VIP TURNS OVER REINS TO SHELTERED WORKSHOP

PERRYVILLE -- Shortly after midnight on Saturday, Bill Tweedy walked into the Perry County Sheltered Workshop for the first time in months.

"It was pretty well cleaned out," said Tweedy, who was last inside the workshop on March 26 for a rally protesting working conditions for the handicapped.

Tables, chairs, and even overhead light fixtures had been removed. A few large appliances, including a stove and refrigerator, were left behind.

On Wednesday, Tweedy will resume his duties as manager of the workshop for a new employer. The newly formed, non-profit Perry County Sheltered Workshop, Inc., took over the workshop from VIP Industries of Cape Girardeau officially on Saturday.

The transition hasn't been easy. Even though Tweedy said he sent a registered letter to VIP Industries requesting a meeting to hand over workshop keys and security codes, there was no response, he said. With a sheriff's deputy watching, Tweedy set off the alarm to enter the workshop. Tweedy had requested that a deputy be present to assure that the transition had an objective witness.

"They chose not to tell us what the security code is," Tweedy said. "Had we known the code, it would have been simple."

The change in contractors, the first since the workshop's inception in 1976, will help to correct management problems that have gone on for years, said state Rep. Patrick Naeger of Perryville.

Tweedy and three other managers quit the workshop in March, stating that VIP Industries, operated by Hillary Schmittzehe, was demanding too much from it physically and mentally handicapped employees. They will all return to work now that operators have changed.

In the aftermath of these allegations, several changes occurred. The county's Senate Bill 40 Board, which disburses about $190,000 in tax money to the workshop annually, was disbanded and reformed with new members. VIP's contract was not renewed, allowing Perry County residents to form their own business to run the workshop.

But the now former Senate Bill 40 Board is not leaving quietly. Its members filed a lawsuit against county officials, who said the former board had not followed a state statute when reappointing members. Former board members say they followed the rules. Depositions in the case were taken on Thursday, and a hearing before Circuit Judge Robert Dierker Jr. of St. Louis is likely this month.

Dierker had ruled against a proposed injunction by the former board. The injunction would have kept the newly appointed board from performing its duties until the lawsuit was settled.

Al Cearlock, chairman of the old board, is keeping his feelings about the lawsuit to himself.

"It's the judge's decision," he said.

Cearlock and others helped Schmittzehe clear out the building on Friday.

The handicapped employees had a short day on Friday, VIP's last day in Perryville. They worked until 1 p.m. before attending a barbecue picnic organized by VIP.

Nevertheless, the handicapped are glad to see Tweedy coming back, said LaVesta Colin, who manages a group home where several disabled workers live.

"Ours are tickled pink that Bill is going to be there," she said.

Last Monday, Tweedy and other representatives of the new workshop management held an informational meeting for the handicapped and their parents. They plan to develop a benefits plan, which would include paid holidays and vacations. VIP would not pay disabled workers if they took days off, Colin said.

The nearly empty workshop didn't dismay Tweedy. With local assistance, supplies and materials to start work Wednesday have been purchased for about $30,000, he said. The Senate Bill 40 Board, chaired by Naeger, had allowed $40,000 to replace office equipment, production lines and forklifts.

Although Naeger believes most everything was purchased with Perry County tax money, a lack of complete records has not allowed the new board to clearly separate what VIP owns from what the board owns.

If records are incomplete, it is not the fault of the former board, Cearlock said.

"The new board came in and got our records out of the workshop without any authority," he said. "If something's missing, it's something someone else did."

The workshop will be contracting transportation services, since two vans used to move the disabled between work and home were kept by VIP. The vans had been purchased in part with matching funds from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is still investigating to determine who should own the vans, Naeger said.

About 50 handicapped workers are expected to show up on Wednesday, Naeger said, which is an increase over recent weeks.

"I believe even more people will come when we get further along," he said.