.The response to candidates filing during an off year election has been encouraging. This county is making a return to a two-party system and means that voters want a choice and candidates are not happy with the decisions being made by the current officials.
……….I was blown away by the number of candidates filing for the Board of Education. Since the State has taken over the school system, the Board has been rendered impotent. They will no longer be able to make decisions on financial issues or staffing. There are 11 candidates filed for 3 seats. Incumbents filed include Ed Fields and Jim Horstman from Clay District and Jack Crow from Butler. One of the names that surprised me was former Sheriff and Educator Jeff Woofter. During his tenure at Oak Glen,Woofter raised concerns about the land purchased for Weirton Elementary School. The land was owned by Board legal counsel, the late Bill Fahey, and the Board paid above market value. Woofter wrote letters to the editor pointing out it was a conflict for the Board to be purchasing this large track of land from their own attorney, especially above market value. Woofter left Hancock County and subsequently became Superintendent of Barbour County downstate. He and his wife, MaryAnn returned to Hancock a few years ago.
