Prop 1, Clark beat expectations

Tuesday's election results in Cape Girardeau County included two stunning turns of fortune.

Paul Sander, longtime mayor of Jackson, filed for the county clerk's job Feb. 28. Conventional wisdom suggested that Sander, latest in a family line of officeholders, would be a formidable if not unbeatable candidate.

And county commissioners stumbled into their push for a half-cent sales tax for county roads and law enforcement. First, they put off the vote to place it on the ballot because of Sunshine Law problems. Then they remained on the defensive when they were unable to provide specific plans directing use of the new money.

Once again, conventional wisdom suggested a result -- that the only uncertainty in the tax vote was the margin of defeat, not whether it would lose.

But Kara Clark didn't heed the conventional wisdom. Neither did the county commissioners. As a result, Clark routed Sander in every corner of the county, including his home precinct. And the tax squeaked by, winning small majorities in rural areas and Jackson that overcame a small negative margin in Cape Girardeau.

Commissioners Jay Purcell, Gerald Jones and Larry Bock responded to criticisms that their proposal lacked specifics by approving a list of roads to be paved right away and setting up an advisory board to guide future decisions.

Then they took their case to voters, with appearances at service clubs and public meetings.

Election night was a time of nail-biting, but the tax was never behind in the vote count.

"What a wonderful morning it is the day after the election," Purcell said in a telephone message left at the Southeast Missourian at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson, a Sander supporter and a Proposition 1 skeptic, said both results were major upsets.

What led to Clark's "lopsided victory is only speculation," he said. "She had some very credible and influential folks in her corner, and that didn't hurt."

Knudtson said he never opposed the tax but had "philosophical differences" with the way it was originally presented.

"To the commissioners' credit and the sheriff's credit, they did a miraculous job of putting together a plan that they took to voters and a grassroots effort that ended up giving them the victory," Knudtson said.

Clark enlisted the support of Sheriff John Jordan, Collector Diane Diebold and Treasurer Roger Hudson, among others, as she put together a winning team. They didn't entice her to run, she said at her party on election night. Instead, she said, she endured an arduous process of convincing them she could win and had the ability to do the job.

Afterward, she said, it was just hard work. "I worked hard, they worked hard and everyone rallied behind me, and that is what it took," she said.

Sander hasn't returned messages asking for his view of the race. Knudtson suggested that 20 years in office, including almost 14 years as mayor of Jackson, left Sander carrying political baggage he couldn't shed.

"It was very disappointing for me," Knudtson said. "I have seen him as a man who has served the public for a great deal of his adult life, a man passionately committed to the community."

The defeat ends, for now, Sander's public career. He announced in July that he would not seek another term as Jackson mayor if he lost Tuesday's election.

The tax victory, however, opens a new debate. Commissioner Larry Bock wants to limit the role of the County Road and Bridge Advisory Board.

"It is strictly an advisory board," Bock said Wednesday. "The commission has to make the money decisions."

Bock's comments echoed sentiments he expressed while watching returns on Tuesday.

Commissioner Jay Purcell sees the board as having broad discretion, with the commission needing strong reasons to alter the board's decisions. In his early morning message, Purcell said the directive creating the advisory board shows how broad its work will be.

The advisory board will have 10 members chosen geographically, one from every township in the county. An 11th member will be chosen at large.

"As time goes on, this citizens advisory board will become more involved and be charged with developing not only the criteria for selecting the next group of roads but also being involved in that road selection process," Purcell said. "This citizens advisory board will have almost complete say in everything that goes on."

Applications are currently being accepted for the board. Commissioners haven't set a deadline for the applications but are likely to do so soon.

The new sales tax takes effect Jan. 1. It is a permanent tax.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126