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PARKERSBURG -- Wood County Clerk-elect Joe Gonzales was sworn in as a deputy clerk Thursday as he begins the process to take over the position next month.
Gonzales, who was elected last month to replace retiring Clerk Mark Rhodes, was sworn in by the Wood County Commission during its regular meeting.
Rhodes, who was out of the office on Thursday, previously said he had worked out his office's budget to allow him to hire his successor as a deputy clerk after the election to allow the new person some time to come in and learn the operations of the office as well as get to know the people there.
Gonzales, a Republican, defeated Democrat J.R. Carpenter in the General Election. Gonzales attended when the commission did the canvassing of the ballots with Rhodes talking to him about how things were done and showing him various equipment.
Gonzales said he believes he is one of 17 newly elected clerks statewide, based on online Zoom meetings he has been a part of with state officials. He said they will be attending a training session on Dec. 9 in Charleston with the Secretary of State's office as well as other training sessions for various issues throughout the state over the next year.
"There will be a lot of resources," Gonzales said.
In other business, Wood County Administrator Marty Seufer gave an update on work being done at the new Wood County 911 Center.
Earlier this year, the commission chose ZMM Architects & Engineers of Charleston to design and oversee the renovation of the 18,000-square-foot facility at U.S. 50 and Interstate 77. The commission bought the building in 2020 for $850,000 with plans to adapt it for use as the new 911 center.
Seufer commented that there will be a lot of storage space at the building to securely store the county's voting machines as well as other records deemed appropriate for storage there, including election records, prosecutor's records and more.
Gonzales said he would take a tour of the facility soon.
"That is a nice building," he said.
"That was a good future move," Commissioner Jimmy Colombo commented.
Colombo and Seufer said people who knew the building when Suddenlink was there would not recognize it now with all of the work that has been done inside. Work has been done to fortify the building and make it more secure. Work is also being done to reinforce the roof and the offices inside as well as other interior work.
"You would not recognize it," Seufer said.
Estimates still have the building being completed in March 2023.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com