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Frazier appointed as next DMV commissioner

Frazier

CHARLESTON — The director of operations for one of the largest car dealerships in West Virginia will become the new commissioner of the state Division of Motor Vehicles.

Everett Frazier, the director of operations for the Thornhill family’s multiple car dealerships in Logan County, was tapped earlier this week to lead the DMV. The appointment was made official Thursday by Gov. Jim Justice and will be effective Jan. 6.

“Everett Frazier brings decades of successful experience and leadership to this job,” Justice said in a statement. “I am confident he will help us to improve the operation and services provided by the DMV.”

Frazier, a native of Cyclone in Wyoming County, has worked for Thornhill for 22 years and has served as operations manager for the chain for 13 of those years. Frazier is no stranger to government, previously serving as a public representative on the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy from 2015 to 2019 and serving on the Wyoming County Planning Commission within the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority.

In a phone interview Thursday morning, Frazier said he was humbled by his appointment and looked forward to starting the new position.

“I’m overjoyed with it,” Frazier said. “It initially came as a shock, and I’m honored to be given the opportunity.”

The DMV, an agency within the state Department of Transportation, was created in 1947. The agency handles drivers’ licenses, commercial drivers’ licenses, plates, registrations, titles, licensing of car dealerships and the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Frazier said his main job will be improving how the office interacts with the public.

“My focus is customer relations, and that’s what I want to improve upon with the DMV,” he said. “I want to take the philosophy of everyone that walks into the DMV office or has any interaction with the DMV, that you’re a guest of the State of West Virginia. We’re there to serve you.”

“So many facets of what we do, whether it be municipality, local government, state government and even federal government — sometimes we forget who we work for and we work for the people,” Frazier continued. “I want to bring back that philosophy.”

Frazier said there is still much he needs to learn about how the DMV operates, but he wants to continue the technological improvements, such as the DMV Now kiosks and the agency’s online services.

“I’ll learn more … how far the DMV is advanced when I get there, but there’s always room for improvement with technology,” he said. “I think we need to let the residents of the State of West Virginia know what technology is already there, what they can do and make them more comfortable using the kiosk and other things.”

Adam Holley, the general counsel for the DMV, has served as acting commissioner since April 1 when commissioner Pat Reed officially retired from the role. Appointed as the commissioner by former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in 2015, Reed came under fire last year due to testimony she and her staff made to various legislative committees regarding the Motor Voter program and the delayed implementation of Automatic Voter Registration (AVR).

During the 2019 session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 491, extending the effective date when AVR would start to Sept. 1, 2021. This was the second delay since automatic voter registration passed the Legislature in 2016. The program was supposed to be effective by July 1, 2017.

The DMV needed to make software and hardware upgrades to handle the registration process. Their previous system was losing voter registration files, resulting in some people not being registered when they tried to vote in 2018. Frazier said he is dedicated to making sure AVR is ready.

“It’s another way of streamlining the process,” he said. “If it makes voter registration easier for people, then I would have to think, my initial gut, I would be all for it and help that process along.”

Frazier is aware that the DMV tends to be the butt of jokes when it comes to government inefficiency. But he hopes his decades of experience in the private sector working with customers can help change the DMV’s reputation for the better.

“You’re our guest, and we want to treat you as such, and we want to go above and beyond the call of duty,” Frazier said. “We might not be able to fix every problem, but we want to attempt to fix your issues. And if we can’t, we want to let you know we can’t and why we can’t, but we want to put forth the effort and treat you in a hospitable and kindly manner.”

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