Petition Filed to Remove Marmet Mayor

Residents have filed a petition seeking the removal of the mayor of the town of Marmet. The Gazette-Mail reports that petitions signed by 99 voters were filed this week in Kanawha Circuit Court. The complaint accuses 87-year-old Mayor Bill Pauley of “official misconduct, malfeasance in office, incompetence, neglect of duty and gross immorality.” It includes a copy of an agreement Pauley made with the state Ethics Commission in September admitting that he helped ineligible voters cast ballots in the town’s 2013 elections. He was fined $2,000. Pauley, who has been mayor for 37 years, said the bid to remove him is really being driven by a year-long dispute over how much to pay the street commissioner. He said he will fight to complete his term, which ends in 2017.