It took three judges about 15 minutes Thursday to decide to remove longtime Marmet Mayor Bill Pauley from office.
Pauley, who had served as mayor of Marmet for more than 30 years, shouldn't be mayor after admitting to ethics violations last year, the judges ruled.
Raleigh Circuit Judge Robert Burnside Jr., Cabell Circuit Judge Christopher Chiles and Boone Circuit Judge William Thompson agreed with Marmet residents who filed a petition to remove Pauley. The judges determined that admissions of guilt that Pauley had signed in a conciliation agreement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission in September provided grounds for his removal.
Marmet City Council members will determine who will serve as interim mayor, the judges said.
In the conciliation agreement, which is the equivalent of a plea bargain with the Ethics Commission, Pauley admitted to using his public office for private gain by using it to register voters after the May voter registration deadline had passed. Pauley also encouraged voters to vote in the primary, he admitted.
He also encouraged nonresidents to vote in the election and provided those voting early with pre-completed ballots and/or lists of who to vote for, the agreement Pauley signed states.
Pauley would not comment as he walked out of the courtroom Thursday.
About 18 Marmet residents attended the hearing. They said they weren't sure what to expect during the proceedings.
Residents had filed the petition in Kanawha County Circuit Court asking that Pauley be removed because he admitted to the ethics violations.
When Burnside asked who would be representing the 99 citizens who signed the petition to remove Pauley, Cathy McGhee, Daniel Casto and Wynter Winnell volunteered. None of them is a lawyer. Throughout the hearing, they would turn around and get whispered advice from their fellow residents.
The crux of the petitioners' argument revolved around the June 11, 2013, primary election for mayor, in which Pauley admitted to ethics violations.
When the judges asked if the petitioners had any witnesses, the three volunteers acting as attorneys turned around to see most residents in the courtroom shaking their heads no.
But Robert Wells, the man who ran against Pauley in the last election, volunteered. He testified that he watched Pauley during the primary election and saw him leaving the office several times and returning with people.
Wells also told the judges that he had asked poll workers to keep their eyes out for any signs of fraud. Poll workers found pre-filled ballots in a trash can, which they turned over to Wells, he told the judges Thursday.
Wells was the person who filed the complaint with the state Ethics Commission.
Judges refused to accept documents McGhee tried to provide as evidence. There wasn't sufficient proof that pre-filled ballots had belonged to Pauley, the judges said. The judges also wouldn't accept a list of names that residents said Pauley had given voters.
David Dawson, the lawyer representing Pauley, argued that there was really no evidence of what happened that day.
After confusion about whether he would call a witness or not, Dawson called Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick to testify.
After someone got McCormick from her office, she testified that Pauley had asked her for material to register voters. Pauley also called McCormick to inquire about whether certain voters were registered, she told the judges. When it came time for closing arguments, McGhee told the judges that residents wanted Pauley removed, most of all, because they couldn't trust him.
"As citizens," McGhee said, "we go to the polls every four years. We have to know that every election is a fair election."
Dawson defended Pauley by saying that the mayor was trying to look out for people who wanted to vote.
"He's kept the town financially sound, brought a recreation center to the town and helped start the bingo program," Dawson said.
Dawson also argued that, if Pauley were removed, the town would be without a mayor.
"It leaves the town without leadership," Dawson said. "There is no elected official that would fill his shoes until next time around."
While the judges deliberated, people milled around the courtroom and talked. Pauley's three supporters sat behind him and the Marmet residents wanting him removed stayed together on the opposite side of the courtroom.
"There is a reason he was watched so closely," Patty McGrew said, as the judges deliberated, "and it's not because the people have faith in what he's doing."
McGrew added that filing the removal petition against Pauley wasn't anything personal.
"No one hates him," she said. "No one is out to burn him, but he's been doing this for a very long time."
After the judges announced their decision to remove Pauley, the petitioners applauded.
"It's been a great day for the town of Marmet," Winnell said. "It's been a long time coming."
Not everyone was as excited, though.
"We get to move forward, and I'm happy that we can move forward," McGrew said, "but I'm sad that it came to this."
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.