PERRY SENATE BILL 40 BOARD REPLACES THREE

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perry County's Senate Bill 40 board waited until the final day of a court-imposed deadline to announce which three of its nine members appointed in April would be removed.

Removed from the board on Monday were Kim Dunker, Catherine End and the Rev. Robert Huttegger, said Pat Naeger, board chairman.

"Let it be recorded that the board did this under duress," said Naeger, after the six members present voted to accept the dismissals.

The board, which appropriates county tax funds to the handicapped, asked the Perry County Commission to choose whom to remove.

Dunker and End were chosen to leave since they were the last two appointed. The commission decided that was the fairest decision, Naeger said.

Huttegger had volunteered his resignation earlier.

The dismissals were part of a lawsuit settlement last month after former Senate Bill 40 board members sued Perry County government. They alleged that the county commissioners had improperly applied a state statute to dissolve the board in April.

The settlement allows three members of the old board to resume their volunteer duties, while removing three new appointees.

With Huttegger stepping down voluntarily, and a request by the board to leave its executive core intact, the commissioners chose who to dismiss from Dunker, End and Celesta Kiefer.

Dunker and End were informed of the commission's decision by letters at the end of last week.

End believes her dismissal from the board will only be temporary.

"I do think I'll be back," End said.

As a member of the Perry County Association of Retarded Citizens and mother of a 47-year-old handicapped son, End said she was among the initiators of a sheltered workshop for the county in the 1970s.

Naeger said he hopes the commissioners will consider End and Dunker when terms of other board members are completed.

Huttegger's decision to leave the board coincides with his leaving Perryville, he said.

Stating that it was a decision to follow God's will, Huttegger said he had made an announcement about moving to his congregation at Perryville Apostolic Tabernacle on Sunday.

"Moving on is just part of being in ministry," said the pastor, who had lived in Perryville for 13 years.

The three outgoing members will be replaced by Ted Ballman, Sylvester Bucheit, and Edna Ponder.

On Monday the board also voted to pay for a copying machine for My Camp, which has operated a day program of crafts and activities for the handicapped for 13 years in Perry County. Robin Habeck, who operated My Camp, had applied for money from the board for years but had never received any funds until Monday.

After signing the check for $795, Naeger said it was too long coming.

All of the nearly $190,000 in county tax revenues dispersed annually by the Senate Bill 40 board had gone to VIP Industries of Cape Girardeau until Monday, Naeger said. VIP was replaced as the county's sheltered workshop operator in July after 26 years.

The state statute that governs Senate Bill 40 boards permits money to be allocated to sheltered workshops, residential facilities for the handicapped and related programs for the disabled.