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Editorial: Funding cuts to Clay County program wrong

From The Inter-Mountain of Elkins:
What Clay County Development Corp. Director Pamela Ramsey Taylor did in November was despicable and stupid.

But it was done by Taylor alone. No one else should pay for her misbehavior.

Several weeks ago, Taylor posted on her Facebook page that she was glad President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be leaving the White House soon. Taylor compared Mrs. Obama to an “ape in heels.”

CCDC board members suspended Taylor from her job, in which she manages various programs, including some that benefit low-income people and families. Her six-week suspension is over, now.

Taylor’s bigotry provoked reactions from all over the country. Anger and regret from West Virginians was not surpassed by that unfavorable response from elsewhere.

State officials, including those from agencies that provide the CCDS with funding to help senior citizens, have been looking into the Clay County agency. It has been suggested programs overseen by Taylor should have state funding reduced or eliminated.

If Taylor’s judgment on program management is as bad as it is on her Facebook posts, it may be in order for state officials to ensure money sent to the CCDC has been spent properly.

But funding cuts in response to Taylor’s outrageous comment about Mrs. Obama would be inappropriate — and wrong, too.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deserving people would be hurt by such reductions. They should not pay the price for a comment they did not make and with which the vast majority do not agree. One injustice should not be compounded by another.

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