In light of the West Virginia primaries directly ahead of us, we thought we would share some serious issues that the people of West Virginia should be very concerned about. The purpose of this article is to compile some appalling facts about gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice. Our opinions will be kept out of this as they are not needed. We hope that the facts will speak for themselves.
In 2015, Justice switched his political party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Justice sold his coal company to a foreign company after Obama’s election for $436 million. In 2012, Justice moved part of the headquarters for his coal company from Beckley, W. Va. to Roanoke, Va. His companies have racked up approximately $2 million in safety violations and have failed to pay $1.5 million of that. Justice received a $25 million tax break for “new construction projects” at the Greenbrier. Overall, Justice’s mines have committed approximately 4,000 violations. 1,300 of these citations were classified by federal inspectors as likely to cause illness or injury if they remain uncorrected. More than 500 of these violations have been the cause of accidents, deaths, and even mine disasters in the past. $850,000 worth of equipment was seized by Tazewell County officials because Justice had neglected to pay property taxes. As of late 2015, Coal companies controlled by Jim Justice owed $3.5 million in delinquent property taxes in Eastern Kentucky. A federal judge fined Justice Energy Co. Inc. more than $1.2 million for not making payments that were required by a previous court order. Many small businesses have filed lawsuits against Jim Justice for lack of payment for work they performed for his businesses. Please take a look at this video:
This dash cam video shows Jim Justice getting pulled over for going 54 mph in a 40 mph speed zone. Justice’s tags are not on file as being registered with the Division of Motor Vehicles. The officer gives him a break on this but does cite him for speeding (although he drops the amount from 54 to 44 mph in a 40 mph zone). Despite the officer’s professionalism, Justice calls the officer a “total lunatic” and “crazy.” (Is this good behavior for the next possible leader of our state?)
Again, an individual’s feelings are irrelevant towards this topic. These are not personal attacks against Justice, these are facts that are open to the public and facts that the citizens of West Virginia have the right to know before they go to the polls on May 10. We hope you vote wisely!
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
