Jackson delays voting on veto override

The Jackson Board of Aldermen won't decide whether to override a veto by Mayor Paul Sander until after his successor takes office. At Monday's board meeting, aldermen voted 4-3 to delay the decision by more than two months.

Sander rejected an ordinance Feb. 26 calling for abandonment of a street laid out by city planners but not yet constructed. Property owners in the area wanted the city to forego requiring developer Ron Clark to build the street as part of his Nine Oaks subdivision to reduce traffic near their homes.

Aldermen voted 5-3 in favor of the abandonment, but Sander vetoed the measure, noting that he agreed with Alderman Kerry Hoffman that city ordinances required subdivisions be connected and abandoning a proposed street set a bad precedent.

Alderman Dale Rauh, who supported the abandonment, sought the delay in a new vote. He said the May 21 date will give board members ample time to study the issue.

Rauh's motion to put off the override vote passed 4-3 with alderman Phil Penzel absent.

But it also pushes back the vote until Sander, who has been mayor 14 years, steps down. Also, by that date Hoffman will be replaced by a new alderman, David Hitt, who is running unopposed for the seat Hoffman now holds.

And there could be another new alderman by that time. David Reiminger, who opposed the abandonment, is competing with Barbara Lohr, who supported it, for mayor, as is write-in candidate John Graham.

The veto brought a harsh attack on Sander from one of the property owners, Steve Ledbetter, who said in a letter printed in the Southeast Missourian that Sander was pursuing a personal grudge against Clark based on past disputes and Sander's defeat in the August primary for county clerk by Clark's sister, Kara Clark.

Prior to Monday's meeting, Sander distributed a copy of an e-mail he sent to the aldermen and a reply letter. In his statement to the aldermen, Sander said he was not motivated by any past problems with Clark, but by a desire to follow established city policies.

"It is funny how much Mr. Ledbetter claims to know about me and my opinions," Sander said. "Before his appearance at the council, I had never met him."

And in the response letter, Sander said the veto decision was prompted by what he sees as the best interests of all Jackson residents, not the landowners who would immediately benefit by having less traffic near their homes. He noted that Clark's new subdivision will have access to both Greensferry Road and U.S. 61 via a bridge Clark will build on Deerwood Road. "To limit this new bridge's use by abandoning Shawn Drive and limiting traffic flow would be a violation of our present ordinance and not in the best interest of most citizens."

Ledbetter attended the meeting but offered little comment on the outcome. He said that if necessary he would resubmit the petition for abandonment after Sander leaves office. "Things are going to turn out OK," he said.

The subdivision Clark is planning along U.S. 61 will be home to a new baseball field for Jackson High School and summer leagues for older players and a community center that will become home to both the Jackson Public Library and the Riverside Regional Library.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126