Speak Out 5/8/08

Going too fast

IT'S GREAT that Jackson police are cracking down on impaired drivers, but they also should do something about the stretch of Highway 72 from the city limits to West Lane. It's like driving on the autobahn in Germany.

Directing traffic

WHO GAVE the bike riders authority to block off the streets? And where did the people who were supposed to be directing traffic get their training? There is a big liability issue here, and this should not be allowed. Civilians should not be allowed to take over major intersections and direct traffic when they don't know what they're doing.

Childish behavior

THE PRESIDING commissioner and 1st District commissioner on the Cape Girardeau County Commission remind me of children: Play my way or I will take all the toys away and go home. What part of public servant do they not understand?

Promote all authors

MORLEY SWINGLE is a successful author. I have no problem with him advertising his commercial ventures on the Cape Girardeau County Web site. However, we have many other published authors from the county (Southeast Missouri State University professors, for example) who have had quality works published. I would have a problem if they were denied the opportunity to call attention to their published works on the county Web site with the prosecutor being given exclusive rights to this commercial endeavor.

Motives questioned

HERE'S WHY I have a problem with Jay Purcell, 2nd District commissioner on the Cape Girardeau County Commission. If you are sincere about making changes in long-established commission practices, you don't go about it like a bull in a china shop. You go about it slowly and incrementally like a traditional conservative who sees a need for change would do. That's why I suspect Mr. Purcell's motives and sincerity in these matters and have come to the conclusion that he has more political fish he would like to fry.

Acts like he owns it

IS IT possible to impeach a county commissioner? It is obvious with everything Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones has done lately that he thinks he owns Cape Girardeau County all to himself.

Web-site logic

USING THE logic of Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, a county worker who mows Cape County Park should be allowed to list his used personal mower for sale on the county's Web site. After all, it speaks to his experience and is a part of who he is. How embarrassing that an attorney would do such a thing, then somehow justify it to our even more befuddled county commissioners. Thank God there is one commissioner with the sense to see that Swingle is using county resources to line his own pockets. Enjoy it while you can, boys. I have a feeling the wheels are about to fall off the gravy train at the next stop in Good-Old-Boy Junction.

Informing the public

HOW ANY county commissioner could say "there is no Good Old Boys network here" with a straight face is beyond me. Keep up the good work, Jay Purcell. It's refreshing that someone wants to keep the public informed.

Future in peril

JAY PURCELL, 2nd District Cape Girardeau County commissioners, seems to be slow on the uptake. Hasn't he yet got the message that his political future is in peril if he continues to opt out of the Good Old Boy network?

Missing prosecutor

I AM sick and tired of our county commissioners and our prosecuting attorney. I was recently trying to deal with prosecuting two customers for writing bad checks. In the process, I wanted to speak to Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney. Guess what? He's hard to find in his office, and when pressed for further information the secretaries don't know where he is or when he'll be in. None of the several times I called was he in court either. I can only assume he's working on another book. Now he gets to use the county's Web site, paid for with tax dollars, to promote his second occupation. The county commissioners may feel this is a closed issue, but the state may feel otherwise, as might the bar ethics committee. If they don't seem interested, I'm hoping the voters will remember this the next time those commissioners and Swingle are up for election. Enough is enough.

Disneyland in Iraq

DO REPUBLICANS agree with the Bush Defense Department that the solution to Iraq's woes is to spend $500 million on the construction of a Disneyland in Baghdad? Is this idea too stupid to caricature? In a nation wracked by death and destruction, the Bush administration wants Disneyland as their legacy. Where is John McCain on this ridiculous idea? Is he still in accord with Bush?

High-handed actions

I AM concerned by the high-handed manner in which Gerald Jones and Larry Bock are running the Cape Girardeau County Commission, especially efforts to oust County Auditor David Ludwig and secret deals with the Drurys to sell park land. The rules of honesty and fair play don't seem to be part of their agenda. When Commissioner Jay Purcell speaks up, the commission votes 2-1 to strip him of authority. Who do these people think they are? What can we as citizens of Cape Girardeau County do to get rid of these petty bosses and elect commissioners who are accountable?

County paving

I CAN'T believe the Cape Girardeau County commissioners are going to let one person dictate a road not getting paved. What happened to majority rules? I know people on County Road 436 who want it paved. In fact, all the people but the one want it paved. What makes this road so different from the other paved roads that we all drive faster on?

King of the mountain

IT IS beginning to be clear that certain Cape Girardeau County commissioners want to replace "we, the people" with "king of the mountain." How much longer before the presiding commissioner declares himself king? Discussing a sale of park land with the park board is common courtesy. Any takers for the job of court jester? How long will this monarchy be allowed to reign?