JONES OUTLINES COUNTY'S FIRST-CLASS CHANGES

No one can say Cape Girardeau County is second-rate after January 1997.

The county will move from second-class status to first class Jan. 1, becoming the ninth first-class county in the state.

But very few people will notice the difference, said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, who spoke to the League of Women Voters Thursday night.

He explained how county government will change when the first-class status is official and said a charter will not work in the county.

"When we wake up New Year's Day 1997, we will be the same, act the same and feel the same," Jones said, adding that the county is trying to gradually ease into the change.

First-class status comes after a county has an assessed valuation of more than $450 million for five consecutive years. State law mandates the change on Jan. 1 after then next general election.

As the county eases into the first-class status, some changes already have been made. They include hiring additional staff, improving the salary schedule and creating a five-year master plan for road and park improvements.

Many of the changes will likely save the county money over the next few years, Jones said, citing an example that benefited both the prosecuting attorney and the county.

"We use the prosecutor's office to do all the legal work for us," he said. "They needed additional staff and we need a county counselor. So I found a way to get both."

Another change required by state law is a planning and zoning board for the county. Planning and zoning was repealed in Cape Girardeau County after a 1992 election.

But a county zoning board could have prevented an Allenville resident from building a home in the middle of a road, Jones said. The county has no jurisdiction over the home, which was built at the end of a gravel road. County maps show the road as continuing past its dead end.

Once a county has first-class status, it can move to a charter rule, also known as home rule.

First-class counties with a population of 85,000 can adopt their own constitution under the charter. The population of Cape Girardeau County is only 65,000.

Under charter rule, there are no elected officials, only appointed ones.

The charters take away local autonomy and elected officials to create bureaucrats, Jones said. "We are trying to get more local autonomy back home," he said.

The next League of Women Voters meeting will be a school board candidate forum, but no date has been set.