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Scott bids farewell to commission

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley The Randolph County Commissioners smile on Friday during the final meeting for Mark Scott, center, who is resigning to serve in Gov. Jim Justice’s cabinet. Scott’s replacement will be chosen by Commissioners David Kesling, left, and Chris See, right, from a list of names provided by the county Republican Executive Committee.

ELKINS — The Randolph County Commission voted unanimously to approve the resignation of President Mark Scott at its regular meeting Friday afternoon at the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex.

Scott, who has accepted the position of Secretary of Administration with Gov. Jim Justice’s cabinet in Charleston, attended his final meeting alongside commissioners David Kesling and Chris See Friday.

Scott’s last official day as a Randolph County Commissioner will be Oct. 31. He will begin his new job in Charleston on Nov. 1.

“I want to tell my fellow commissioners what a joy it has been to serve with both of you,” Scott told Kesling and See during Friday’s meeting. “I’m looking forward to hearing great things from Randolph County, and you have a friend in the governor’s office and you always will.”

Scott said he never had any plans of leaving his position and that the choice to do so was harder than one might think. He said the job offer from the governor was unexpected.

“About a month and half ago my wife was in a hospital room and I got a telephone call,” he explained. “It was from a friend of mine and he asked me if I would like to be a member of the Justice administration. One phone call led to another, which led to me being named as the Secretary of Administration about a week and a half ago. The role is very similar to what I do now, except (instead of) doing it on a county basis, it’s on a state basis.”

Scott said it took something special to convince him to leave his position with the commission.

“I love Randolph County and I love this state, and I’m so looking forward to being able to help both in a future role with the governor,” Scott said. “It’s a high honor and it took something big like this to rip me out of this chair. I’ve been offered other things in the past and this was just an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up.”

Scott’s replacement will be chosen by Kesling and See from a list of candidates given to them by Carolyn Jackson, chairwoman of the Randolph County Republican Executive Committee.

Jackson is currently collecting names of people interested in the position and their resumes.

The process the commission is using to choose a new commissioner will follow State Code 30-10-7.

“We’d like to get this done and over within just a couple weeks,” Kesling said. “She (Carolyn) already has a couple names of people who are interested. In the end, Chris and I will make the decision on who will fill Mark’s seat. But if we don’t make a decision, it goes to the (Republican) executive committee of Randolph County.”

Anyone who wishes to fill the vacated seat is encouraged to call Jackson at 304-636-1019.

“Being in local government has been a pure joy, it really has,” Scott added. “For six years I served on Elkins City Council, and I’m two months short of five years as a Randolph County Commissioner.

“As commissioner, every day is different, every day is exciting, and every day is a challenge. The decisions you make on a daily basis are tough and the closer to the public government is, the more impact you have on the citizens. Every decision that we make, we have to take it very seriously. I’m really going to miss it.”

A motion was also made during the meeting and the commission voted unanimously to name Kesling acting commission president until the end of the year.

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