Speak Out 5/22/08

Quarry concerns

WE HAVE lived on County Road 205 (Bloomfield Road) for well over 12 years now. We have a quarry at the end of the road, and Lone Star Industries is about three miles away. Daily, our house is shaken by blasting, and we have the cracked concrete to show for it. The quarry on County Road 205 has the rocks piled so that the already dangerous, unlit intersection of County Road 205 and Highway 77 has even less visibility. I can understand why the people near Gordonville do not want a quarry. Lone Star has been here a long time, but it is a good source to research on the effects of surrounding areas. Look at the dust on dry, windy days. How far away does it go? How does Dalhousie feel about the No. 1 golf course in Missouri being showered by dust and rocked by blasting? How many people will want to travel to that? Cape Girardeau's air quality is already bad. Ask any doctor about how bad this area is for chronic allergy and sinus sufferers. County leaders, this is a chance to redeem yourselves.

A good idea

YOU HAVE to agree that having the Cape Girardeau County Highway Department share an office with a customer-service counter is an exceptional idea. Maybe this would stop documents being lost, offices locked and employees being monitored closer for actual time worked.

Local administrator

NOW THAT Proposition B has passed in Perry County, we hope the board of the Perry County Senior Citizens Center will employ an administrator who is a resident of the county. This tax money is raised in Perry County and should be used here when possible. There are many taxpayers here who are qualified for this position. Part of this tax money is to be used at the senior citizens center.

Wrong lessons

I'M ASHAMED to have Jay Purcell, Cape Girardeau County's 2nd District commissioner, represent me. He is teaching his children to be deceitful by making secret recordings of private conversations, to waste public funds with a frivolous lawsuit which we all pay for, to be vulgar -- listen to his recordings -- and to be obstructive by continuously disrupting the meetings of a well-run county.

County lawsuit

JAY PURCELL is suing the county commission for violating the Sunshine Law when it went into closed session April 17. The lawsuit asks the court to order the county commission to comply with the Sunshine Law and pay for the cost of the lawsuit. According to his attorney, Purcell isn't suing himself as a member of the commission. How ironic that Purcell is suing the commission that he's a member of and wants the taxpayers to pay the cost of this frivolous lawsuit. The commission went into executive session at this meeting, and when Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones added that the board also needed to discuss a personnel matter, all three of the commissioners, which included Purcell, unanimously agreed in a roll-call vote to close the meeting. Purcell said he was recording the regular meeting and forgot his machine was running when the commissioners agreed to meet in closed session. How convenient. I believe in recording and broadcasting open meetings, but Purcell could have brought about a change in a more professional way. He's gone too far. This is the pot calling the kettle black. Purcell said he wants to get it all out and he believes his kids are going to learn from this. I'm certainly glad he's not my father. It's high time the county commission got back to productive business.