SB40 board wants to renegotiate contract with VIP

A dispute that started over a $60,000 kitchen renovation is shedding light on the workings of both a county board that collects tax money to serve the developmentally disabled and the sheltered workshop that uses the money.

For years, the Cape Girardeau County SB40 Board quietly collected property tax revenue and spent it through contracts with VIP Industries and two affiliated not-for-profit organizations. VIP employs 150 to 200 developmentally disabled people and 150 to 200 staff members.

But the illness of board chairman Robert Landgraf -- he missed 13 consecutive board meetings, according to vice chairwoman Dory Johnson -- is forcing other board members to examine closely both the spending by VIP Industries and the contract that makes VIP the only entity using the tax money.

The board, created by a 1969 law, collects about $860,000 annually in property taxes.

During an SB40 board meeting Tuesday night, members spent much of two hours discussing whether they had time to rewrite the contract before the June 30 expiration. A supportive group of about 20 people attended. Others, including candidates for presiding commissioner and VIP Industries chief Hillary Schmittzehe, were also on hand.

If the contract is not renegotiated, it renews automatically.

The board and vocal supporters in the audience also discussed ways to pressure the Cape Girardeau County Commission into reappointing Johnson and longtime board member Arlysse Popp for new three-year terms before their time on the board ends June 30.

Fears that questioning the contract could cost them their volunteer posts was heightened when the commission voted 2-1 last week to appoint Ruth Ann Dickerson, a county sheriff's captain and a board member of the Cape Girardeau County Association for Retarded Citizens Foundation, one of the entities affiliated with VIP Industries. Dickerson resigned her post with the foundation before accepting the appointment.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper supported Dickerson; 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell, who is seeking Jones' job, supported Dale True.

When the board questioned Schmittzehe at a previous meeting over the kitchen costs, he threatened to have them replaced, Johnson said. "He said if we continued, certain members would not be reappointed."

She said she and Popp view Dickerson's appointment as a warning of what could happen June 17 when the county commission selects board members.

Schmittzehe said he told the board members they could be fired but that he was not making a threat. "That was not my intention," he said.

Supporters prepared a two-page letter that will be circulated as a petition asking the commission to reverse its appointment of Dickerson and reappoint Johnson and Popp.

The board will meet again Tuesday to continue discussions of the appointments and the contract with VIP.

rkellersemissourian.com

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