Sikeston, Benton natives vie for Scott County presiding commissioner

Small-town barbershops are places where men shoot the breeze, and Glenn Pinkerton's Natural Image is no different. The shop in downtown Sikeston has for decades been a place where the town's male populace trades gossip, facts, opinions and frustrations.

Of course, discussions about county government are part of the barbershop experience -- talk of taxes, roads and flood control, among other issues.

But this summer the talk is a little different. This summer the shop is a natural campaign stop for the man who owns it, a man running on the Democrat ticket for the county's presiding commissioner seat.

"This is where I connect with the voters for the most part," Pinkerton says as he gives a fresh cut to J.W. White of Sikeston.

White is a walking advertisement for Pinkerton.

"He's the right man for the job," White says, still under the razor with shaving cream on his face. "Even if I didn't know him -- just from what other people have told me."

Pinkerton's support seems strong in his hometown -- the county's largest city by far. But he will need the help of his clientele if he wants to win the county's top governing seat. His opponent is Scott County Second District Commissioner Jamie Burger -- a Benton man with six years of experience on the commission.

On Aug. 8, when most elections will simply decide the party candidates for the November election, Scott County voters will elect either Burger or Pinkerton to the county's top elected spot -- presiding commissioner. No Republicans have filed for election in the county, where a Republican hasn't won election in recent memory.

Burger, who represents the northern part of Scott County, learned the ropes from a man he considers his political mentor, Presiding Commissioner Martin Priggel.

Priggel backs his candidacy, as does former commissioner Walter Bizzell, a resident of Pinkerton's hometown of Sikeston. For Burger, Bizzell's help has been a valuable asset. The former commissioner helps Burger campaign on these hot summer afternoons in Sikeston. He knows every block of the town after working there for decades as a postman.

Bizzell says his support of Burger over fellow Sikestonian Pinkerton is nothing personal. "I worked with Jamie, I worked with Martin Priggel, and they're the best two I ever worked with up there, and I worked there for 12 years."

As the election approaches, more and more of Burger's blue-and-white signs spring up across the county, as do Pinkerton's red, white and blue signs with American flags on them. It's obvious the race is important to both men, and both seem to have their share of support.

Burger and his supporters say experience is essential for whomever will sit in the county's top leadership post. He speaks of the accomplishments in county government that have happened while he's been in office -- creation of a public water district to serve rural county residents, renovation of the courthouse, construction of a new county jail and creation of a county Web site, among others.

But Pinkerton has a different issue to anchor his campaign: the vacancy that will be created in Burger's current commissioner seat if he wins the presiding commissioner seat.

Burger was last elected in 2004 when he ran unopposed for his second term. If Burger becomes presiding commissioner, a vacancy will be created and will have to be filled by the governor. With a Republican in office, that likely will mean a Republican will take the post in a county where Republicans very rarely hold public office.

"The true loyal Democrats are very concerned about this," said Pinkerton. He maintains that Burger does a good job in the seat he's in and should serve out his term there.

Jim Eftink, chairman of the Scott County Democratic Committee, said the vacancy issue is probably a concern for some county Democrats. However, the committee will take no stand on the issue, he said.

Eftink said the committee knows a Republican would probably be appointed to the vacant seat. But he said that's not a concern for the committee or, to his knowledge, most voters.

A Republican has been appointed to the county commission before. Ralph Boyer was appointed in 1989, only to lose in the 1990 election.

Pinkerton thinks plenty of Democrats are worried about a Republican getting on the commission, so much so that one of his TV ads focuses on the vacancy issue. It also focuses on his experience.

Pinkerton has some experience in the realm of public service -- eight years presiding over public boards, including overseeing a $24 million budget in the Sikeston school system as school board president. He's also served on that city's park board and planning and zoning committee and been commended by the city and the state for his service.

Experience is only half of his campaign platform, though.

If elected, Pinkerton said, he will serve his full term. "I feel like I have an obligation to the voters who entrusted me with that job for four years to get it done," he said.

Burger says the only other way he can pursue the presiding commissioner's seat is to sit out for two years. By that time voters would largely forget what he's done, he said. The county's staggered terms for its three commissioners mean that the election for the presiding commissioner will always come up in the middle of Burger's four-year term.

Nor do Republicans see the opportunity as a chance for a county government coup. The county's party chairman, Perry Waltrip, said his committee hasn't even really considered yet who might fill that seat if Burger wins election.

Pinkerton's focus on the vacancy issue makes Burger wonder if the candidate from Sikeston really wants the job or if he just wants to beat Burger.

Those in the Pinkerton camp say their man wants the job, and has the experience to do that job right.

One of Pinkerton's biggest supporters is Dr. Bob Buchanan, a former superintendent of Sikeston's public schools for 25 years.

Buchanan said Pinkerton's knowledge of public finance is superb, and that the Sikeston businessman presided over several important bond issues and levys as school board president.

"He has concerns for taxpayers and budgets," Buchanan said.

Burger said that experience is good, but not enough to beat his experience on the county commission.

"Everybody who's running for office has been involved with school boards, they've dealt with public money, they've dealt with people, jobs, overseeing people," said Burger. County politics is much more complex than a school board or a municipal government committee.

Burger's mentor Priggel said Burger's greatest strength is being tight with the purse strings. Priggel said Burger will never waste taxpayer money.

Distributing that money evenly has long been an issue in Scott County, especially in the north, where municipal governments and residents often complain that too much money makes its way south toward Sikeston, the county's population center.

But both candidates say this election isn't about a north-south divide. Bizzell lives in Sikeston, while Pinkerton had an extremely good showing in the county's northern precincts when he ran for collector in 1998. Pinkerton also has family roots in the county's northern half, and he graduated from Kelly High School at Benton.

But in that 1998 race, both candidates were from Sikeston. Now the dynamic is different, and most of Pinkerton's key support comes from his hometown.

Both candidates have ventured out of their home turf, campaigning hard in all parts of the county as the election approaches. Burger has no central location like Pinkerton's barbershop where he can make his case to the public. His only tool is to hit the streets. Lately a lot of that footwork has been done in Sikeston with the help of Bizzell and Burger's brothers, sisters, wife and children. They wear the blue-and-white Burger shirts and walk the streets with flyers and matchbooks, knocking on every door.

Some recognize the candidate, others seem to be getting acquainted with Burger for the first time. In his six years Burger has represented the county's northern half, meaning Sikeston residents didn't need to know much about him.

Pinkerton's decades in the town have made him known to many people, as a community member and as a barber. He hopes those people will convince their friends and family to vote for him, not only for his experience but also so the voters will be able to select their commissioner instead of the governor doing so.

As far as the party goes, this election is a win-win situation, said Eftink. "Either way it goes we'll have a good man on the job," said Eftink.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

Graphic info:

The past three presiding commissioners in Scott County hail from towns in the county's northern half. They are:

Martin Priggel (1998 to present) of Oran

Bob Kielhofner (1994-1998) of Scott City

Durward Dover (1986-1994) of Oran