I Can See from Here

I may rarely leave the farm, but I know what's going on.

(A rural farm with hayfields amidst the forested hills, AI generated.)

Ah, remote work. I love it. I’ve been trying to find ways to work from home since Frank and I returned to central West Virginia from Chicago in 1999. We were on dial-up internet then, and then awesome Frontier broadband — which went to crap once they oversold the service. In the 24 years we’ve now been here, I have been able to manage working from home for 12. But once the pandemic changed the world, (and Starlink internet became available), remote work options became so vast, that I am pretty confident I will never “take on a public job” long-term again.

(I have this terrible urge to run for county commission someday, but Frank forbids it, and I doubt anyone would vote for me in Gilmer County where I live close to the county line. Too bad I can’t run next door in Calhoun though, I think I could win.)

Even though I have secluded myself at home, it doesn’t mean I don’t see or know what’s happening around us. I read every local news media outlet (no matter how terrible the grammar, piss poor the journalistic ethics, or opinionated the propaganda) and The New York Times every morning. I also follow certain issues, topics, developments, and people who catch my attention. And, for some reason, I tend to zoom in on people who show their ass.

(I am, on occasion, likely to show my own ass, so I’m not opposed to the process. But if you’re showing yours off to me, it better be washed, waxed, and properly presented.)

When the Calhoun County Class of 1982 bought the old Calhoun High School, I began paying attention. When locals in my community purchased the old Normantown Elementary School, I began paying attention. When “The Jesus Chick” started an online “newspaper,” I began paying attention. When a convicted felon (busted for running a pill mill in Kentucky) became the local “county editor” I began paying attention.

I may not leave the farm often, but I see what’s going on.

I am all for accountability and transparency. Neither have ever been strong points in central West Virginia. Government meeting agendas are still posted on the front doors of offices (the minimum required by law on the local books), quorums still meet outside open meetings, and Robert’s Rules of Order are lax if honored at all.

During quarantine and the pandemic, accountability and transparency suffered even further, and the lazy, lazy, lazy coverage of our local media doesn’t include the research, effort, or diligence to make much more than accusations or imply impropriety. The county editor in Glenville once blatantly admitted, in print, that she was printing gossip, and had not done the research to confirm anything she had written.

Dear God in Heaven.

The leading force behind The 1982 Foundation is Crytal Mersh, a local girl gone since graduation (1982) who has come home to save Calhoun County. Wealthy, wily, and a force to be reckoned with, for two years, I silently cheered their efforts from home. But then I watched as she began ripping apart, attacking, and lying about local leaders, people I know to be rational, friendly, and professional.

Anyone who questioned her or told her “No.”

She hit my realm of concern when they released their plans for the new swimming pool, to be built along the Little Kanawha River in the floodplain. I do not support, ever, fill dirt in the flood plain. Displacement is a sixth-grade science concept, and fill dirt is mandated for construction by FEMA flood plain ordinances, NOT to prevent or manage flooding, but to save them from paying out in future insurance claims. AND, our local floodplain designations are 50 years out of date. More than 40 percent of West Virginians live in the floodplain but don’t know it.

Here on the farm, we live in constant threat of high water and flooding. If you put fill dirt anywhere along Steer Creek or downstream of us on The Little Kanawha, you are literally hitting me very close to home.

So, I commented on the post, “I hope you’re not going to put fill dirt in the flood plain.” Her response was defensive, condescending, and snarky. “If you really want to know, or have concerns, I’ll be there on Friday and you can come and talk to me about it.” When I appeared in person on Friday, she clearly had not planned for me to show. A person nearby said, “This is Lisa Minney. You told her to come.”

Crystal has more than once since referred to this exchange as an attack and is quite pissed that “you people” made her spend money to work within floodplain construction parameters. (Shortly before the pool opened, it was surrounded by muddy flood waters.)

But even so — I’m happy to see the pool there, partially built by Hope Gas (who had problems with Crystal and aren’t getting credit), named after a woman who, many old-timers recall, was never charged or indicted in the 1970’s for embezzling from the Town of Grantsville when she was mayor. (So no, there’s no documentation to support that statement, but enough reliable old-time memories that I’m willing to risk mentioning it.)

So Crystal, 1982, and The Ridgeview News were on my radar long before my very brief stint as editor in May, and my “attack” of asking for meeting minutes and financials (which I knew they either a. didn’t have to give me, and/or b. didn’t have) resulted in a flurry of her social media attacks and my car being vandalized.

Crystal Mersh, Director of the 1982 Foundation, owner of Community Center Landlord, LLC and Community Center Management Company, LLC.

In other words, she’s been terrorizing Calhoun County for three years under the guise of saving it, and she has now thoroughly and completely pissed me off. And, no longer employed by a newspaper with rules and restrictions, and now recovered from the level of putrid berating she dishes out to anyone who dares to question her, I have decided to provide a platform and a voice for those who, like me, have all kinds of questions, and actually have researched and found some answers.

Because she presents so many different faces, here are multiple links related to her efforts and approach:

Clear and obvious statement that Mersh owns 1982 Foundation property (deed work will be presented later this week).
Ridgeview News and Crystal Mersh 2023 Podcast in which she clearly says the 500 jobs are going somewhere else (start at 13:00).
Crystal Mersh’s VR Company
Sherri’s “Faith Based” Article Referring to Crystal’s Efforts
Non-Profit Director running for Political Office (not elected)
The Pharmaceutical Company promising local jobs
Same Pharmaceutical Company with address set at Davisville WV Location (not Calhoun)
American Medicines Lobbying Efforts and Contributions
An example of responses to commissioner questions concerning 1982
Clearly noting the skills needed for jobs promised don’t exist here
An example of responses to mayoral questions concerning 1982
Mersh suggesting the mayor resign
Mersh playing the victim, claiming she has been kind
Mersh husband’s recommendation to close down and take the tax write-off
1982 Foundation FB Page, which has grown kinder since her May 19 attack on me (that I reported to her board). To see her true colors, peruse the posts she has not yet deleted before that date.

I am, this time, prepared for attack. I have no doubt she will drag me through the mud and incite others to attack, just as she has done for the last three years to many. Truth be told (and I hate to admit it), I know her game because she and I are much alike. We both think we know how to empower our communities (unappreciated); we’re both strong-willed, educated women who like to take control. Both of us are codependent, with an inability to manage much grace or tongue control, with narcissistic tendencies.

She is, for the most part, all my failing tendencies, completely out of control. Consider this, from The New York Times:

In short, narcissism is a drive to feel special and unique.

To some extent, narcissistic traits exist in all of us, and a little narcissism isn’t a bad thing. In fact, research has shown that viewing ourselves through rose-colored glasses, a concept known as self-enhancement, can help us cope with adversity.

Narcissism is most problematic when people become dependent on the feeling of superiority and seek it at all costs, displaying what Dr. Malkin calls the “triple E”: entitlement, exploitation and a lack of empathy.

I do believe I’m special and unique. My mother has told me so my whole life, and though I may feel I have severely undershot my potential, I tend to believe her. In fact, when I encounter someone who doesn’t think they are special and unique, it makes me sad for them. And, more than once I have been accused of “thinking I’m better than everyone.” (I can’t help it that I’m smart, have good genes, and come from good people.)

But I don’t FEEL superior, nor do I seek it at all costs. If the girl behind the deli counter at Circle S Farms doesn’t know my name to call me when my sandwich is ready, I am neither surprised nor upset by it. Besides, if all you do is show your ass, your face isn’t what folks will recognize. And while, yes, I am inclined to attempt control to sway my feelings of insecurity, I do not exploit.

And, I am over-endowed with empathy. I’m a sucker for the underdog, and right now, Calhoun County is the underdog, being bullied, manipulated, attacked, and exploited by one woman and her actually small but loud collection of minions.

So here we are. We have a community whose voices have been silenced, a community afraid to question, much less address, the giant elephant sticking its trunk in all possible town and county business, including the local Republican party. A woman who subjected me to crony attack for saying I could not (and then would not) cover 1982 developments but welcomed their submissions - her saying she was “too busy to do my job,” — but who has had multiple by-lines in the local newspaper BEFORE and AFTER my nine-day stint as editor. A woman who had a fall-out with her long-time sidekick and is now forcing that woman to move out of the county.

So, let’s make a few things clear and set some rules before I start posting the multiple submissions I have received so far:

1. The Local section will provide a platform for silenced voices and the fearful.

2. I am not a reporter. I’m not going to attend events, governmental meetings, or be “called upon” to witness, nor sicked upon others like an attack dog. I will serve as a facilitator, editor, and fact-checker. I consider my special “Local” section to be founded and based upon a model of Community Journalism.

3. I will only accept submissions with names attached, but I am more than happy to protect those who submit by withholding their names upon publication.

4. If there is no documentation to support a claim, I will check with my network of sources to find multiple human confirmations but will work to most often publish only that which can be documented. Links will be provided within articles to source material online whenever possible.

5. I am only addressing concerns and opening up the Local section to residents and topics within Calhoun and Gilmer Counties.

6. By doing this, I know I will be exposing myself to threats of legal action, personal attacks, lies, and manipulative tactics. I will respond HERE, and not on social media.

7. Only paying subscribers will be able to comment, and I will be fact-checking comments and asking for source materials from commenters as well. I reserve the right to remove any comment I deem a. just plain mean, b. unreliable, c. outside the realm of the Journalistic Ethic Code.

8. Submissions can be sent to: info@twolanelivin.com.

As mentioned in a previous post, I know some of my regular subscribers might not be interested or want to be exposed to these Local issues. You can opt out of Local posts by managing your subscription. You can stay subscribed to other topics within Two-Lane Renaissance, and avoid the dramas about to unfold.

But before we get going, let me be clear:

• I support the plan and intentions of The 1982 Foundation but worry about the sustainability of their efforts.

• I fully hope 1982 and Calhoun survive this woman who can walk away and take the tax write-off at any time.

• I am not perfect, polished, nor skilled at dealing with psychopaths and true narcissists, nor do I believe anyone can be. But, we’re gonna give it a go. If I show my own ass in this process, please forgive me.