Presiding commissioner credits county's good finances to industrial growth

Cape Girardeau County's sound financial condition can be attributed to industrial growth and job creation, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said Wednesday.

"In any one day we have an influx of 100,000 people a day Monday through Friday," Jones told members of the Cape Girardeau Lions Club. "They spend a lot of money in Cape Girardeau County, and we're fortunate in that respect."

Since he was elected presiding commissioner in 1995, Jones said, 3,883 jobs have been created and the area has experienced $1.33 billion in industrial construction and expansion. Jones said tax revenue generated from jobs and industries has helped the county maintain a balance of $5.2 million in its emergency fund and $2.2 million in its county revenue fund, which pays salaries and bills of employees and office holders.

Jones said learning that Cape Girardeau County's Procter & Gamble plant was chosen as the site for an expansion of its paper towel and tissue manufacturing operations in 1997 was exciting, as it promised to bring hundreds of additional jobs to the community.

"Remember when all of us were in the commission chambers waiting for an announcement from Procter & Gamble as to where the Bounty towel and Charmin tissue plant was going to be located?" Jones asked. "Whenever we received the call that it was going to be in Cape Girardeau County, there was a lot of shouting and backslapping and excitement because of them locating a plant that was going to hire 500 people."

Industrial development was among the many topics discussed during a presentation by Jones and 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper at the Lions Club meeting.

In his speech, Koeper reflected on his first term in office.

Koeper talked about efforts to reduce speed limits on County Road 205 to 35 mph and Singing Hills Drive to 25 mph. The commission passed an ordinance in March to reduce the speed limits from the default speed limit of 60 mph for county roads.

"We're trying to work on getting the rest of [the county roads] brought to something that is drivable," Koeper said.

Koeper said he hopes to soon address the lack of security in the county courthouses in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

"We need to look at security," Koeper said. "That's one thing that's hot on my list."

During a question-and-answer period, Reg Swan asked about the effect of 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell becoming presiding commissioner. Jones is not running for re-election, and Purcell is one of several candidates seeking the position.

"I learned a long time ago that you don't make yourself look good by trying to make someone else look bad," Jones said. "It's kind of hard to address that question without violating that principle because I think it would be an absolute disaster for Cape Girardeau County."

After the meeting, Purcell released an e-mailed statement saying his methods have led to him being labeled controversial.

"If you ask me, I think we need more public servants who are controversial standing up for the citizens rather than the politicians we have who go along to get along so that they can perpetuate government," Purcell said.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent addresses:

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

639 Elks Lane, Cape Girardeau, MO

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO

Video of Gerald Jones and Paul Koeper speaking to the Lions Club

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