Source At The News & Sentinel Claims Wood County Commissioner Blair Couch Is Off Limits For Bad Press… by Mark Robertson Two weeks ago, WV News sent information to the News & Sentinel Newspaper regarding evidence we obtained showing Wood County Commissioner Blair Couch had additional public records showing the state had filed another lien against him in reference to his failure to pay state property taxes. Also, court records showing the Department of Child Services instigated paternity and child support proceedings showing Blair D. Couch refused to pay child support until the Court ordered him to do so back in 1998. Which included back support in the amount of $27,841.31.
Couch, who is running for reelection as Wood County Commissioner has a long history of avoiding his debts and other obligations as detailed in prior stories linked below. A source at the News & Sentinel responded to our request asking that the paper look into Couch's neglect towards his personal financial responsibilities since part of his duties as President of the Commission is to oversee the Counties money and finances as well. If he won't manage his own financial responsibilities, how can he maintain those of the counties $20 million dollar annual budget?
According to the unnamed source at the Parkersburg newspaper, the editorial staff already possessed the information we sent, and other debts that Couch owes including back county taxes. The response to our providing them the documents was simply “the newsroom staff has this already but can't publish anything negative about Commissioner Couch.” The email came from a personal account, not the newspapers business e-mail system but we verified they are employed at the News & Sentinel. We found one story the paper had published regarding back taxes he owed on his former business, but it was written in a positive approach most favorable to Couch.
The two latest documents obtained show that on August 22, 2011 the state filed a notice of tax lien #1403458 against David B Couch (and wife) for failure to pay his 2009 state taxes in the amount of $324.00. Couch eventually paid a total of $473.99 and the lien was released. Other tax records with the county show personal taxes being paid late and a current outstanding bill over $17,000 that he still owes from his former business A.W. Couch Inc that he simply changed the name to DC Fleet Sales and kept operating at the same location.
The paternity-child support case was filed in the Wood County Circuit Court in 1997. Case #97-D-207 (PAT) and was brought on by the Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau of Child Support Enforcement. The plaintiff, “KM” was to establish paternity and child support. He was ordered to pay $605.67 a month and also ordered to pay back support of $27,841.31 along with $3,086.00 for hospital bills and $171.00 for genetic testing. The case was heard on May 20th, 1998 and the final order was signed on October 15th, 1998.
According to one Wood County employee we spoke with about Couch's overall financial problems said, “Nobody should be surprised, because his whole history is denial and avoidance of responsibility. He refused to admit paternity or pay child support until the Department of Human Services sued him. He did not pay his state income taxes until the state put a lien on his home. And he has not paid a penny of the overdue $17,000+ in business taxes that he owes Wood County.”
Anyone wishing to obtain a PDF copy of Blair Couchs Tax Lien or Paternity Court Order e-mail your request to: WestVirginiaNews@gmail.com
End Of Story
Mark Robertson
West Virginia News
E-Mail: WestVirginiaNews@gmail.com
Website: http://WVNewsOnline.com
Blog: http://WestVirginiaNews.blogspot.com
Twitter: @WVNewsOnline
Related Stories
.
.
.
.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment