Presiding commissioner candidates discuss jobs, roads; GOP candidate says he'll leave party if elected

Jobs and roads were among the top topics at a forum for Cape Girardeau County presiding commissioner candidates Tuesday night at the University of Missouri Extension office in Jackson.

One of the two Democrat candidates, Brian Thomas, did not attend. All six Republican candidates attended, although one, Jay Purcell, announced he would leave the party and become an independent if elected.

While the candidates answered 11 questions, jobs and roads seemed to generate the most response from the audience of more than 125 people.

Republican candidate Chris Hutson said the Cape Area Magnet and chambers of commerce are good resources and the county should work with them to help support businesses, but he also said the county needed to improve infrastructure.

Republican Doyle Parmer said he would study why larger manufacturers decided to locate here and talk to businesses that chose to locate elsewhere to see why they decided against settling in the county.

Purcell said he would put together a board of residents and elected officials to create a regional industrial park. He said all areas in the county would invest in the park, allowing it to "pull in that big fish."

Republican Clint Tracy said relationships he formed as a state representative would give the county an edge in creating growth.

"They got their ear to the ground. They are on the lookout for companies that are looking to move, relocate, and what better place than Cape County to set up shop? You've got to have those relationships around the state to bring industry here," he said.

Democrat Pat Wissman said he thought a casino in Cape Girardeau was a good way to bring jobs and that improving infrastructure would attract industry.

Before working on attracting businesses, Republican Charles Brawley said, the county needed to meet with Cape Girardeau and Jackson city officials to develop good working relationships. After that a citizens' advisory board should be formed to research what the county could do to attract new jobs.

Republican Stephen Daume said the commission should reduce the tax burden for companies wanting to locate in the county and build relationships with those companies.

Candidates were also asked how they would prioritize and determine which roads should be paved.

Daume said he is not in favor of the current 60-foot road easements, saying that they slow down the paving process, costing too much money.

Hutson acknowledged there was not a fair way to decide road pavement, but the commission needed to look at what was in everybody's best interest. Roads in the worst condition should be paved first, with the most traveled roads second, he said.

Parmer said all of the county roads should be paved and that he would seek the advice of Commissioner Paul Koeper, a civil engineer, to help with prioritizing. Wissman agreed with Parmer that all of the roads should be paved and there should be shorter easements to the roads. Like Parmer, he said he would rely on Koeper's advice in prioritizing.

Purcell said instead of prioritizing, the county needed to quickly pave all of the roads. He said the county should look at a bond to finance a large-scale paving project. He said this would help with the county's dust-control problem, create jobs and give the county a better quality of life.

Tracy said the commission should look at safety, budget and frequency of road use when prioritizing paving projects.

Brawley said roads should be categorized as primaries, secondaries and dead ends based on the amount of traffic they carry. He disagreed, however, with other candidates who said all of the county roads should be paved.

"We don't have the money to pave all the roads. If we did, we wouldn't have the maintenance money to take care of all of these roads," he said.

In his announcement he would leave the Republican Party if elected, Purcell said as an independent, he would serve on the commission with Koeper, a Republican, and a presumably Democratic replacement appointed to his vacated position. Purcell said achieving that diversity on the commission was the motivation behind his campaign.

The forum was put on by the Extension office and the Farm Bureau of Cape Girardeau County.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent address

684 W. Jackson Trail, Jackson, MO 63755

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