STATEMENT OF F.E. "GENE" RHODES, JULY 8, 1991

The Southeast Missourian correctly reported in a front-page article in its edition of Sunday, July 7, 1991, that I failed to announce my financial interest in a local asphalt company, ASA Asphalt, Inc., when it was awarded a contract by the City of Cape Girardeau to apply three inch (3") asphalt to several streets in the City which remain unpaved.

I am somewhat upset that anyone reading the article had to go to page 4 before the reader was made aware that I abstained from voting on the measure.

I assumed that it was common knowledge of all members of the City Council and the higher officials in the City Hall that I have an ownership interest in ASA Asphalt, Inc. Apparently I was mistaken. However, there was no doubt but that Council David Barklage was well aware of my financial interest in this firm, and I think the citizens of Cape Girardeau should know that when Councilman David Barklage told the Southeast Missourian as reported in the article that this situation is an "embarrassment" to the Council as he stated, that some of the Council members, and definitely Mr. Barklage, were aware of my interest in ASA Asphalt, Inc. long before this matter arose. If Mr. Barklage really wanted to avoid the "embarrassment" he says has now occurred to the Council because I failed to announce my financial interest, all he would have needed to do was inform the Council himself of my financial interest in the firm. However, instead of doing this, after the vote on the contract he immediately contacted the media attempting to get the matter publicized.

While, as mentioned, Mr. Barklage could well have avoided this entire situation had he wanted to, it is obvious that his entire motive was to let the matter go through the Council voting process instead and then run around blowing the whistle to anyone who would listen to him.

Why Mr. Barklage would purposely let this matter pass through the Council process and then spread the word as quickly as he could in order to cause the "embarrassment" which he says has resulted is obviously a matter of pure politics. He has no concern for the Council and he has been successful in embarrassing me. I regret that I was not aware of the precise wording of the City Charter which requires that a member who has a financial interest in a matter not only abstain from voting but also make his interest known to the Council. Missouri state statutes do not have such requirements so long as the measure goes through a bidding process and the lowest bid wins, but it is true that the requirement of the announcement of a financial interest is specified in the Charter.

Again, I apologize for this oversight on my part, but all of the Council and the citizens can look to David Barklage for the embarrassment which has occurred. I am not saying that David Barklage should not participate in politics and attempt to make me look bad whenever he has the opportunity. This is the way things like this go and no one should get into politics, even at the City level, if they are not aware that tactics like this will be used to the fullest extent. However, I feel that the people should also be told when there is gross hypocrisy afoot and this is a prime example.

I realize it is no excuse for my mistake, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate politics from personal lives, but I also find it somewhat suspicious that Mr. Barklage took the information which he had regarding the ASA Asphalt, Inc. contract to the media on the very day when I opened a gas-convenience store operation within 300 yards of one of his convenience stores which he tried to get my organization to purchase from him a few months ago when our plans were announced to proceed with the construction and location of our business.

Also, there was considerable discussion in the article about enforcing the provisions against me. I have offered to have the contract nullified, but the Council wished to proceed to have the work done by ASA Asphalt, Inc. As far as the punishment provisions are concerned, it appears clear that they do not apply in a case such as this unless there has been a violation of both the voting and the announcement of financial interest provisions. I certainly did not vote on this measure.

F. E. Rhodes

(Editor's note: Regarding one of the claims made in this statement, a clarification is needed. At least in the Southeast Missourian's case, Barklage did not approach the newspaper with the story. The story developed following an incident at the City Council's July 1 meeting. Southeast Missourian Staff Writer Jay Eastlick had been expelled from a City Hall office in which the council was holding a legally called closed session. While waiting in an adjacent room and in the company of another news media representative, Eastlick heard a council discussion that became progressively louder. After this gathering broke up, Eastlick inquired into what all the yelling was about. He reported the incident to Southeast Missourian editors later that night and the story developed from that point).