| By Bob Weaver
How $40 million in Homeland Security money has been spent by a division of the State's Office of Emergency Services is under scrutiny.
Three of the agencies top officials have been fired or resigned, amid local complaints that the federal government ignored helping basic services that are needed in case of a terrorist attack.
Calhoun County received the smallest allocation in the state a year ago - $80,000, with $50,000 granted to county law enforcement and $30,000 granted to county OES.
About $46,000 was spent on radio communication equipment, according to Sheriff Carl Ballengee, leaving a $4,000 balance in the account.
County OES Director Bill Stemple spent $18,000 for a generator for the Calhoun courthouse and purchased two computers, a total of $21,000, leaving $9,000 in the account.
County Clerk Richard Kirby says it now appears the remaining funds are frozen.
The county is struggling to upgrade fire, ambulance and police equipment, in addition to completing a new E-911 center.
The new E-911 cell phone tax, if left in tact, will likely complete the center behind Calhoun Middle-High School. Much of the work on the center has been done by volunteers.
The federal Homeland Security program has spent billions of dollars across the US, mostly directed toward high-profile projects related to terrorism with very little allowed for the basic infrastructure of the nation's emergency services, like fire trucks, police vehicles and community responders.
Much of WVs Homeland Security money has been spent on giant tractor-trailers (Regional Response Teams) carrying decontamination equipment, some of which has been called into question.
Questions have been raised regarding the awarding of bids to family members or other special connections.
There is an emphasis on training emergency personnel.
Lee Gray, the third high-ranking employee in West Virginia's homeland security office, has resigned amid several investigations.
Charleston and Kanawha County officials have been waiting for months for the state to release federal homeland security grant money to pay for some emergency equipment they have already purchased.
They say homeland security officials blame the investigation and a federal audit for the delay.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper fired off a letter to West Virginia's Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jim Spears, asking for $211,155 in reimbursement money for fencing and security cameras at the Ned Chilton 911 Center, and $22,288 for other emergency equipment.
Carper said that Gray told county officials that a check for the 911 center was sent in January. The county has no record that it received the money.
The state Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations has been examining the use of homeland security grants for about six months. The federal Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General recently joined the inquiry.
In April, the state's former homeland security chief, Neal Sharp, resigned amid questions into his emergency equipment purchases, use of a state-issued credit card and his flights on the state plane and helicopter. Sharp has denied any wrongdoing.
Former state Emergency Services Director Stephen Kappa was fired. Kappa had reported alleged fraud and spending abuses to his superiors.
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