First round of Cape Girardeau County charter exploration done

Any questions about creating a charter form of government for Cape Girardeau County may be answered by a report from the League of Women Voters.

The league delivered an 11-page draft report, set forth in a question-and-answer style, to the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, which voted to accept it this week.

In June, the board asked the league to do the research on the advice of the chamber's government and public policy committee.

The draft report is available for free from the chamber.

John Mehner, the chamber's president and chief executive officer, said the draft is "simply an education document, which was our purpose from the very beginning. It comes with no recommendation either way."

He said the chamber members were asking questions because of charter efforts by other Missouri counties and "an awful lot of information going around that's bad."

St. Louis County, Jackson County and St. Charles County became charter counties in 1950, 1970 and 1992, respectively. Jefferson County recently approved a charter after two earlier attempts failed.

Charter bids have failed in three counties: Buchanan, Clay and Greene.

The Missouri Constitution allows commissioners or residents to put the charter question on the ballot. If voters approve it, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats are appointed to a board and given one year to write the charter -- basically a blank slate for outlining which county officials would be elected or appointed, how the government would move from commission-based governing to chartered government and function from there on out. Voters must approve the written charter before it takes effect.

One of the most commonly held views is that charter governments automatically cost taxpayers more. The League of Women Voters report said costs depend on how a charter is written. Currently, salaries are determined by a committee of elected county officials, which meets every two years, but a charter could require salaries to be ballot issues.

Mehner said the chamber is not campaigning for a county charter but simply answering questions.

"Fast-forward a year, and if a group puts something together they may come to us an ask for an opinion," he said.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

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