Not meant to be a joke

Effort to name bridge after Deem was suppose to be a show of respect, Unger says

By JESS MANCINI
PARKERSBURG — A state Senate committee wasn’t joking when it named the new Corridor D bridge after a sitting senator from Wood County, the chairman said Monday.

‘‘At least I didn’t think it was,’’ said John Unger II, D-Berkeley, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Committee members were expressing their respect for Sen. Frank Deem, a Republican from Wood County, when it amended a resolution naming the new bridge over Blennerhassett Island the J. Frank Deem Blennerhassett Island Bridge, Unger said.

The committee was recognizing Deem’s tenure as a lawmaker and one of the top 10 longest-serving legislators in the country, Unger said. Deem has served in the Legislature in every decade since the 1950s.

‘‘That’s a pretty good accomplishment,’’ said Unger, who didn’t return calls on Friday.

Unger’s description is different than Sen. Evan Jenkins’, D-Cabell, vice chairman of the committee, who on Friday said the amendment to the original resolution, which asks the highways commissioner to name the bridge the Blennerhassett Island Bridge, to add Deem to the title of the bridge was in jest.

The jest, Unger said, was when the first amended title included ‘‘memorial,’’ which inferred Deem was dead.

‘‘Some people kind of chuckled,’’ Unger said.

The committee on Feb. 22 amended the resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 19, to include Deem in the title of the bridge. Deem, who is not a member of the committee, was not in Charleston that day and didn’t learn of the committee’s action until he returned on Feb. 19, the day after Presidents Day, a state and federal holiday.

Deem went to the committee and requested his name be removed. The legislation nearly made it to the floor of the Senate.

The committee amended the resolution again, removing Deem’s name from the title of the bridge.

‘‘It wasn’t a joke,’’ Deem said Monday. ‘‘They did it out of respect for me.’’

Unger said the resolution with the original wording will go to the full Senate later this week. He anticipates it will be passed and sent to the House on Friday.

‘‘It’s OK. It’s on its way,’’ Unger said. ‘‘I don’t see any reason why it (naming the bridge for Blennerhassett Island) won’t pass.’’

According to Unger, the only confusion or delay came when the Wood County Commission, acting on a request from the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley, agreed to support the chamber to name the bridge after Bernie McDonough, Parkersburg industrialist and philanthropist. After learning local legislators were in support of naming the bridge after Blennerhassett Island, the commission last week changed its mind and sent a letter to the state saying it supported both the McDonough and Blennerhassett proposals.

The bridge crosses the Ohio River over the southern end of Blennerhassett Island from Washington Bottom in West Virginia to Porterfield in Ohio. The 11-mile connector will join the western terminus of U.S. 50 in West Virginia with U.S. 50 in Ohio.