A Third Side Guy: Remembering William Curley

My relationship with William Curley, a dedicated public servant who passed away last week, is a reminder of why finding common ground — even after sharp disagreement — matters.

William and I spent years on opposite sides of some very contentious issues while he served as Weston County Attorney. I challenged a number of his prosecutorial decisions publicly, and I do not have second thoughts about the positions I took. Those were serious matters, and disagreement was appropriate.

What I do regret is allowing some of those disagreements to become personal.

It was not a calm or easy period, and I confess that I allowed myself to become angry over decisions I believed were questionable. William, by contrast, never seemed to take my objections personally and maintained a level of
pragmatism about our
relationship that I did not always match.

I’ve since benefitted from the passage of time, a change of scenery and a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, which allowed me to mature and understand that people are always more important than issues — and that today’s pressing issue may pale in comparison to tomorrow’s.

Despite our clashes, William and I always agreed deeply on at least one foundational principle: government transparency. That shared value ultimately mattered more than our disagreements. When he was appointed to the Weston County Hospital District board, I was pleased — not because we suddenly agreed on everything, but because I knew he would push for greater openness.

He did exactly that. Under his tenure, the hospital board reduced its reliance on
executive sessions significantly — from 48% of meetings in 2024 to 34% in 2025. That change did not happen by accident. I believe it happened, at least in part, because William believed the public deserved to see how decisions were made, even when those decisions were difficult.

William Curley was a public servant who genuinely cared about this community, and he proved that time and again. Weston County mourns the loss of his service. The News Letter Journal mourns the loss of a reader. And I
personally mourn the loss of a friend — even if we were not always on the friendliest
of terms.

While we differed strongly over his role as county prosecutor, I am grateful that William never closed the door to working together on issues where we did find common ground. Because he did not allow disagreements to become personal, we continued to speak over the years, and were able to collaborate on a number
of issues.

His passing is a reminder of something we would do well to relearn: Political enemies today should be able to be political allies tomorrow — and even return to being political adversaries the next day, depending on the issue. That is not hypocrisy. That
is maturity.

We are better as a community when our leaders analyze issues on their merits, not through personal grudges or rigid loyalties. And we are better as citizens when we allow room for people we disagree with to still be people
of integrity.

William was a Third Side guy. He showed that it is possible to stand firm on your positions while still working with those who challenge you — and to do so without anger.

We honor his memory this week by committing ourselves to do the same: to seek common ground where it exists, to disagree without hatred where it does not, and to remember that our shared humanity matters more than winning the argument of the day.