Road meetings

In its recent discussions regarding the creation of a road and bridge advisory board, the Cape Girardeau County Commission has suggested that giving one of its own members a nonvoting seat might unduly influence the voting board members or stifle a free and open exchange of ideas.

This thinking has little regard for the fact that the advisory board is a governmental entity and is subject to the Missouri Sunshine Law, which requires that all of its meetings be open to the public and that its meeting notices and agendas be posted.

Although the county highway administrator would have a nonvoting seat on the board that also includes a representative from each of 10 townships plus one at-large member, the commission decided last week not to give a nonvoting seat to the District 1 commission, who represents the county outside of Cape Girardeau and who traditionally has served as the commissioner overseeing county roads.

All final decisions on county roads, as in the past, will continue to be left to the full three-member county commission.

Last week's discussion about giving District 1 Commissioner Larry Bock -- and his successors -- a seat on the advisory board followed a hastily made decision in July to create the board after the commission put a half-cent sales tax for roads and the sheriff's department on last month's primary ballot. After deciding to ask voters for approval of the sales tax, the commission both created the advisory board and established a list of paving projects that would be funded if the tax issue passed.

Bock suggested last week that his institutional knowledge of county roads would be valuable to the advisory board. He is correct. It can be hoped that the advisory board will seek his input during its deliberations regarding criteria for choosing while roads should be paved. And since the advisory board is open to the public, there is nothing to keep Bock from attending every meeting.

Moreover, county residents, particularly those who have a vested interested in the road-paving decisions, should plan on attending those meetings as well. Their input during the decision-making process will be much more valuable than waiting to react to the board's recommendations.