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ON THE MARK... Caruthers Must Come Clean
Commentary
By Mark Hallburn
Publisher
PutnamLIVE.com
When you run billboards around Putnam County that openly advertise "Straight
Talk, Straight Answers to
Hard Questions," you put
yourself on a pedestal.
And you need to deliver.
Last week Putnam County
Commisssion President
James H. "Jim" Caruthers
kicked that pedestal out
from underneath himself.
For more than one year, rumors have circulated around Putnam County that his late wife, "Honey" Caruthers, upset over Jim’s alleged affair, wrote a letter barring him from her funeral.
So we checked around. A court clerk verified the letter months ago, and twice, both last week and months ago, "Honey’s" mother, Diana Reid, confirmed the letter’s existence. Not even Jim’s son, Jonathan, denied the letter’s existence.
We know that the case is sealed in the Putnam County courthouse.
Then we went straight to the man who advertises “Straight Talk, Straight Answers to Hard questions," and asked him about "Honey's" letter.
"I don’t talk to you," says Caruthers. OK. Because of their poor performance PutnamLIVE.com has called for each Putnam County Commissioner to resign. So, naturally, Caruthers isn’t happy with PutnamLIVE.com, So, we gave him another option. We asked him to release the file to the public and media. "I don’t have the file," he says. When we asked him to ask the court to release the sealed file, Caruthers' current wife, Kim Blair, interrupted the interview. Even Jim didn’t deny the letter's existence.
Which begs a few questions:
1) What is Jim Caruthers’ hiding?
2) Why does multi-term Putnam County Commissioner need his wife to rescue him from the hard questions?
We all know the answers to both of those questions.
But it gets worse. (If you thought that was even possible.)
Later that week, in a candidate’s meeting with The Daily Mail, Caruthers blamed Oshel Craigo for the failed West Virginia Lottery project. That multi-million dollar land project which cost Putnam County almost a million dollars in interest. The location where we were promised an office park and a Marshall University campus. Promises that apparently were broken. Caruthers was a part of the Putnam County Commission that supported the project.
In the same interview Caruthers blamed the state for Putnam County’s budget woes. Not enough grants, says Caruthers.
Do you see a pattern here? Bob and weave. Duck and run. What happened to straight answers to hard questions? Can you say “honest politician?” We knew you could.
Caruthers wants your vote in November. That’s up to you. He isn’t getting mine.
It's time for Caruthers to come clean. Some say it is his personal business. Other people say it’s nobody’s business. But when you promise "Straight Talk, Straight Answers to Hard Questions," you are expected to answer the tough questions.
Caruthers needs to open the file. He needs to petition the court to let the media and public review its contents and review the letter. He needs to address the rumors head-on with straight answers. He could even publish the letter himself and make it history.
Caruthers also needs to stop blaming everyone else for Putnam County issues. Don’t blame Oshel if the Putnam County Development Authority bought into a bad land deal. And don’t blame the state for a lack of grant money.
Quit your whining and stand up like a man, Caruthers. You promise "Straight Talk, Straight Answers to Hard Questions." It is time to deliver. It is time to come clean.
