After 16 years on Cape County commission, Larry Bock is on the road home

Monday's farewell reception for Larry Bock drew more than 75 people. Among them were Bock's wife Shirley and his mother, Ruby Bock, 97.

Cape Girardeau County's 1st District commissioner isn't quite retired, though he's close.

After 16 years in office, he plans to attend a final commission meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, at the county administration building in uptown Jackson.

Chances are, he'll remind Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell, as he has repeatedly this fall, to watch the county's pennies.

"You do what you've got money to do," he said Monday. "There's no need to spend what you don't need to spend."

If there was ever a place where he was willing to spend money, it was on county road and bridge projects. Perhaps the project his name will most likely be associated with is the work to widen and install a roundabout at the intersection of Route AB and Highway 25/77, nicknamed Blomeyer Junction.

"I was hoping we could get that completed prior to my retirement," he said. "But there were things that to be changed, realigned, redesigned."

The project is a good one, he said, and "means a lot to the rural area, farmers hauling grain to the [SEMO Port]," he said. "It helps travelers from the west and southwest who want to hit the interstate and keeps heavy truck traffic headed to the port off I-55."

He hopes MoDOT's plans to improve the road will draw industry to the area, too.

Looking back

At Monday's reception, Bock said that despite the ups and downs of the job, "it's been fun."

A farmer for 50 years, as well as a seed salesman, he's recently turned over the bulk of the farm to one of his sons. Bock served on agricultural and conservation advisory boards on the local and state level and is a longtime member of the Farm Bureau, as a member of the board of directors as well other offices, including president.

He first filed as a county commission candidate in 1992, taking on 16-year incumbent Leonard Sander.

The real shouting in that campaign focused on county zoning. Voters were asked to rethink their 1972 approval of county planning and zoning, on the heels of having paid $88,000 to the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission to draft a plan. In general, Bock opposed the zoning and Sander supported it in some form.

Bock beat Sander in the primary by 267 votes and went on to beat his Democrat opponent by nearly 1,000 votes. County planning and zoning, rescinded by an overwhelming 4,000 votes, continues to be a sore spot for politicians and voters alike.

Road and bridge work

Once in office, Bock called for an 11-member road and bridge advisory committee to be formed, with representatives from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, the Cape Special Road District and the county. He wanted to see a five-year plan for upgrading roads and improving bridges.

The committee's recommendations included splitting the cost of roadwork with property owners, standardizing road beds at 24 feet with a 20-foot driving surface and establishing written agreements with property owners for future projects. Within months, the county had hired engineer Scott Bechtold to lead the county highway department. Bock helped increase salaries for the 20-man department, but made them cut back on overtime.

In May 1994, he pressed for a half-cent sales tax, which at that time would have drawn more than $3 million to the county for road work. Under Bock's proposal, approval of the sales tax would also reduce county property taxes by $400,000. He couldn't sway his fellow commissioners, Gene Huckstep and E.C. Younghouse.

Consecutive terms

Back in 1994, commissioners served two-year terms. Bock filed as an incumbent and handily beat Democrat Jack Piepenbrok, then a Jackson alderman.

Bock's campaign promises included creating a capital planning process to support road improvements, along with a public information plan so the public could see project work schedules, costs and the funding sources.

Within three months of his second term, he, with new Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and 2nd District Commissioner Joe Gambill were embroiled in a lawsuit over the commission's decision the previous year to vacate County Road 507 to landowner Nelson Thompson. Horse riders filed suit, claiming their use required keeping the road open. The county deeded the land to the farmer.

In 1996, Bock had a transportation commission appointed, which added to earlier recommendations by calling for standardized 50-foot rights-of-way and 18-inch ditches, asking for regular bridge inspections and a 25-year road improvement plan based on traffic counts. His consecutive terms of office have also coincided with a lawsuit Jackson filed against the county, and ultimately won, to get more than $470,000 in road and bridge tax money the city said the county owed.

Many accomplishments

During Monday's reception, Donna Oldham, administrative assistant to the commission for more than 20 years, presented Bock with a commendation from his fellow commissioners, thanking him for 16 years of service. Among accomplishments Bock is credited with helping along: modernizing the highway department's fleet, hard surfacing 70 additional miles of county roads, improving 90 bridges and culverts and making 10 major bridge replacements.

During his tenure in office, Bock witnessed the Cape Girardeau County's administrative move in 1997 from second- to first-class status and the establishment of a county transit authority. He served on boards for the University of Missouri extension council and Cape Area Magnet and MoDOT's transportation advisory commission. In 2006, he campaigned with Purcell to get a half-cent sales tax approved, which would help fund road paving and improve sheriff's department salaries.

He continued to win elections, even after having eight challengers four years ago.

"I think I was unopposed one election," he said Monday. "District 1 covers the whole rural area and especially with your road situation, you just can't please everyone."

Final year in office

Displeasure seemed to be a thread that ran through his final year in office. His term will end with an unresolved lawsuit filed by Purcell against the commission alleging Sunshine Law violations. Bock said he was genuinely hurt by unflattering remarks made about him during a Feb. 6 conversation between Purcell and Jones in a car trip to Jefferson City that Purcell secretly recorded and later made public. He also said he was deeply disappointed in County Auditor David Ludwig's repeated misuse of a county computer, which in turn led to concerns that the county could be open to a sexual harassment lawsuit. He was puzzled by the resistance from an old friend, Lawrence McBryde, to sign a new easement to get Country Road 436 paved -- a situation that led to the improper notarization of the old easement, the threat of a lawsuit and the commission's decision to drop the matter.

As the events unfolded, Bock became quieter in meetings, except for budget matters and one public reference to the February insults, when he angrily referred to Jones and Purcell as "jokers."

Praise from Purcell, Jones

"Although Larry Bock and I have had many disagreements and differences of opinion while we have served together, I like the fact that he has always held his family in high regard," Purcell said.

Jones, who lavished Bock with praise during the county Christmas party held Saturday, said that, despite the tumult over the last several months, he respected Bock and felt that the respect was mutual.

Jones said people might agree or disagree on Bock's methods, but "he has accomplished a significant amount of work" on Cape Girardeau County's roads and bridges. Bock got a National Guard unit to help raise an oft-flooded road near Neelys Landing, a cost-saving measure repeated this year to move part of County Road 532 out of Lovejoy Creek's bed.

Oldham has worked longer with Bock than any of the commissioners to date. She said he has always been nice and always "tight with the county's money, which is a good thing. I'll miss him."

Larry Bock officially retires Dec. 31. He expects to spend some time traveling with his wife Shirley and will continue taking his mother to the Sunday chicken dinners at church.

But eventually spring will come and with it, nostalgia. But not for politics.

"If you've ever been a farmer and ridden a tractor for hours and smelled that diesel," he said. "You want to get back on it. You want to smell the fresh plowed earth. When spring comes, I'll still do some playing."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

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