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HUNTINGTON -- A new nominating process could be in the works for the next time the Cabell County Board of Education tries to fill the vacancy on the board.

Superintendent William Smith and board member Suzanne Oxley said Wednesday there were obvious problems with Tuesday night's unstructured nomination process. The result was that the board meeting ran about four-and-a-half hours, ending close to midnight with seven of the eight candidates for the vacancy nominated but unable to gain the necessary three votes. The board now has four members, who are trying to appoint a fifth.

"It was not a good process," Oxley said. "The process failed."

Up until Tuesday night, however, Oxley and even some of the candidates said the Board of Education had a good plan in place. A call for letters of interest was put out, attracting 15 candidates. After a qualification process, questionnaire and public interviews, eight candidates remained. Seven of them came to Tuesday night's meeting for what they thought would be an open debate and healthy nomination process.

"This process has been good up to this point," Oxley said during the meeting. "We're all smart people. It is a difficult process because this is a good group of (candidates).

"Yeah, I'm disappointed," she said Wednesday. "But I think we can work on it and fix it."

If the board does not vote in a new member by June 5, Superintendent Steve Paine will appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The next scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, June 2.

Smith said Wednesday that an open process to fill a vacant seat is new territory. There have been vacancies in the past nine years, but the board had appointed someone without calling for applicants, which it is allowed to do, he said.

Smith said he would have liked to have seen a more a more organized process because the candidates were all well-qualified. The candidates include Anita Adkins, Rick Duncan, Mary Neely, Nancy Newfeld, Carla Parker, R. Steven Thomas, Maria Stowers and William Rawlinson.

"I wish they would have spent more time at the last meeting talking about the process," Smith said of the board.

Instead, he admitted he could tell fairly early during the meeting there was going to be a problem.

"I think it became apparent by the third or fourth candidate what was happening," Smith said. "That (board members Bessie Holley and Ted Barr) had somebody in mind."

Only Duncan, a local business owner, was not nominated, although Barr hinted that Duncan is the candidate he liked. He said he just didn't feel inclined to make his nomination yet.

"We had one candidate that Ms. Holley and I felt would fit the bill," Barr said after the meeting. "I have my reasons."

When reached Wednesday, Duncan said he was 100 percent committed to remaining a candidate and thought it best not to comment further.

Board member Bennie Thomas or Oxley nominated seven of the eight candidates, only to have fellow board members Ted Barr and Bessie Holley vote "no" on six of them. Neely was nominated by Bennie Thomas, but no one seconded the nomination.

"My opinion is the process was not a good one," said Carla Parker, after becoming the third candidate to be dismissed. "Please consider closing the meeting and coming up with a different way. If you have until June 5, use that time and think about a process. Come up with a clear-cut process. It's obvious this isn't effective."

Neely, who had a prior commitment and could not attend the meeting, said the process up until last night was good, similar to what the Huntington City Council does when it has a vacancy.

Council accepts resumes and letters of interest, with members taking a week to review them. Then, at the next meeting, the candidates state why they want to be on the council. The city clerk reads the roll call, with each council member nominating someone. Only the highest vote-getter moves on during each round until one person is left.

Whether the board will adopt such a process is unknown. Barr and Holley wouldn't even vote 'yes' to Bennie Thomas' motion to adjourn at 11:45 p.m. They did approve his second motion for adjournment at about 11:55.

Barr and Holley both were chastised by the audience and some of the candidates for refusing to make their own nominations or supporting any of the seven candidates who were nominated.

Even Oxley and Bennie Thomas commented that they were waiting for Barr or Holley to make a nomination.

"I am not going to be bullied or pushed to go against my better judgment," Barr said of why he didn't nominate anyone.

Some in the audience even threw out their own ideas to settle the impasse.

"Put people's names in a hat and at least we'd go out with one person," said parent Mary Niemann, there to support Newfeld. "All eight are good people and I'd support any one of them. I hope to go home and tell my kids that the board is able to make a decision like you had to make on your WESTEST."

Ron Adkins, the husband of candidate Anita Adkins, asked Barr to resign so two seats could be filled.

Smith said if it is Duncan that Barr and Holley favor, he has no problem with it. In fact, he said any of the eight would do a good job filling out the final year of Dr. Greg Borowski's term. Borowski resigned in early April after a conflict of interest was found among state code while attorneys were doing an update for the Cabell County School Board.

While Rawlinson said he still wants to be part of the candidate pool, he also wasn't afraid to let his feelings be known at the meeting and again Wednesday.

"I don't even think (Barr) made an honest effort," Rawlinson said. "Neither (Barr nor Holley) had an honest desire to go through this. I think he insulted us and the county."

Anita Adkins, Neely, Newfeld, Stowers and R. Steven Thomas all said they are still interested in filling the vacancy. Parker could not be reached for comment.