MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Council intends to investigate claims that City Manager Kim Haws is not a resident of Morgantown.
“City Council has recently become aware of concerns about the residence of our city manager,” Mayor Jenny Selin said. “We plan to discuss this with the city manager and will provide further comment once those discussions have taken place.”
Haws was hired by Morgantown City Council in November 2020.
According to the city’s charter, the city manager “need not be a resident of the City or State at the time of his appointment but must reside in the City while in office.”
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office website lists Haws as having an active voter registration in Harrison County.
Tax records list one property under Haws, a home in Bridgeport, where he previously spent 20 years as city manager before Bridgeport City Council opted not to renew his contract in early 2019.
The Dominion Post reached out to the city regarding the issue on Aug. 17 and initially received no response. A second request for comment on Sept. 1 prompted the above quote from Selin. City policy mandates news reporters contact Morgantown’s Communications Office rather than other city employees or officials.
Haws’ residency has become the new focal point of a petition being circulated to force recall elections for all seven members of Morgantown City Council.
Todd Stainbrook is the organizer of that effort, which was initially formed around issues pertaining to the city’s police and fire departments and their tumultuous relationship with city hall.
“We’re looking at this subject now because there’s no question mark here as to whether the city is breaking the law,” Stainbrook said. “[Haws] couldn’t vote in a city election. He couldn’t sign my petition if he wanted to. He’s a registered voter in Harrison County. His driver’s license says Bridgeport. He goes home every night to Bridgeport. He is not a resident of Morgantown. The city’s charter says he has to be a city resident. It’s not complicated.”
Stainbrook said he initially reached out to City Attorney Ryan Simonton but has since asked the West Virginia Attorney General’s office to get involved.
The Dominion Post asked the attorney general’s office if it was looking into the matter, but did not receive a response in time for this report.
As for the petition to recall city council, Stainbrook said he’s confident he’ll hit the required signature threshold.
In order to trigger a recall election, a total of 3,849 signatures — 20% of the city’s 19,246 registered voters in the 2021 municipal election — will need to be collected and verified. That 2021 election saw 1,519 voters (7.89%) go to the polls.
In addition to the council recall, Stainbrook and others are collecting signatures to force a vote on moving the city’s election date in line with state and federal elections and apply term limits that would hold members of council to two consecutive four-year terms.
Stainbrook wouldn’t say Friday how many signatures have been collected so far.
“I am purposely not putting out how many signatures we have. It’s none of their business. They’ll know when we have 4,000,” he said. “The city needs to understand this is not going away.”
