FOUNDATION BOARD WILL MEET CONCERNING LICENSE FEE OFFICE

Gov. Mel Carnahan's decision to award the Cape Girardeau and Jackson license fee offices to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation has prompted concern on the part of some members of the foundation's board of directors.

The foundation's 45-member board, including its executive committee, will convene at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Show Me Center to discuss the issue.

Some foundation members have expressed unhappiness over the governor's taking away the fee offices from the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce; they also questioned the decision by the foundation's executive committee to accept the governor's offer.

Cape Girardeau banker Jim Limbaugh, who serves on the foundation board but not the executive committee, said: "The revenue produced by the two license fee offices is vital to the continued wellbeing of the chambers in both Cape and Jackson, and to have that eliminated is going to put some definite hardship on the operations of the respective chambers."

As to the executive committee's action, Limbaugh said, "I question whether it was the right decision."

A number of foundation board members have strong ties to both the chamber and the foundation.

Limbaugh, who served as general chairman of the university's recent capital fund-raising campaign, previously served on the Cape chamber board.

Both chamber and foundation members as a whole were kept in the dark regarding the matter, Limbaugh said. He added that he only learned of the matter last week.

"I think because of the dual roles and people involved in both boards ... every effort should have been made to educate the governor's office on how vital these funds were to the day-to-day operations of the chambers," said Limbaugh.

He said Carnahan's action will hurt the chambers' economic development efforts.

Foundation board members Charles Hutson and Judy Wilferth, who have been active members of the Cape chamber, echoed Limbaugh's concerns.

"The big mistake that has been made in this whole thing was the (lack of) communication between the chamber and the university," said Hutson.

Wilferth, who is past president of both the Cape Girardeau chamber and foundation boards, said the controversy has strained relations between the chamber and the university. "I am very disappointed about the entire situation," she said, "and I don't think there is a winner at all not the governor, not the university, certainly not the chambers in Jackson and Cape Girardeau."

Cape Girardeau attorney Don Dickerson, a Southeast Missouri State University regent and longtime Carnahan supporter, was a key player in the whole affair. He suggested the governor award the license fee offices to the foundation.

Dickerson then presented the plan to university and foundation officials. At a meeting on July 30, the foundation's executive committee approved the plan on a 9-0 vote.

The executive committee has 11 members, but two Ron Hahs and Han Mu Kang, both of Cape Girardeau were absent, said Robert Foster, the foundation's executive director.

At the meeting were executive committee members Rebecca Cook of Cape Girardeau, Rosemary Crisp of Marion, Ill., Weldon Macke of Gordonville, university President Kala Stroup; the university's executive vice president, Ken Dobbins; and Foster.

Foundation Chairman Robert Dickemper and members Michael Dambach and Dale Meier participated via speaker phone from St. Louis, recalled Foster.

Last week, Carnahan awarded the fee offices to the foundation and named political supporter Norma Wildman of Cape Girardeau to manage the offices.

Macke, a Republican and county auditor, said Friday that although he voted to support the idea, he still has mixed feelings about it.

"If this issue would come up again, I would have to weigh my conscience as to which way I would vote now," he said.

Macke said the executive committee was assured that the chambers were losing the fee offices and that the issue came down to whether the foundation would get the offices or an individual.

Macke said there was some talk of whether the Jackson fee office should be closed, but the executive committee concluded that it was important to keep an office there.

Cook, the foundation's vice chairman and a Carnahan supporter, said it shouldn't have come as a surprise that the governor took away the license fee offices from the chambers.

She said it would have been a "real blow" to many of Carnahan's supporters had he not done so. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce, she pointed out, had endorsed Bill Webster Carnahan's Republican opponent.

"I am a member of the (Cape Girardeau) chamber and I support the chamber's work, but I think politics is politics," said Cook.

She applauded Carnahan's decision to award the fee offices to the foundation. "I think it was an excellent decision on his part to support education and especially in an area where we need higher education so badly."

It's estimated that the fee offices could generate $50,000 a year in net income for the foundation.

"Fifty thousand dollars is not chicken feed," she said. "Every $50,000 means a whole bunch of scholarships for kids who otherwise might not be able to go to the university. It means all kinds of improvements that we can make in various areas."

She maintained the foundation was simply accepting a financial opportunity.

"It's clean money, so to speak. It is not anything that we have to operate. The director was named and is going to be trained by the Department of Revenue. We were assured that we would not have to be hands-on operators of this business," said Cook.

"Basically, we are just receiving the net income and it is a wonderful opportunity for the university to have support for its efforts," she added.

"I regret if people felt the foundation took advantage of the situation. I still think that Don (Dickerson) had a brilliant idea and I am very hopeful that it will benefit many SEMO students in the future," said Cook.