ANONYMOUS `DUES' GIVEN TO SCOTT CITY

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City has paid its first quarterly dues to the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, but not out of the city's pocket.

Exactly whose pockets the money came from was not disclosed.

The Scott City Chamber of Commerce received a $1,250 "gift" through the Regional Commerce and Growth Association to pay its first quarter dues to the recruitment association.

Walt Wildman, director of the RCGA, said that his agency served as a middle man between anonymous contributors and the Scott City chamber.

"We were assisting the chamber in raising the money from sources which did not want to be disclosed," Wildman said. "Through their own efforts, the chamber had run into people who were willing to help but did not want their names attached to the donations.

"So we offered to collect the money in anonymous donations earmarked for the recruitment association," Wildman said.

The director refused to disclose any of the contributors' names.

But Shirley Young, president of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce, said that was not the case. Young said she was under the impression that the money came directly from the RCGA - not contributors - and therefore was not anonymous.

"I know sometime back (Wildman) had mentioned that the RCGA had anonymous donors interested in funding Scott City's membership in the recruitment association," Young said. "But we were mediators as well; we just passed the check on to the city council.

"We don't know that the money had any other origin except the RCGA," Young said. "But we are happy (the RCGA) is helping us raise the funds."

Originally, the Scott City Council did not want to get involved in the recruitment association. When the measure came before the council in February, members agreed that the money would be better spent within the city than on an organization that was run and controlled by Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County.

Scott City was to contribute $5,000 per year for three years as part of the organization - the least amount asked of any member.

The council agreed that it was insulted, if not intimidated, by the fact that the Cape Girardeau City Council threatened to withhold its $50,000 investment in the recruitment association if the association did not have its office in Cape Girardeau.

Council members said they did not want to short change the efforts of the Cape Girardeau City Council, but also made it clear that it wants no part of the organization.

"We want to do what's best for Scott City," Scott City Mayor Larry Forhan said at the February meeting. "We can't afford to send that kind of money down the drain.

"It's designed for industrial recruitment to this area for all of us," the mayor said. "But I have to question how much of that draw will trickle down to Scott City."

But then the council changed its tune. In March, Forhan was extolling the efforts and possibilities of the recruitment association to the other council members.

Everyone appeared to be in agreement that the recruitment association was a good thing, as long as the city was not picking up the tab.

"Shirley Young approached me (after the February meeting) and told me that there were individuals who were willing to give donations to the city for the express purpose of joining the recruitment association," Forhan said Tuesday. "So we studied the matter further and decided to go along with it."

Forhan said that the city will give $500 annually to the association, and the "contributors" will make up the balance.

The mayor said he had no idea who the anonymous contributors are, but was glad they were giving money to the cause.

"Anyone who wishes to donate money for the association is perfectly welcome to do so - anonymously or not," Forhan said. "I suppose some area businesses felt that they wanted to help Scott City out."

The mayor said the RCGA is not a front for the anonymous contributors, but instead "a worthwhile organization which cares deeply for the economic wellbeing of all the municipalities in a large, encompassing region."

Under the initial bylaws, the association will be in place for three years with an annual budget of $140,000. The city of Cape Girardeau and Cape County will each contribute $50,000 per year; the city of Jackson, $20,000; the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, $15,000; and Scott City, $5,000.

The city of Cape Girardeau and the county have two representatives on the board of directors; the other entities have one member each.