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Connie Lupardus
Central
Appalachia Empowerment Zone (CAEZ) was a Federal Govt
experiment based on, give lay persons some $$$ and let them
grow their own economies. That was thirty years ago. CAEZ has
had five Executive Directors over their decade plus in
business.
The longest serving director was Connie Lupardus. She is now retired and the agency has been floundering without a director for over two years.
While she was on board, this newspaper kept finding "complexities" with about everything she said in public. Publishing her exploits became a real treat for us and our readers.
At one point, Big Lup as we named her, came back from a New Orleans trip and carried a Voodoo doll with a needle in its chest. She said she was thinking of the Ace Cub Reporter when she bought it down there.
It was easy to catch Big Lup. All we did was ask follow up questions. Any follow up answer usually ensnared the Director in a discrepancy. It was great fun!
Around 5 years ago, Big Lup accused the reporter of stealing 50 2 by 4's from the Valley Fork School owned by CAEZ. After Green Shirt Badges finished their investigation, turned out, the owner of the wood was Mickey Boggs and that person had forgotten where she moved the building materials.
Some time in her reign of mediocrity, Lup fired out the below rant during a fit of rage. For your edification, here it is in its entirety and unedited in any way:
Well I really stepped into it last night after a meeting!! Mr Waddle (the Little Bald Guy with the Little Man Syndrome) baited me and I fell for it which caused more drama.
I just want people in the county to know (which I am sure most do) that the communicator (and the little bald guy) IS NOT a friend of Clay County. I don't see how poking fun at citizens or misinterpreting (basically lying) what is said at meetings is a way to treat your county. CAEZ of WV board and staff has worked very hard to assist businesses with micro loans, higher education, community and economic development in Clay County. We have put money into schools, fire departments, ambulance services, health departments, offer free training at the Valley Fork Business and Education Center, run the only certified Day Care Facility in the county which employs 5 Clay County residents. We worked hard to get a fulltime Workforce WV Staff person in the county plus a fulltime Adult Basic Education program that provides job readiness training, computer training and other trainings as needed. Out of our Facility at Valley Fork there are 29 full and part time employees, mostly from Clay County.
We constructed the JG Bradley Lodge and Campground at Dundon which was severally affected by the flood of 2016. We have been working tirelessly to get that back up and running so families will have a safe place for reunions, homecomings, and a place for RV’ers with full hookups, plus added 5 bedrooms to the county for visitors.
We have constructed new homes in the county for low to moderate income families so they can have a safe, affordable place to live and we own and manage the Clay Apartments.
We have worked with agencies to get the Elk River designated as a River Trail and Rt 4 designated as a Scenic By-Way.
CAEZ along with Clay, Braxton, Nicholas, Webster and Fayette Counties are working on an ATV Trail project for our 5 counties. We have hired an engineering firm that works with the very successful Hatfield and McCoy Trails in Southern West Virginia. Our goal is to link the 5 counties together for a top notch trail system. This project is just in the beginning stages and will take several years to complete but we have begun the process.
What has Mr Waddle done to benefit the county except to make us the laughing stock of the state!
Note: If there is any question, let's make it clear, we stand by every word published in the Communicator and COMMUNICATOR ONLINE. AW
The longest serving director was Connie Lupardus. She is now retired and the agency has been floundering without a director for over two years.
While she was on board, this newspaper kept finding "complexities" with about everything she said in public. Publishing her exploits became a real treat for us and our readers.
At one point, Big Lup as we named her, came back from a New Orleans trip and carried a Voodoo doll with a needle in its chest. She said she was thinking of the Ace Cub Reporter when she bought it down there.
It was easy to catch Big Lup. All we did was ask follow up questions. Any follow up answer usually ensnared the Director in a discrepancy. It was great fun!
Around 5 years ago, Big Lup accused the reporter of stealing 50 2 by 4's from the Valley Fork School owned by CAEZ. After Green Shirt Badges finished their investigation, turned out, the owner of the wood was Mickey Boggs and that person had forgotten where she moved the building materials.
Some time in her reign of mediocrity, Lup fired out the below rant during a fit of rage. For your edification, here it is in its entirety and unedited in any way:
Well I really stepped into it last night after a meeting!! Mr Waddle (the Little Bald Guy with the Little Man Syndrome) baited me and I fell for it which caused more drama.
I just want people in the county to know (which I am sure most do) that the communicator (and the little bald guy) IS NOT a friend of Clay County. I don't see how poking fun at citizens or misinterpreting (basically lying) what is said at meetings is a way to treat your county. CAEZ of WV board and staff has worked very hard to assist businesses with micro loans, higher education, community and economic development in Clay County. We have put money into schools, fire departments, ambulance services, health departments, offer free training at the Valley Fork Business and Education Center, run the only certified Day Care Facility in the county which employs 5 Clay County residents. We worked hard to get a fulltime Workforce WV Staff person in the county plus a fulltime Adult Basic Education program that provides job readiness training, computer training and other trainings as needed. Out of our Facility at Valley Fork there are 29 full and part time employees, mostly from Clay County.
We constructed the JG Bradley Lodge and Campground at Dundon which was severally affected by the flood of 2016. We have been working tirelessly to get that back up and running so families will have a safe place for reunions, homecomings, and a place for RV’ers with full hookups, plus added 5 bedrooms to the county for visitors.
We have constructed new homes in the county for low to moderate income families so they can have a safe, affordable place to live and we own and manage the Clay Apartments.
We have worked with agencies to get the Elk River designated as a River Trail and Rt 4 designated as a Scenic By-Way.
CAEZ along with Clay, Braxton, Nicholas, Webster and Fayette Counties are working on an ATV Trail project for our 5 counties. We have hired an engineering firm that works with the very successful Hatfield and McCoy Trails in Southern West Virginia. Our goal is to link the 5 counties together for a top notch trail system. This project is just in the beginning stages and will take several years to complete but we have begun the process.
What has Mr Waddle done to benefit the county except to make us the laughing stock of the state!
Note: If there is any question, let's make it clear, we stand by every word published in the Communicator and COMMUNICATOR ONLINE. AW