Bock accuses commissioners of meeting in private

Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Larry Bock on Monday accused his colleagues of holding "private meetings" to discuss county business. Bock leveled the charge when Commissioner Jay Purcell objected to giving him a seat on a new county road board.

A discussion of membership and qualifications for the County Road and Bridge Advisory Board sparked the charges. Bock wants a nonvoting seat on the County Road and Bridge Advisory Board. Purcell said putting a commissioner on the panel would prevent it from acting independently.

"I have never been treated like I have been treated by you guys," Bock said. "You have private meetings and don't tell me."

Purcell and Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones both denied the accusation. "There are no private meetings, and there never have been," Purcell said. "You feel like you have to lash out and taint this entire process."

Jones said there have been no meetings of himself and Purcell outside the commission chambers other than by chance. "If he and I are having meetings and making decisions, that would be illegal."

The discussion was not part of the commission's officially posted agenda for Monday.

To back up his accusations, Bock cited two instances: the creation of an advisory group to evaluate the federal courthouse on Broadway for use as a county facility and a meeting early this year between Purcell, Jones and representatives of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority.

Bock said he examined the minutes of the commission and found no vote creating or appointing the advisory panel for the courthouse. The transit meeting, which took place before the authority had announced plans to purchase Kelley Transportation Co. and begin bus service in Cape Girardeau, took in a commissioner's lounge in the county administration building, Bock said.

Purcell and Jones said there are innocent explanations for both instances. The courthouse advisory panel, led by former commissioner Joe Gambill, is an ad-hoc group, Purcell said. Gambill, Purcell's predecessor in the Second District, had studied the issue in the past, he said, and he approached him for help.

Gambill talked to Jones at a social gathering, Jones said, and asked that Harry Rediger and Moe Sandfort also take part.

The transit authority meeting began with Purcell meeting with director Jeff Brune and authority board chairman Doug Richards, Jones said. As the meeting was in process, Jones said he dropped by and was asked to sit in.

Bock also dropped by, Jones said, but declined to take part.

Purcell acknowledged that both instances could be viewed in a bad light. "You are partially right, but you are trying to make it seem like some grand conspiracy," he said. "It seems to me odd that this comes up when you are not happy about the way things are going."

The road board was created to stem criticism of county government during the run-up to the Aug. 8 election on a new tax for county roads and law enforcement. The half-cent sales tax, approved by a bare 131-vote majority, will raise more than $3 million in new revenue each year.

As originally approved, the road board will include a member from each of the county's 10 townships and one at-large member. The county highway administrator also has a non-voting seat.

"I think it would be foolish to not have the First District commissioner -- whoever that may be -- be a part of it," Bock said. The First District covers most of the county outside of Cape Girardeau and traditionally has oversight responsibilities for county roads.

Purcell, whose Second District covers the city of Cape Girardeau, said placing a commissioner on the board would limit its effectiveness. The board, he said, doesn't need "a commissioner standing over their shoulder while they are asking whether the things done in the past are reasonable."

Bock said the objection to his taking part in the road board is disrespectful, both to his position and his experience with county road issues over the years. "I would be a resource person," he said. "I wouldn't be there to say do this or do that."

In an interview later, Bock said Jones and Purcell are trying to hide their violations of the Sunshine Law.

"All I know is that I have caught them at it and warned them in the past," he said. "I might just call their hand again if they do it. I warned them last year about this, and I told them, 'I know you are meeting and deciding things and then during the regular meeting we vote on it."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126