"I can't even read the top letter on the eye chart without correction," he said.
Hardy went to work for the United Mine Workers of America, working out of the District 17 office on Kanawha Boulevard and specializing in black lung cases, labor law and advocating for coal miners. About the same time, he took and passed the test to become a CPA.
Hardy spent 12 years working for the Jackson Kelly law firm, then five working for Spilman, Thomas & Battle. He joined his current firm in February 2008.
Hardy was elected to Charleston City Council in 1994 and became chairman of council's powerful finance committee. His CPA license helped him oversee a city budget that has now grown to $90 million, twice the amount of money available to county government.
Among Hardy's first actions as finance chairman was reforming and making more accountable the city's purchasing system. He also persuading City Council to talk owners of Watt Powell Park into removing tobacco advertising from the ballpark, arguing that it sent a bad message to children.
Hardy was appointed to the Kanawha County Commission in 2001, after Commissioner Duke Bloom was elected as a Kanawha Circuit judge. Hardy has been elected to the post twice since.
Hardy has been criticized for representing Massey Energy in court. The company has been in the news recently for a fatal explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal.
Hardy counters the criticism by saying he has never had a complaint filed against him with the State Bar. Best Lawyers of America recognized Hardy this year for his experience in energy law.
"Everybody is entitled to due process, and everybody has the right to representation," Hardy said. "I've been on both sides [of the coal industry]. You'll find I have an impeccable record with the State Bar, and I have the respect of all the parties I deal with."
Hardy was also criticized for not taking a public stand on table gaming when voters were asked to approve expanded gambling at Tri-State racetrack in 2007. Some people thought he was ducking the issue to avoid offending voters.
Hardy said he voted to put table gaming on the ballot, and voted in favor of table gaming when he went to the polls. But he said he didn't want to tell other people how they should vote.
"It's like a pro-life, pro-choice vote," he said. "It's a very personal decision. I'm not going to tell a churchgoer who has very strong feelings about gambling how to vote."
Hardy believes public safety, infrastructure and economic development are the most important things for Kanawha County. He believes his track record shows that he's done a good job with all three.
"It's easy just to throw out abstract ideas," he said. Hardy, who sits on the Charleston Area Alliance, said he and other county officials have a plan for the county's growth and economic health.
"It's a targeted plan," he said.
Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1215.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy likes to keep reminders of his 15 years in public service.
An avid baseball fan, Hardy has a collection of baseball hats from every school in Kanawha County lined up on a shelf. His modest office in a corner of Charleston's Laidley Tower is decorated with photos of Hardy and other county officials, pictures of family and reminders of his days growing up in eastern Kanawha County.
There's a rug on the floor bearing the Kanawha County seal.
"I've been in the game, not on the sidelines," he said of his nearly 10 years of service on the Kanawha County Commission.
Hardy, 51, is running for re-election to the seat, facing Democratic challenger Andy Richardson in the May 11 primary election.
Hardy, who lives in South Hills, works for Allen Guthrie & Thomas PLLC, a Charleston law firm. Over the past 20 years, he has worked for some of the most prestigious firms in West Virginia.
Some people might look at Hardy's law degree and deduce that he's just another lawyer from an affluent Charleston family. They would be wrong.
"I started working evening shift during high school at the Department of Motor Vehicles and worked evening shift my entire senior year in high school," Hardy said.
Mailing license plates from the basement of the DMV building every night "made me appreciate the value of a college education," he said.
Hardy grew up in Pratt, where his parents still live. "I spent my summers sweeping floors at the Glasgow AEP plant," he said. "That's the same place my father worked for 40 years. My mother worked part time at Pratt Elementary as a school cook.
"My parents started emphasizing college to me when I was in the first grade," Hardy said. He started attending classes at nearby West Virginia Tech in 1975, while he was still in high school.
Did Hardy grow up poor?
"I grew up a West Virginian," he said. "We never wanted for anything."
Hardy graduated from East Bank High in 1976 and from Tech, where he studied history, government and accounting, in 1980. He then decided to go to law school.
"I wanted to be an FBI agent or a naval JAG officer, both of which require law school," Hardy said. He went to law school in Knoxville, Tenn., and passed the West Virginia Bar exam on his first try in 1983.
Then disappointment struck. Neither the Navy nor the FBI would take Hardy because of his extreme near-sightedness.
"I can't even read the top letter on the eye chart without correction," he said.
Hardy went to work for the United Mine Workers of America, working out of the District 17 office on Kanawha Boulevard and specializing in black lung cases, labor law and advocating for coal miners. About the same time, he took and passed the test to become a CPA.
Hardy spent 12 years working for the Jackson Kelly law firm, then five working for Spilman, Thomas & Battle. He joined his current firm in February 2008.
Hardy was elected to Charleston City Council in 1994 and became chairman of council's powerful finance committee. His CPA license helped him oversee a city budget that has now grown to $90 million, twice the amount of money available to county government.
Among Hardy's first actions as finance chairman was reforming and making more accountable the city's purchasing system. He also persuading City Council to talk owners of Watt Powell Park into removing tobacco advertising from the ballpark, arguing that it sent a bad message to children.
Hardy was appointed to the Kanawha County Commission in 2001, after Commissioner Duke Bloom was elected as a Kanawha Circuit judge. Hardy has been elected to the post twice since.
Hardy has been criticized for representing Massey Energy in court. The company has been in the news recently for a fatal explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal.
Hardy counters the criticism by saying he has never had a complaint filed against him with the State Bar. Best Lawyers of America recognized Hardy this year for his experience in energy law.
"Everybody is entitled to due process, and everybody has the right to representation," Hardy said. "I've been on both sides [of the coal industry]. You'll find I have an impeccable record with the State Bar, and I have the respect of all the parties I deal with."
Hardy was also criticized for not taking a public stand on table gaming when voters were asked to approve expanded gambling at Tri-State racetrack in 2007. Some people thought he was ducking the issue to avoid offending voters.
Hardy said he voted to put table gaming on the ballot, and voted in favor of table gaming when he went to the polls. But he said he didn't want to tell other people how they should vote.
"It's like a pro-life, pro-choice vote," he said. "It's a very personal decision. I'm not going to tell a churchgoer who has very strong feelings about gambling how to vote."
Hardy believes public safety, infrastructure and economic development are the most important things for Kanawha County. He believes his track record shows that he's done a good job with all three.
"It's easy just to throw out abstract ideas," he said. Hardy, who sits on the Charleston Area Alliance, said he and other county officials have a plan for the county's growth and economic health.
"It's a targeted plan," he said.
Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1215.
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