The original sin: 2011 I am qualified to speak for and support this groups goals. I will see to it that the Governor does a Blue Ribbon Study of Gilmer County education successes and work with you to stop this consolidation to one school causing the destruction of FOUR communities in Gilmer County. The children won’t be forced to travel.
Result: Change of plans. “I was never against consolidation! I can’t be part of this. I’ve been elected and put in as President of the board.” I’ll destroy you.
Local BOE President swears: I have local political influence and will see to it that intervention ends within the first year. I will be Superintendent and promise to fire the High School Head Administrator.
Result: Ron Blankenship stays three years and Gabe Devono is appointed by the state as Superintendent of Gilmer County Schools July 1, 2014. The President turns in his resignation but withdraws it. His public goodbye quote regarding Mr. Blankenship? He had “promised the Superintendent to never be an impediment to anything he wanted to do”. Later informed new Superintendent and the Board “they” had been “misled”.
BS continues collecting expense checks for many “principled closed door meetings” no one seems aware of but himself. Once more no communication with local BOE. Even the OEPA and WVBOE begin to see a problem with him. Superintendent approval is guaranteed as BS is put in place over multiple planning committees for more money.
Result: Board President actually says and believes there’s no need to speak with fellow board as he does not feel he “would ever do anything wrong”. Everything is under control. Name dropping constantly. All was done in the name of a local business owner per BS. Leading Creek goes live and more checks collected for Governance Board and RESA meetings with no report to the Board, no report to the public, no report, no accountability, no transparency, really, no board involvement whatsoever. Attempts to personally attack fellow board members in illegal executive session fail.
Sets up a board member to report on questioned educational statistics at the High School. Tells no one.
Result: When the Head Administrator responds to the report and asks who wanted it done the Presidents participation is revealed. His response was well yes I did but the board member “WENT TOO FAR!” taking no accountability for his own promotion of board dysfunction. In fact creating and supporting it.
Reports he has it on good authority Gabe Devono will be leaving June 30, 2015. He will be the next Superintendent.
Result: No change in the takeover status. Gabe still here.
Insists on a move to Minnie Hamilton offices increasing rent to the BOE by four fold. Funds for education go to support a financially distressed County Commission. Attempts to force an illegal executive session fails.
Result: No cost savings. More politics and the pretense of financial control goes back to WVBOE. Medical facility use is now diverted. A chiropractic office is turned away.
No public information,in fact, board President supports the state appointed Superintendent’s position of no information to the board. The President lets Teachers and Staff know he does not believe control should be returned to the local board. They are not ready. Same thing is told the OEPA afterwards says he is satisfied with the recent audit.
Billy, he gets kind of silly, and acts sort of like the good looking drug addict that steals all your connections and as soon as they have all your connections and don’t need you anymore you get dumped. Gilmer County found out how it feels to become part of Crooked County. In fact BILLS FRIENDS in Charleston during events tell everyone, “Hey look here comes one of those Crooked County Crooks, when they see him.
Result: No change in intervention status. One elementary school on a riverbank, in a flood plain and students sent out of county. Money lost. Current attempts to hurt the head High School Administrator are done in the name of protecting made up reports of sexually abused sixth, seventh and eighth grades while the real goal is an attempt to decrease her paycheck in retaliation over an old disagreement going back to a vote of no confidence from the GSC professionals. Even though he knows doing so endangers any possible future for a High School/Middle School. Seems not to matter, nothing good for the school system appears to matter to President Simmons.
Totally denies actual public board votes to expand minutes request information and items on an agenda took place. Sees and hears nothing that does not support a state agenda and keep him the only one to meet with the Superintendent, the SBA, the BOE or hear of any plans. Publicly refuses to support expanded meeting minutes or answering the questions of anyone in public delegation or from the board time and time again.
Results: Public anger, board exasperation. No information.
The Big Question: Why is someone who is very willing to throw Students, Teachers, Parents, BOE staff, BOE members and even local philanthropists under the bus to protect and glorify himself allowed to continue in a leadership position? Why support this farce?
Recommendation: No vote for Lying BS. Show some real support for the capable and honest members of our Board of Education. Send the message it’s time to go BS.
LIAR fabricator, fabulist, fibber, prevaricator, storyteller
Related Words:exaggerator, mythomaniac; calumniator, defamer, libeler, libelist
slanderer;perjurer; distorter, falsifier; equivocator, palterer; talebearer; charlatan,cheat, cheater, counterfeiter, cozener,deciever, defrauder, dissembler, dissimulator, double talker double dealer, fraud, hustler, knave, mountebank, operator, pretender
~~ Gilmer County Concerned Citizen(s) ~~
What can you expect from the man who believes Night Comes To The Cumberlands was the Master Plan for West Virginia’s economic development and Don’t Buy Another Vote I Won’t Pay For a Landslide was written as a political comedy?
We remember the excess levy meetings where Bill told us all we had to vote for the excess levy or else pay for student text books out of our own pocket. What a fib. The public found out too late federal law mandates the books be provided by the public school system.
Always talks about his history with Glenville State. Always first in line to put it down and push to shut it down. Never a good word about Glenville State College from Bill since he left.
Revenge of the Ghost Wolf 
Reblogged this on Crooked County Crooks and commented:
The Big Question: Why is someone who is very willing to throw Students, Teachers, Parents, BOE staff, BOE members and even local philanthropists under the bus to protect and glorify himself allowed to continue in a leadership position? Why support this farce?
Recommendation: No vote for Lying BS. Show some real support for the capable and honest members of our Board of Education. Send the message it’s time to go BS.
Billy, also known as William K Simmons, he gets kind of silly, and acts sort of like the good looking drug addict that steals all your connections and as soon as they have all your connections and don’t need you anymore you get dumped. Gilmer County found out how it feels to become part of Crooked County. In fact BILLS FRIENDS in Charleston during events tell everyone, “Hey look here comes one of those Crooked County Crooks, when they see him.
If you want somebody running our Board of Ed that thinks a Lewis County school is more important than a Gilmer County school then darken the Simmons circle on the back of the ballot.
Gerwig BEATS Metz for Sheriff by hundreds of votes.
SKINNER WINS for magistrate with 1071 votes
LATEST UNTRUTH?
DEVONO & BILL’S PLANNING COMMITTEE DIDN’T INCLUDE THE MONEY IN A 14 MILLION PLUS BUDGET FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT THE NEW ELEMENTARY ON THE RIVER!!!
TEACHERS HELD A MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON AT THE REC CENTER TO BEG FOR $200,000.
WHAT HAPPENED TO OVER ONE MILLION LOCAL MATCH AND ONE MILLION DEBT FOR BONDS?? DIDN’T HAVE TO BUY LAND.
WHY DIDN’T SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS KNOW ABOUT THIS?
Graft, corruption, stupidity, no common sense, are all on view for the entire country. Wonderful that social media can expose so much of it.
It makes you wonder how West Virginia can claim 46th in educational outcomes with the firm grip WVBOE has on failure?
There was at one time, and not long ago, 200K reserved in what the school administrators referred to as their “spend freely” account.
Even Lewis County Leading Creek teachers are well aware of the money.
WV legislators can count this as another of their long list of financial blunders. We know who has to bail them all out.
Comment by Guess that 200K account lived up to its name? on 05.11.2016
How can they come up with $100,000 to patch a peice of roof on a closed elementary school this summer when they don’t have the money for a playground at a brand new one? Somebody needs to ask Ted Mattern.
Comment by What Kind Of Game Are They Playing Here? on 05.13.2016
The WVBOE kept finances because they want to continue to squander your money and they want to continue to keep your elected school board in the dark.
Been there to know how the WVBOE operates.
The decision to restore personnel decisions to your board is a farce. When you cannot hire and evaluate your own superintendent there will be business as usual.
Another observation is that when the State refuses to provide information to your board the farce is exposed even more.
Comment by Mingo 1&2 on 05.13.2016
Will need pancake breakfast to raise money for the roof repair. lmao Can you see Gabe and Bill with their chef hat and white aprons? lol
Comment by reader7 on 05.13.2016
Another example of inept WVBOE oversight! If the building is auctioned off the cost for the roof will never be recovered.
How could Mr. Green and others on the WVBOE argue that the expenditure will benefit the County’s children?
Makes one wonder if a deal was cut with a known bidder who will get the building with a good roof while paying a sacrifice cost.
With all the County’s money wasted with intervention an objective investigation is needed and it is needed now.
Comment by Gilmer Taxpayer on 05.13.2016
There is a double standard. The WVDOE can cheat us out of $800,000 because of accounting errors, our school system’s surplus $2,000,000 is gone, $1,000,000 in bond debt was taken on without citizen approval, board offices moved to Minnie Hamilton at a great additional expense to funnel money to the County Commission, and it mismanaged at Crooked Run to the tune of close to $1,000,000 to get us in a new school in a flood zone.
What will be done about it? Absolute nothing because the WVBOE is not held accountable.
All the money is gone and citizens have to raise money for playground equipment at the new school.
Comment by Broken State Government on 05.14.2016
It is a pathetic indicator of broken State government when the WVBOE’s waste of the County’s school system money, at the expense of our children, is considered.
One thing was left off. The estimated total cost of the WVBOE’s intervention superintendents is $150,000 yearly to be about 50K more a year compared to what a superintendent in a small county normally receives.
The waste amounts to about 250K for the five years of intervention. That sum is what citizens are trying to raise for the new playground equipment.
To top it off as reported by the WVBOE’s OEPA the current superintendent needs mentoring and remedial training. Where other than in WV would a waste of this magnitude exist?
The WVBOE should be shut down!!!!!!
Comment by Rexroad on 05.15.2016
Write this down Charleston. As long as the WVBOE controls Gilmer’s school system another excess levy will not pass.
Local control is essential to have good decisions and accountability to serve our children best.
All the WVBOE cares about is grabbing our money and taking care of its good ole boys and the local powerful who are in it 100% for themselves.
The Hur Herald, with a 20 year history of publishing and often 2.5 million visitors a year, will discontinue publishing May 31, 2016.
It is the unfortunate consequences of being a highly underfunded project being connected to my pending income loss as a Calhoun County Commissioner.
Over the years, we have cost shifted personal funds to keep the Herald going, costs have climbed with hacking, server costs, satellite, and numerous operational expenses.
I’m one of those millions of American workers who lost their promised retirement benefits, like many have also lost health benefits.
The company for which I previously worked had “bad investments” with the retirement money.
The Herald has had dutiful donators and advertisers, for which we are very grateful.
Few from Calhoun donate each year, most readers do what is normal regarding free things – expect it to be there.
It has clearly been a rewarding experience recording the day to day happenings of Sunny Cal, although sometimes tragic, but having always held to the belief that reporting the news has been an important public service.
We are hopeful to have funding to keep the archives on line, and intend to add special interest and historical stories from time to time.
GILMER COUNTY MAGISTRATE COURT
The hot water heater upstairs at the annex malfunctioned?? And after the water ran all night long destroyed most of the magistrate court area including their computers, files and took ceilings down?
GILMER COUNTY BUS DRIVER
Apparently a Gilmer County Schools bus driver has been very interested in female employees of the system. Reportedly complaint has been made to Gilmer County officials which have been ignored for some excuse or another. Even last Friday at the Gilmer County Employee Recognition Breakfast at GSC, the alleged bus drive ran over and kissed a young female employee on the lips!