ACCORN since the project is receiving almost 10% of First Foundation’s current funds. This is the response she got: 

“ACCORN anticipates partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including municipalities, health departments, health systems, universities, focused providers in recovery and housing, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) providers, and more.

“As for the West Virginia First Foundation (WVFF), we can only speak to our involvement at this stage. However, as the application progresses, we are committed to keeping the media and the public informed with more detailed updates. We look forward to sharing the significant collaborative efforts that will drive this initiative forward.”

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, both Caity and Ogden Newspaper’s Steven Allen Adams heard rumors that Marshall University was involved with ACCORN. Instead of confirming when Caity asked the media spokesperson replied: “I spoke with Dr. O’Connell and it sounds like you are connected with someone on her team that will be able to help provide more detail.”

And that’s how she confirmed the First Foundation was in fact working with Marshall. Not by them telling her that, but because she had contacted Dr. Lyn O’Connell,  the associate director for the Division of Addiction Sciences at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, to see if she knew anything about Marshall being involved.  

An entire eight-hour day was spent on that. Don’t get me wrong. I realize most people spend long work days dealing with much worse and under conditions far worse. But our government officials and people responsible for spending government funds need to be transparent, and most often the best way to do that is by talking to reporters and providing them with timely and accurate information that they then pass on to readers — the very people government servants are supposed to serve.

But a new year is coming. Let’s all start fresh. Let’s all be better communicators.