Race for presiding commissioner: Purcell campaigns for county's top job as watchdog

Jay Purcell sees himself as the lone watchdog willing to expose flaws in order to protect the best interests of Cape Girardeau County's residents. He's running for presiding commissioner on a platform of cleaning up county government.

And, Purcell says, he wants to put an end to years of controversy by establishing more open practices.

"My goal is to win this presiding commissioner's race. ... The controversy will end because I plan on leading in an open, honest way," he said.

Jay Purcell (Fred Lynch)

But those who oppose him -- including people who work with him and members of his own party -- view Purcell as a me-first politician who knows nothing of teamwork and has violated trust while he has been a county commissioner.

They also question his motives for gaining support from unions and Democrats. His Republican foes wonder what might happen if Purcell is elected presiding commissioner and Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, appoints someone to fulfill the remainder of Purcell's term as 2nd District commissioner.

The race for the top spot in the county, many believe, will come down to how many people support Purcell's populist viewpoints. Several insiders speculate that the anti-Purcell sentiment will be split among the other four Republican candidates.

Purcell, running on the Republican ticket but getting no support from the party, is a complex character. Many of his political stances have played out in the media. As 2nd District commissioner, Purcell has feuded publicly with Gerald Jones, the current presiding commissioner who is not seeking re-election. Purcell made a secret recording of Jones that was later released to the public. Purcell said he had to make the recording to prove Jones' crass attitude and political maneuvering.

Purcell also unsuccessfully sued the county commission over the Sunshine Law, claiming a meeting was not properly closed. Purcell had recorded the meeting without consent of the other commissioners, which could have been a misdemeanor. Purcell took the case to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that Purcell couldn't sue himself. The court also commented that Purcell had "unclean hands." Purcell made the motion to go into that closed session and participated in discussions that the court said strayed from the law's limitations.

Getting people involved

Purcell has a record for getting people involved in county government. He established the road and bridge advisory board, for example, that undertook the responsibility of advising the county on priorities for road work.

During the 2008 campaign for a sales tax to pay for road improvements and raises for the sheriff's department, Purcell helped set up town hall meetings on the issues.

Purcell has also pushed for more night meetings of the county commission so more people could attend. The commission usually meets at 9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays.

Purcell said one of his goals, if elected presiding commissioner, would be to use bonds to accelerate the county's paving program. He said it would make sense to do this with today's low interest rates.

Purcell is also branding himself as open and transparent. In his 2004 campaign he said he wanted to bring more openness to county government. He admits, however, that he met privately with Jones over a contract during negotiations on setting up a county transit system, an act he defines as a Sunshine Law violation. He said he gives himself a C or D grade on the Sunshine Law in his first two or three years on the commission. He said he grades himself a B-plus or A after the controversy surrounding his lawsuit. He has proposed having a web-cam at commission meetings to keep government in full view of the public.

Purcell also supports examining the merits of the charter form of county government.

Purcell has so far financed his own campaign, though he said Monday he plans to increase his fundraising efforts this week. Purcell ran four times for Cape Girardeau City Council, winning three of those elections. He lost a race for state representative and won two bids for county commission.

Supporters, detractors

Historically, he has received support from Kelley Transportation and Kelley Construction, several members of the Drury and Rhodes families and several union organizations. The ties with unions have raised eyebrows of those involved in local politics. In his 2008 campaign against independent candidate Rock Finch, Purcell received contributions from eight local union groups for a total of $7,049.

Other Republican candidates have obtained union support in the past, but the extent of Purcell's support has many wondering about Purcell's party affiliation and motives.

Purcell makes no apologies for his support from unions.

"I, like any other public servant, if organized labor wants to help me, I accept it as long as it doesn't conflict with what I believe in," Purcell said. "I have no issues with organized labor. All the people that I know in organized labor are good, conservative, hard-working people who go to church and pay their taxes."

Mark Baker, chairman of the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Central Committee and president of the Central Trades and Labor Council Cape Girardeau, said he is a longtime friend of Purcell's. He said he and Purcell rode the same school bus as youngsters. He said he gained tremendous respect for Purcell with how well he treated his parents, who were deaf.

"Jay has contacted me. I'm president of the labor council, and sometimes our activities overlap," Baker said. "I don't go out on the weekends, don't socialize with him, because I'm doing things with my children and that leaves little time for anything else. I know he's frustrated with the Republican Party. How he treats that is up to him."

Within county government, Purcell is not getting support. None of the 12 elected county officials is supporting Purcell's bid for presiding commissioner. Four of them -- Jones, Assessor Jerry Reynolds, Treasurer Roger Hudson and Collector Diane Diebold -- said they are campaigning against Purcell, either actively or by word-of-mouth. Others, including Clerk Kara Clark Summers, 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper and Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, were critical of Purcell's political practices.

"He doesn't communicate," Clark Summers said. "He doesn't try to work things out, follow through. He says he's about exposing things, but he's so busy trying to enhance himself, he's not getting anything done for the county."

Purcell said he is more concerned with residents.

"To be honest," Purcell said, "we need to build consensus in county government, but my main issue is serving the citizens."

Several office holders complain that Purcell is not in the office and not available. Koeper said Purcell has no communication with the two department heads he oversees. Koeper said he, not Purcell, worked with them on crafting a budget for parks and for buildings and grounds last year.

Purcell said he removed himself "from this environment to keep the controversy down." He said he does a lot of work from his laptop and does a lot of "visiting with citizens."

Dory Johnson, new president of the SB40 Board that distributes funds for developmentally disabled programs in the county, said Purcell reacted swiftly and appropriately when she and the rest of the board were trying to get answers about a property deed and other issues. She said Purcell has attended meetings and helped during a dramatic change in leadership. Johnson said if Purcell hadn't stepped in, she and other board members who have been asking tough questions would not have been reappointed to the board.

Melvin Gateley, who served eight years on the city council, including some overlapping years with Purcell, called Purcell a hard worker who did his homework while on the city council. Gateley said he is happy in his role as Purcell's campaign treasurer. He said he thinks Purcell has done a "good job" but wished Purcell had handled the lawsuit differently.