Jerry Mezzatesta | |
---|---|
Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates | |
In office December 1, 1986 –December 1, 2004 | |
Preceded by | Daniel Shanholtz |
Succeeded by | Ruth Rowan |
Constituency | 50th district (1992–2004) 36th district (1986–1992) |
Personal details | |
Born | Ravenna,Ohio,U.S. | December 1,1946
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Mary Lou Clark |
Children | 3 |
Residence(s) | Romney,West Virginia |
Alma mater | Shepherd University (B.S.) Frostburg State University (M.Ed) West Virginia University Marshall University |
Occupation | Educator,Tree farmer |
Jerry Mezzatesta is an American Democratic Party politician,who has represented the U.S. state of West Virginia. He was the West Virginia House of Delegates member from the 50th District which represents Mineral County and Hampshire County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The Charleston Gazette called him "one of West Virginia's most powerful politicians". [1]
In 2004,Mezzatesta and his wife,Mary Lou,pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge that they altered and destroyed legislative computer records. [2] Mezzatesta lost his re-election bid that same year to Ruth Rowan. [3] In April 2005,he was fired from his $60,000-a-year job with the Hampshire County Board of Education. [4]
In 2005,the West Virginia Ethics Commission found that Mezzatesta had violated an agreement to not use his legislative position to solicit funds for the county's school system. [2] They subsequently fined him $2000. [5] In September 2006,a federal grand jury indicted him and former Hampshire County Schools Superintendent David Friend on two counts of fraud and misappropriation of funds. [6] However,on March 30,2007,Mezzatesta and Friend were acquitted. [2] On April 23,2009,Judge C. Reeves Taylor ruled that Mezzatesta should get his job back in the Hampshire County school system. Clearing him of the alleged ethics violations,Judge Taylor wrote that "from the record there was no agreement between the Ethics Commission and Mezzatesta at the time held the position (as a school board employee),merely a request made by him to the commission and an advisory opinion made by (the Ethics Commission) and conveyed to (Mezzatesta)."[ citation needed ] The school board paid Mezzatesta a $192,000 settlement in lieu of rehiring him. [7]
Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census,the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney,West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754,from parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties (Virginia) and is the state's oldest county. The county lies in both West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.
Mountain State University (MSU) was a private university in Beckley,West Virginia. It closed in 2013. It was formerly named Beckley College and then The College of West Virginia.
Alexander White was an early American lawyer and politician in the present-day U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. He served in the House of Burgesses,the Virginia House of Delegates (representing Frederick County and later Berkeley County. During the American Revolutionary War,White facilitated the release of Quaker and Hessian civilian prisoners held by patriots. White also participated in the Virginia Ratifying Convention and became the northwestern Virginia district's inaugural member in the United States House of Representatives. United States President George Washington appointed White one of the commissioners responsible for the planning and construction of Washington,D.C..
Hampshire High School is a public school in Romney,West Virginia that serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of Hampshire County Schools under the auspices of the Hampshire County Board of Education. It is the only high school in Hampshire County. Hampshire High School is located on Trojan Way off of the Northwestern Turnpike near Romney. The school currently has approximately 800 students enrolled,with that number slightly declining. It also employs approximately 70 faculty members. Hampshire High School's current principal is Amy Haines.
Joseph Neville Jr. was an American soldier,planter and politician from Virginia. In addition to military service during the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812,Neville represented Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Burgesses,several of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions and in the House of Delegates during the American Revolutionary War. Fellow legislators twice elected him to the United States House of Representatives,where he served from 1793 until 1795. He died at the age of 85 in what became Hardy County during his lifetime.
Ruth Rowan is an American politician from the U.S. state of West Virginia. She is a member of the Republican Party and served as a member the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 57th District,which represented parts of Mineral County and Hampshire County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. In 2004,she defeated the embattled House Delegate Jerry Mezzatesta for his seat after he was embroiled in a political scandal in 2003-04.
Arnold Ray Miller was a miner and labor activist who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA),AFL–CIO,from 1972 to 1979. Winning as a reform candidate,he gained positive changes for the miners,including compensation for black lung disease. He had difficulty dealing with growing internal union opposition. His last two years as president were particularly tumultuous and he suffered two heart attacks,finally resigning in November 1979 with the title of "president emeritus for life".
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Marshall Silas Cornwell was a 19th-century American newspaper publisher and editor,writer and poet in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Cornwell was a younger brother of railroad and timber executive William B. Cornwell (1864–1926) and West Virginia Governor John Jacob Cornwell (1867–1953).
Allen Hayes Loughry,II is a former justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Alexander W. Monroe was a prominent American lawyer,politician,and military officer in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. Monroe served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County. He was the Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates during the 1875–1877 legislative session. Monroe also represented Hampshire County in the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872.
Henry Bell Gilkeson was an American lawyer,politician,school administrator,and banker in West Virginia.
Howard Hille Johnson was a blind American educator and writer in the states of Virginia and West Virginia. Johnson was instrumental in the establishment of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1870,after which he taught blind students at the institution's School for the Blind for 43 years.
Joshua Soule Zimmerman was an American lawyer,politician,and orchardist in the U.S. state of West Virginia. In the early years of the 20th century,Zimmerman served as the Prosecuting Attorney for Hampshire County and as a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
James Sloan Kuykendall was an American farmer,lawyer,and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Kuykendall was twice elected as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County. Kuykendall also served three terms as the mayor of Romney and later fulfilled the position of city attorney.
John Baker White was an American lawyer,military officer,and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. White served as a captain in the West Virginia National Guard during the Spanish–American War and as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps during World War I. White was a member of the City Council and Board of Affairs of Charleston,West Virginia from 1907 to 1911,and frequently served as the city's mayor pro tempore. He was later appointed a member of the West Virginia Board of Control,where he served as the board's treasurer,secretary,and president at various times.
Robert White was an American lawyer and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. White served four consecutive terms as the Prosecuting Attorney for Hampshire County,West Virginia (1912–1928),and served one term in the West Virginia Senate (1931–1935),representing the state's 15th Senate district in the 40th and 41st Sessions of the West Virginia Legislature. During the 1933 legislative year,White served as the floor leader for the Democratic Party members of the West Virginia Senate.
Eric Eyre is an American journalist and investigative reporter,best known for winning the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for exposing the opioid crisis in West Virginia. He was a statehouse reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. He resigned his position in April 2020. He is also the author of the book,Death in Mud Lick:A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic.
Jason Cord Buckel is an American politician,and the minority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates. He has represented District 1B since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.