POLITICS: NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR LIKELY TO BRING CHANGE TO OFFICE

The election of a new public administrator in Cape Girardeau County likely will bring a change in how the position is paid and how the office operates.

Democratic candidate Michael Hurst says he would take a salary rather than rely on fees as outgoing administrator John Ferguson has done. Republican Phyllis Schwab says she is "leaning" toward a salary.

The election contest has drawn attention to a county office whose operations go largely unnoticed by the public.

The public administrator is assigned by the circuit court to handle the financial and personal affairs of disabled, incapacitated and deceased adults and minors.

Ferguson has been paid from fees, based on a percentage of the estates he is handling, as well as $10,000 from the county. It currently amounts to about $40,000.

In January, the newly elected administrator will have a choice whether to continue the current arrangement or be paid a $42,458 salary, which is the same as the county treasurer.

The salary was determined by the county's salary commission, whose members are county officeholders.

Both Hurst and Schwab said a salary would eliminate any appearance of impropriety over the managing of people's finances.

"If you take it on a percentage basis, you always could have someone who was upset and felt you took a larger percentage than you were entitled to," said Hurst. "By taking the salary, you can't say that."

Schwab said, "It takes away the doubt that this is being handled on the up and up. It is just easier and simpler."

Hurst said that if the public administrator is paid strictly a salary, the Cape Girardeau County Commission under state law is required to provide the administrator with an office. The county also must pay for a deputy clerk for a public administrator with 50 or more cases, he said.

"There are approximately 130 cases that the public administrator now handles," Hurst said.

No room for office

The current administrator doesn't have a county office.

Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke said he doesn't know where the County Commission would put an administrator's office.

"There is no room in the inn out here," he said. The County Administrative Building in Jackson, Mo., has no available space. There could be some space made available if the 911 emergency system office is moved into the expanded jail. Some space also might become available in the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex in Cape Girardeau once the new juvenile center is constructed, Macke said.

The budget for an administrator's office hasn't been determined, he said.

Both Schwab and Hurst believe the public administrator should have an office.

Both candidates said they want to serve as public administrator because of the humanitarian nature of the job.

"You have to pull out some of what is inside of you," Schwab said.

Hurst said, "I feel there is nothing more satisfying than helping people who need help."

Hurst, a Democrat, has the backing of Ferguson, the current administrator and a Republican.

Ferguson lost to Schwab in the August Republican primary. Schwab said she decided to enter the race believing that Ferguson wouldn't seek re-election.

But he did run for another term. Schwab stayed in the race. "I always believed if you took it on, you finished it," she said.

Phyllis Schwab

Age: 57

Hometown: Jackson, Mo.

Party: Republican

Profession: Co-owner of Schwab Farms. Formerly owned Lohman's Shoe Store and Schwab Pines Christmas tree farm in the Jackson area. Served as in-district secretary for state Rep. Mary Kasten and was on the campaign staff of the late congressman Bill Emerson.

Family: Married to state Rep. David Schwab. They have three children.

Affiliations: Member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce, the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society, Jackson Heritage Association, Progressive Homemakers Club of the University of Missouri Extension Service, Cape Girardeau County Farm Bureau, past member of the American Business Women's Association and the Jackson Merchants Association, and past vice chairman of the Cape Girardeau County Republican Central Committee.

Political history: First run for elected office.

Michael "Mike" Hurst

Age: 53

Hometown: Cape Girardeau

Party: Democrat

Profession: Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Safety, previously worked for the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department for 17 years and the Cape County Ambulance Service for 14 years.

Family: Married. He and his wife, Florence, have a daughter.

Affiliations: Member of New McKendree United Methodist Church, Missouri National Guard, Missouri Sheriff's Association, Excelsior Lodge No. 441 in Jackson, 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, Moolah Shrine Temple, Jackson Chapter 91 of the Order of the Eastern Star, adviser to Excelsior Chapter of DeMolay, American Legion, Trail of Tears Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, Elks Lodge No. 639 of Cape Girardeau, member and past president of Cape Shrine Club and the 49th Masonic District Association, past member of the SEMO Peace Officers Association, Travelers Protective Association, United Commercial Travelers and the Cape Girardeau Jaycees.

Political history: First run for elected office.

Candidate Q & AThe Cape Girardeau County public administrator is assigned by the circuit court to handle the financial and personal affairs of disabled, incapacitated and deceased adults and minors. The job is expected to pay over $42,000 next year.

What interests you in serving as public administrator?

Schwab: "I was a room mother. I was involved in the community and in our church heavily. Involvement was something I very much enjoyed. I sincerely believe this should be a humanitarian position."

Hurst: "I care about people. I feel that there is nothing more satisfying than helping people who need help. It is a position that you have to be caring, you have to be concerned and you have to have the ability to deal with those people who are incapacitated and need your assistance 24 hours a day."

If elected, what changes would you make in the office?

Schwab: "I have thought it would be better to be in an office. I would not be opposed to looking at a formal office if our County Commission was open to that. You can have a deputy, but I guess I still feel how can you train someone else until you know the job."

Hurst: "I foresee no changes until I look at each case on an individual basis. By state statute, if you take a salary, the County Commission is to provide you office space somewhere in the county. By statute, a public administrator, when he gets 50 cases or more, is allowed to have a part-time deputy."

Should the public administrator be paid through a fee system, as has been done in the past, or receive a straight salary?

Schwab: "I am leaning toward a salary because that might be the easier approach. It just takes away any doubts that this is being handled on the up and up. It is just easier and simpler."

Hurst: "I favor going the salary route. If you take it on a percentage basis, you always could have someone who was upset and felt you took a larger percentage than you were entitled to. By taking the salary, you can't say that."