FORUM MISSES ISSUES; LOCAL CONCERNS NOT ADDRESSED, SOME SAY

CHARLESTON -- A number of Southeast Missouri residents said a legislative forum in Charleston Thursday night provided plenty of technical information but addressed few local concerns.

"They didn't really talk about how things affect us," said Carla Baker of Sikeston. "They talked about how Kansas City and St. Louis are the biggest moneymakers in the state and how they're in the majority, but they need to realize that people from St. Louis and Kansas City are coming from the Bootheel. If we can't adequately train them here, they're going to be effected just as much as we are."

The forum was co-sponsored by the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus and Mississippi County community churches to inform residents of recently passed legislation and to allow urban legislators to hear regional concerns. Sen. Phil B. Curls, D-Kansas City, and Reps. Paula Carter, D-St. Louis, and Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston, were the main speakers at the forum, which was attended by about 80 people from throughout the region.

Their visit to the region included a tour of communities in Southeast Missouri, including Hayti Heights, Howardsville, Lilbourn and Wilson City. Lawmakers said they saw a need for more economic development and better housing in the region and would support legislation that addressed those needs.

"This is an area that can benefit from the sensitivity of all in the state," said Curls. "We are here to pledge our support in terms of helping this area receive economic benefits, especially in terms of economic development and health."

Curls and Carter told attendees about legislation concerning education funding and expanded health benefits for children. Both initiatives will mean more funding throughout the state based on poverty. It will have an impact on the Bootheel, which has the third largest sector of poverty in the state.

Carter, who is chairperson of the House's health and mental health committee, said Southeast Missouri has especially benefited from a legislative decision to move funding for health issues away from universities and directly into communities.

"At one time this funding was distributed by universities, and there was a 25 percent administrative fee that came off the top," she said. "We worked hard to move that money away from the universities so that communities like yours would not have to wait for the universities to distribute it. It's always beneficial when that money goes directly to the community, because that means the administrative fee and all the rest of the money benefits that community."

Although residents felt better educated on new legislation after leaving the forum, some said lawmakers were unable to connect with the real problems facing the region.

"I think it's good to know more education funding will be coming to the area, but I don't think most of the people in Jefferson City in power realize what dire straits we're in," said Jerry McDowell Jr. of Charleston.

Sherry Maxwell of Howardville agreed. She said legislators missed a chance to hear what concerns people in the "real Bootheel," specifically Pemiscot County and beyond, have. Those people are the ones who have no job training or prospects and could not attend the forum because of a lack of transportation, she said.

"When they rode through today they got a better understanding, but they didn't talk to the people they really needed to hear from," she said. "Those residents needed to be here tonight, but transportation is a problem. I can't tell it like they can tell it."