Watching the action

Editor's note: This column originally appeared online as part of Peg McNichol's blog. To see more of Peg's entries, visit www.semissourian.com.

Three out of the last four meetings of the Cape Girardeau County Commission have demonstrated that county business is getting done. But accomplishments are taking a back seat to a power struggle between Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and 2nd District commissioner Jay Purcell that now includes a lawsuit and possible investigation by Missouri's attorney general's office.

Praise for the county's first scrap tire collection, held Wednesday, was obliterated by a dustup over the agenda at Thursday's meeting.

County workers, department heads and elected officials are talking to me about the pain this is causing. They won't speak on the record about the commission, fearing taint, repercussions or both. Many have said they are embarrassed by Jones' and Purcell's recent behavior.

"What you are seeing is a changing of the guard," one longtime officeholder said.

Another elected official who has, as folks around here are fond of saying, no dog in this fight, summed up the solution bluntly.

"Someone has to offer an olive branch," he said. "And someone has to offer one back."

People who work closest with Jones and Purcell say they are honest men who want what's best for the county -- but their current battle is clouding the county's reputation.

"Everywhere I go, people ask me, 'What the hell is going on over there?'" is a common refrain among the more recognizable county officials, some of whom have taken to calling this year's series of controversies "Commissiongate."

Purcell is described as well-intentioned but brash and, with the release of recordings he made of meetings and a conversation with Jones, as having breached trust with Jones and people in general.

Jones is also characterized as well-intentioned but, to use his word, hamstrung by a combination of a mile-wide stubborn streak and a short-lived but volatile temper that damages relationships.

Still, the commissioners' turmoil is having some positive effects. Here are a few:

• Commission agendas are more precise and include a public comment segment.
• The little blue book explaining the Sunshine Law, issued by the Missouri attorney general's office, is in the hands and on the desks of county officials. County Clerk Kara Clark brought her copy to Thursday's commission meeting, browsing through it while the commissioners signed documents.
• Clark, recently named commission parliamentarian, exercises her responsibility by reminding the commissioners to stick to meeting formats.
• At least one county supervisor posted, for the first time, sexual harassment education materials on a department bulletin board.
• The county's employee handbook is being completely updated.
• The Scott County Commission made Sunshine Law awareness a priority at a recent meeting.

On the Southeast Missourian's Web site, some readers are demanding recall or resignation from Purcell or Jones or both. Some have added 1st District Commissioner Larry Bock's name to the pool.

Some have suggested news coverage has made the commissioners' falling-out worse.

Others say these troubles are a reminder that a three-person executive board is a flawed system and the county needs to seriously look at moving toward a charter form of government.

Ultimately, the decision to move forward, whether to court or on some other path, rests squarely with Purcell and Jones. More than one person (in and out of county government) have compared their current relationship to a bad marriage.

Can it be saved? What must each one do? What can the people around them do to help?

E-mail questions, suggestions or tips for Lost on Main Street to pmcnichol@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 127.