Delta board rearranges positions

DELTA, Mo. -- The upheaval on the Delta Board of Aldermen ended Monday evening like a game of musical chairs. All the players are the same, but they are in different seats.

Monday's actions, however, provided only a temporary ending. The entire board is up for election April 3, and former Mayor Carol Collins, who was reappointed to an aldermanic seat, is seeking signatures for a state audit of city books.

On Monday, acting Mayor Bonnie Bradshaw first appointed Rick Cobb, who resigned in January because of questions about his qualifications relating to a felony conviction for methamphetamines, to resume his seat as Ward 1 alderman. The appointment was approved on a 2-1 vote, with Bradshaw and Alderman Dale Hobeck voting in favor and Alderman Dennis Bowers opposed.

Bradshaw then appointed herself mayor, a move approved again on a 2-1 vote, with Hobeck and Cobb in favor and Bowers opposed.

In the final appointment, Bradshaw gave her vacated Ward 2 seat to Collins, who resigned as mayor Feb. 5 in response to a nepotism investigation relating to her appointment of Hobeck, her brother-in-law, to the board last year. Hobeck abstained on the vote, leaving a 1-to-1 tie that Bradshaw broke in favor of Collins. Cobb voted for Collins while Bowers was opposed.

Bowers said afterward that the result was arranged in advance. "I expected it," he said.

"It is just the same board, rearranged," Bradshaw acknowledged.

Each move was checked ahead of time with city attorney Scott Reyolds, she said. "We hit the books to make sure it was all legal."

The results settled the board's makeup for about six weeks. Bradshaw faces town resident Harold Looney for her old Ward 2 job, while Hobeck is unopposed for re-election as a result of Cobb's withdrawal from the race at the time of his January resignation. Former mayor and alderman Hughes Lesch is unopposed for a seat, while Bowers is running as a write-in candidate after being bumped from the ballot because he had not paid his property taxes by the filing deadline.

After the meeting, Bradshaw said she was unsure if she would continue to seek re-election to her aldermanic seat or withdraw from the race and remain mayor. If she is re-elected, she cannot keep both jobs.

"If you really want to stop and think about it, the mayor is really just sort of a figurehead," Bradshaw said. "An alderman has a lot more say about what is going on."

Collins, who said she is running as a write-in candidate for alderman, must choose whether she will oppose Lesch or Hobeck. Win or lose, she said she will continue to take part in town business. "It doesn't make any difference, this side or that side of the table."

The nepotism charges, Collins said, were "used as a pry bar to pull us apart. All they accomplished was [to] put our grant on hold for two years." The city has been seeking federal and state help to upgrade its water system.

Issues between Collins and city collector Beverly Keesee over access to city water billing records sparked the town controversy. Collins at one point ordered a wall to Keesee's office removed because Keesee had changed the locks on her door.

The board will meet two times prior to the election. The city needs to work on a complete overhaul of its ordinances, Collins said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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