(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

“It’s been a bit of a road to get here, but we’re all thankful that we are here,” said John Jenkins, fund administrator for the West Virginia First Qualified Settlement Fund.

That was the start of the work to be done by a group of Mountain State officials who are being asked to decide how to spend nearly $1 billion in opioid settlement money. We’ve been ravaged for more than a decade by an overwhelming substance abuse epidemic that was in1 part sparked by those now paying out in these settlements.

The road has been horrific, and the work of the foundation is by no means the endpoint.

“We had an incredibly busy first day and we got a lot done, but it’s just the first steps in shoring up this foundation and our fundamental call, which is we’re going to adopt and create tools to combat the opioid scourge that has plagued this state for a generation,” Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey, chairman, said Monday. “My service is to honor the tens of thousands of West Virginians that have passed.”

Others on the leadership team are State Health Officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen as vice chairman; former Department of Homeland Security secretary Jeff Sandy as treasurer; and Harrison County Superintendent of Schools Dora Stutler as secretary. Marshall University First Lady Alys Smith and Raleigh County Commissioner Greg Duckworth are also on the board — selected by Gov. Jim Justice.

And six regional members include Christiansen; Mon Health System Vice President of External Affairs Jonathan Board; Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce; Northwood Health Systems Medical Director Dr. Steven L. Corder; Dr. Michael “Tony” Kelly; and Berkeley County Community Corrections Director Timothy Czaja.

It is an impressive group of individuals with a monumental task.

In that task, they must understand they are a public body, doing public work, using money that was won on the public’s behalf by elected officials. Our West Virginia First Foundation must avoid the mistakes made in other states — Ohio, for example — in which those asked to figure out how to use the money decided it was better to keep their operations and decision-making from prying public eyes.

They must avoid playing favorites, following baseless trends and giving in to old ideas and stigmas. That won’t be easy.

But if they are transparent, accountable, open-minded and working always with the best interests of ALL West Virginians at heart, their effort has the potential to truly change lives and alter our state’s future. Surely, they know how desperately we are looking forward to watching that unfold.