PARKERSBURG MAYOR RETIRES AFTER BEING UNDERFIRE FOR MONTHS |
| (06/04/2015) |
| Parkersburg Mayor Robert Newell has retired ahead of a scheduled hearing on petitions to remove him from office. Newell has been under fire for several months after an affair with a city official was disclosed, linked to the misuse of funds. The state Supreme Court had appointed a three-judge panel to hear separate petitions by Wood County Republican Party chairman Rob Cornelius and Parkersburg City Council member Karen Coram. Among the allegations against the 62-year-old Newell were misconduct and neglect of duty. Newell says his wife was on the hearing's witness list and he didn't want to put her through the stress of testifying. |