County accomplishments

Due to recent controversy within the Cape Girardeau County Commission, I feel compelled to try to right a wrong.

The commission ran smoothly for 40 years until four years ago. For those who have never set foot in a commission meeting, there are no smoke-filled rooms, secret meetings or corruption.

I know for a fact the employees of Cape Girardeau County are loyal, hard-working individuals who are tired of the conflicts taking place.

I would like the people of Cape Girardeau County to know of the good things going on in the county, the accomplishments that have taken place since 1995, which the current presiding commissioner, Gerald Jones, took office along with Larry Bock, District 1 commissioner, and myself as District 2 commissioner.

The commission recruited or aided in the expansion of the following businesses and industries with at least 1,500 jobs created: Procter & Gamble Bounty and Charmin plant, Nordenia expansion, BioKyowa expansion, Buchheit of Jackson, Sears Grand, Kohl's and NARS.

The commission helped the county's transition to a first-class county, created a county building and grounds department, expanded County Park by 52-plus acres, secured a $6.7 million Missouri Department of Conservation nature center in North County Park, built a county justice center/sheriff's office that houses federal inmates and produces more than $547,000 annually in revenue, developed a five-year plan (for the county highway department, building and grounds and parks departments), paved 69.58 miles of county roads, built the Huckstep pavilion in County Park, built the new bowed walking bridge in County Park and built the handicapped trail in County Park.

In addition, Jones has represented the county on the state level. He was elected president of the Missouri Association of Counties in 2003. He was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to the Missouri Judicial Finance Commission, where he has served since 1995. In the past 14 years, Jones has provided more than $17,400 in personal funds for scholarship given to a graduate of each of the six high schools in the county: Central High School, Delta High School, Jackson High School, Notre Dame Regional High School, Oak Ridge High School and Saxony Lutheran High School.

Jones was appointed by the governor to two terms on the Missouri Emergency Response Commission. And the county partnered with Cape Girardeau and Jackson to secure $10.8 million in funding for the East Main Street-LaSalle Avenue interchange on I-55.

Joe Gambill of Cape Girardeau is a former District 2 commissioner on the Cape Girardeau County Commission.