Marmet Mayor Bill Pauley will enter into a conciliation agreement on two counts of violating the state Ethics Act for using public office for private gain, Ethics Commission Executive Director Rebecca Stepto said Monday.
Pauley had been scheduled to appear at an Ethics Commission hearing today on charges of violating the Ethics Act for having the town's software vendor remotely log on to the town's computer to print him a check for $6,120, and for voter registration improprieties involving his office during his 2013 reelection bid.
Stepto said Monday she is prohibited by law from commenting on the matter, except to say that today's hearing was canceled, and that consideration of Pauley's conciliation agreement has been added to the agenda for Thursday's Ethics Commission meeting.
A conciliation agreement is the equivalent of a plea bargain, in which a person admits to the findings of the Ethics Commission's Probable Cause Review Board and accepts the penalties and reprimands spelled out in the agreement. Conciliation agreements have to be approved by a vote of the full commission.
On June 30, the review board found probable cause that Pauley, who is in his mid-80s, had committed two violations of the Ethics Act.
One count involved having the town's software firm log on remotely to the town's computer to print a check for wages Pauley believed he was owed for working the town's bingo games from August 2010 to March 2012.
Pauley had been paid for managing finances for the bingo games since 1997, but town council voted in 2010 to cease payments, citing an earlier Ethics Commission decision concluding it is a conflict of interest for mayors to receive municipal pay in addition to their mayoral salaries.
According to the findings of the Probable Cause Review Board, Pauley used his public office for private gain by having the software firm print the check for him without authorization of the town recorder.
Although the check was not cashed - Town Councilwoman Peggy Jacobs refused to sign one of the required authorized signatures, according to the findings - the software firm charged the town $77.50 to generate the check.
Also, the review board found that Pauley had used his public office for private gain by using his office to register individuals to vote and participate in early voting for the June 2013 municipal election, after the May voter registration deadline for that election had passed.
The findings also state that Pauley encouraged non-residents of Marmet to vote in the town election, and that he also provided those participating in the early voting with pre-completed sample ballots and/or lists of preferred candidates for the town election.
Pauley did not return calls Monday.
To date this year, almost all findings of probable cause of ethics violations have been resolved with people entering into conciliation agreements.
The only case that has gone to a hearing before an administrative law judge involves two councilwomen in the town of Piedmont who authorized spending $10,000 of town funds for the legal defense of a town employee later convicted of defrauding a federal agency.
The commission will vote Thursday on whether to accept the findings against Paula Boggs and Grace Russell, involving a scheme in which town officials bought Gulf Stream travel trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for personal use at government surplus rates.
Violations of the Ethics Act are punishable by fines of up to $5,000 per violation. The commission may also issue public reprimands, order restitution and payment of costs of the investigation, and recommend that the violator be removed from office or public employment.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.