Low turnout expected for election on Perryville chief question

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- On Tuesday, voters will head to the polls for the second time in eight years to decide how the city selects its police chief.

As a fourth-class city, Perryville must elect a city marshal to serve as chief. The city can convert that office to an appointed position, but only if voters approve the change.

This summer, 12 of 13 members of an advisory committee recommended the board of aldermen ask voters to make that change, as voters in about 560 of Missouri's approximately 600 fourth-class cities have done.

If past elections are an indication, a small percentage of Perryville voters will make the decision for the rest of the city.

The ballot question asks: "Shall the City of Perryville Board of Aldermen provide by ordinance for the appointment of a chief of police (city marshal) in accordance with the Statutes of the State of Missouri with the aid and input of a citizens committee comprised of no less than five city residents appointed by the Board of Aldermen?"

City leaders have cited low voter turnout, lack of qualified candidates and challenges in handling disciplinary issues involving the chief as reasons for switching the position from elected to appointed.

Ken Baer of Perryville isn't convinced the qualifications need to change. Candidates for president do not have to have special training or experience, he said.

"The reason I think those qualifications are so minimal is that our Constitution writers wanted these very important public offices to be open to everyone," he said. "If you could go before the public square and convince the voters that you can do the job, so be it. ... If you put your trust in the voters, I think you'll come out ahead."

Perryville Mayor Debbie Gahan has said the chief's role as an elected official made it difficult for the city to respond to allegations of misconduct by former police chief Keith Tarrillion, who was arrested Friday on charges stemming from a 2010 incident in which he is accused of falsifying a police report about property damage at his home.

The report surfaced this spring after a police department employee accused Tarrillion of misconduct, prompting an investigation.

Tarrillion resigned in March under a memorandum of understanding that requires the city to pay his salary and benefits through the end of his term unless he finds other employment or is convicted of a crime.

"Basically, we had to turn to the city attorney to handle everything," Gahan said in May. "Our city administrator, who handles personnel issues, had absolutely no say in it."

City leaders have said switching to an appointed chief would allow the city to increase the qualifications for the chief's position -- which include a year of residency in Perryville and significantly less training than the state requires of patrol officers -- while expanding the pool of candidates beyond the city limits.

Perryville has not seen a contested race for city marshal in the past 20 years, city administrator Brent Buerck has said.

Baer said he and four other opponents of the proposed change -- Tim Buchheit, Karl Klaus, Evelyn Rehagen and Rick Schemel -- picked up the tab for printing and postage to mail a letter to Perryville voters, urging them to vote no on Tuesday.

"Why would anyone waste their time to go to the polls and vote to give up their right to vote?" the letter asks.

Baer said it cost the group about $2,000 to send the letter to every Perryville household with a resident who voted in the 2012 presidential election -- about 2,000 homes.

"My passion is my grandkids," Baer said. "I want to leave them the same country that my grandfather left me. ... I can't do anything about Washington, D.C., or Jefferson City, but locally here, I think maybe I can make a difference."

If their voting habits are any indication, many residents seem to take the opposite view.

Perry County Clerk Randy Taylor said turnout for presidential elections typically is high -- in November 2012, the percentage of registered voters who showed up to the polls was in the high 60s -- but interest in local elections tends to be much lower, even for contested races.

"People don't concern themselves with school boards and cities and that type of thing like they do presidential races," he said.

In April 2010, voter turnout for Perryville precincts ranged from 11.6 percent to 17 percent. In 2006, turnout ranged from 10 percent to 21.9 percent, Taylor said.

He said he doesn't expect more than 15 percent to 20 percent of Perryville's registered voters to show up for the election Tuesday.

"It's one little simple question, and that is absolutely it on the ballot. ... People vote for president. They don't vote for other stuff," Taylor said. "That's always been a pet peeve of mine."

Even if they choose not to exercise it, citizens should have the right to vote, Baer said.

"If 20 percent of the people are informed and vote, that's an important percentage, in my opinion," he said. "You've still got 20 percent that care, and to me, that's an important number."

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Perryville, MO