Ally Layman, president of Huntington Pride, speaks as the City of Huntington and the U.S. AttorneyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia co-host the Cabell County United Against Hate Community Forum on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at the Marshall Health Arena in Huntington.
Ally Layman, president of Huntington Pride, speaks as the City of Huntington and the U.S. AttorneyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia co-host the Cabell County United Against Hate Community Forum on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at the Marshall Health Arena in Huntington.
Editor's note: This editorial was updated at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, to clarify a statement regarding a city official's involvement in the potential investigation.
Robert C. Byrd represented West Virginia in the U.S. Senate for a gazillion years. His official home address was a hotel room or a post office box or something like that in the Beckley area. He gave up living among the great unwashed here in the Mountain State years before his death. But he was a valuable asset to the state in Washington, D.C. He could reach into the pork barrel and bring home the bacon like no one else, so no one cared where Byrd slept most nights.
Then there was Jim Justice, a current U.S. senator and most recent former governor of West Virginia. State law required him to live in the GovernorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Mansion on the Capitol grounds, but Justice preferred to commute from his home in Greenbrier County. A court ordered him to spend his nights in the GovernorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Mansion, but he ignored it, and as his political party controlled the machinery of state government, nothing was done.
Huntington City Council member Ally Layman faces a similar situation now, but the hand she holds isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t nearly as strong as the ones Byrd and Justice held.
Council member Jason Arthur has placed a resolution on Monday nightÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s council agenda that would direct City Attorney Scott Damron to investigate whether Layman, one of two at-large members of council, lives within city limits. It would also direct the council Chair Mike Shockley to set a special meeting for the presentation of evidence discovered through the investigation, according to agenda documents.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œCouncil member Layman has refused to sign an affidavit under penalty of false swearing affirming that she is a resident of the city,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ the agenda document states.
Arthur is employed with HD ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, which owns The Herald-Dispatch, as an advertising sales representative. He wonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t comment on his resolution, so maybe when the council meets Monday he can explain his suspicions concerning where Layman keeps her personal effects and where she sleeps at night.
Layman took to Facebook Wednesday evening to give her side of the story. She said her residence is her family home in Huntington where she lives with her mother. She said she moved in with her mother after putting her house, which she said was also within city limits, up for sale. The home has not yet sold, she said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFrom day one I have done everything by the book, after asking the city attorney the proper procedure. I gave notice, I updated my address, I changed all of my legal documents, and I followed every step required,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Layman said in the post.
So we have a situation where the city attorney could be asked to investigate a situation that, according to Layman, was already determined to be in compliance with the city charter.
LaymanÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s case isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t the first time the city council has had to vote on seating members who won their elections. In last yearÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s general election, two winning candidates did not file their campaign finance reports for the primary election on time, leading to calls for the council to not allow them to take office. One of those two was Arthur. On the advice of the city attorney, the two members were allowed to take their seats on council after city officials decided the late filings were the fault of the city clerkÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s office. The clerkÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s office wonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be the fall guy this time, so the decision could be more difficult.
If Layman does live outside city limits, however that is defined, she must either resign or be removed from council. The question will be how that is determined.
The city charter sets the City Council as the judge of a memberÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s qualifications. It will be up to the council to decide whether to approve or reject ArthurÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s proposed resolution, assuming he does not withdraw it before then.
If elections are to be trusted, they must be honored. Overturning the results of an election, or even suggesting doing so, is a serious matter and one not to be taken lightly.
