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f. T. VTF. I3Z.- 7- ' ?. z-.- v. :-. c:- l: y '-- 7 hut la:-.'- i . I". -- ': CL'JUblA, 1A.. Ll. lA 73rd Year - No. 274 ' Good Morning! It's Wednesday, August 5, 1981 8 g 58 Ptges 25 Centfl Public would raise taxes for education oy iven imss Mlssourian staff miter The words " tax cut" have become synonymous with the economic tenor of the times. However, in at least one area higher education Boone Countians seem willing to counter the prevailing trend and bear the burden of heavier taxation to ensure quality service, according to a sur-vey by the Columbia Mlssourian. The survey shows that two of three Boone County residents would be willing to pay higher taxes to sup-port higher education. And majority support exists in every major seg-ment of the population the old and the young, men and women, rich and poor, conservative and liberal. Boone Countians are out of step with their political leadership on an-other important issue, too. Only one of four local residents agrees with Gov. Christopher Bond's decision to freeze the salaries of state employ-ees, while 56 percent disagree. To a related question, survey re-spondents agree by a 2-- 1 margin that Columbia is being hurt by state bud-get cuts affecting the University. University administrators' action in freezing salaries gets a more sym-pathetic reaction than does the gov-ernor's freeze. For Mary Porter, 30, there's a simple reason she would be willing to pay more: " Higher education is one of the most important things there is, and it's been undersup- porte- d for a long time." MiSSQUmMXI Insight Although Lucille Henson, 67, doesn't have children of school age, she would favor higher taxes to en-sure her grandchildren's future. And her support doesn't stop with her own kin. " I think underprivileged children should have more opportu-nity to learn because a lot of them can't afford the education," she said. The strongest agreement with higher taxation comes from those connected with the University as stu-dents, staff or faculty. Three of four approved higher . education taxes. But more than half of those without a University connection also agreed. Catholics were more likely to ap-prove higher education taxes than Protestants. Almost 73 percent of Catholics said " yes" to 60 percent for Protestants. Also, liberals and moderates were slightly more likely than conservatives to approve. Even among conservatives, though, 58 percent would pay more. Income level didn't substantially alter responses on education taxes. For all income groups almost two out of three approved, although those earning over $ 30,000 a year were slightly more likely to support higher taxes. One of the minority was Frank Shobe, 25. " I've yet to see where the money actually goes when desig-nated programs are involved," he said. " I grew up in New Jersey, and they instituted a state lottery for ed-ucation. But it didn't work; educa-tion was no better off after the lot-tery." Nancy Fritsch, 42, is undecided about paying higher taxes. Her hesi-tation is based on a belief that our taxes are generally high enough. Still, she feels strongly about higher education and laments what she sees as a low regard for education statewide. " It's sad for our state, but sometimes we seem behind the times." On the salary freeze issue, Bond recently defended his veto of a pay raise for state employees and said the action was necessary to avert more state government layoffs and cutbacks in essential services. Most frequently mentioned by dis-approving residents was Bond's ac-ceptance of a personal pay hike in January. L. O. Garrett typifies this sentiment. " If he's going to raise his own pay he oughtn't to freeze the state employees. ' ' Actually, the governor's pay raise was approved by the Legislature be-fore he assumed office. However, critics of his decision to freeze state salaries say he has the option to turn back the $ 17,500 raise that boosted his salary to $ 55,000 a year. He hasn't elected to do so. v Those who work for the state gov-ernment most strongly criticized the governor's salary action. Alvin Ze- chi- el, 34, an employee at Ellis Fis- ch- el State Cancer Hospital, acknowl-edges that with cutbacks in federal support, " the states are hurting." But he added, I think more consid-eration should go into where the cuts should be made." Zechiel views the state Legislature as chief culprit. " I don't like the Leg-islature; I don't think they should vote on their own pay increases. Most people would accept freezes if the state officials didn't get any." Another state employee, Elaine Rochon, 30, agrees with the view that the governor should have han-dled the budget cuts differently. " With the salary freeze many peo-ple in my office at the Department of Revenue have to take added part- tim- e jobs at night. This definitely af-fects morale and performance. Peo-ple get so tired from trying to make ends meet with a second job that it affects their work." Criticism of the governor's action wasn't limited to state employees. Bruce Beard, 32, works for Truman Veterans Hospital, a federal employ-er. Still, he says he can relate to the . Survey Results At a Glance 1. Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to support higher education? Yes No Don't Know 63 28 9 2. Do you agree, or disagree, with Gov. Christopher Bond's action in freezing the salaries of state employees9 Agree Disagree Don't Know 26 56 18 3. Do you feel the University administration is handling H the budget cutbacks correctly? 1 Yes No Don't Know 1 27 23 50 1 4. Do you feel the City of Columbia is being hurt by budget I cuts affecting the University? I Yes No Don't Know 1 53 23 24 I 5. Will the cutback in state spending affect you directly? 1 Yes No 48 52 plight of those directly affected by the freeze. " It just seems like when they talk about cutbacks, you very rarely hear of big wheels taking cuts. It's always the poor person who does all the work that gets the ax in the end." Opposition to Bond's action was by no means universal. A man in his 20s, Hiram Cooper, said, " Why give anybody money when there's none to give?" Wandalee Riley, 62, prefacing her comments with, " some people think money grows on trees," obviously has done her homework when it comes to discussing budget figures. " They criticize his veto of a cost- - ( See GOVERNOR'S, Page 14A) Air strikers face fines, loss of jobs President's edict effective today WASHINGTON ( UPI) - The gov-ernment Tuesday warned air con-trollers their whole careers rest on a decision they must make before 10 ajn. CDT today: whether to go back to work or be fired. But the controllers, whose union is being fined $ 100,000 an hour, refused to call off their nationwide strike. While thousands of passengers scrambled for alternate transporta-tion on the second day of the strike, the government continued to crack down on the controllers with fines, restraining orders, contempt- of- cou- rt proceedings and renewed threats of mass firings. At the White House, President Reagan said he has " no choice" but to fire the controllers unless they re-turn to work by the deadline he gave them 10 a. nx Missouri time Wednesday. " The law is very explicit," Rea-gan said. " They understood the law. They took an oath in writing they would not strike. I think it's not a case of firing. I think they quit." Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, at a late- afterno- on news con-ference, warned the controllers their careers hinge on a decision they can-not postpone. " The choice must be made; the de-cision cannot be deferred," Lewis said. " The courts have ruled clearly, firmly and consistently. I hope all controllers understand there will be no turning back, no second chance." At a simultaneous news confer-ence at union headquarters, PATCO President Robert Poli accused the government of attempting to break the union by offering individual con-tracts to induce air controllers to re-turn to work. " That's a traditional breaking- of- the- unio- n tactic that has been used in the past," he told reporters. " It's called the ' yellow dog' concept and I understand they are considering doing that." A Transportation Department spokesman flatly denied the rumor. " There will be no separate contracts for individual controllers' he said. Poli said only 38 of about 13,000 striking controllers had returned to work since the strike was called Monday morning. Altogether, there are 17,000 controllers, whose job is to guide air traffic in and out of air-ports and among cities. " In talking to our people, I feel their resolve and strength is as strong as it was yesterday when they walked off the job," Poli said. " Our position has not changed.' ' Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration postponed a decision on whether to increase flights into the nation's 23 busiest airports to 75 percent of normal capacity. Current-ly, one of every two scheduled flights is being canceled. " We don't need the capacity to - move the traveling public," said FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms. He said the government's ' capacity to handle existing air traffic " contin- - ( See AIR, Page HA) i Robert Roger Mitchell Bennett, left, business manager of testers on a march around the University's Public Service Employees Local No. 45, and Jesse Hall. The workers were protesting the Willis Jones, president of the local, lead pro- - absence of wage increases for this year. One- da- y strike idles protesting M. U. employees By David Marcou and Paul Nowell Mlssourian staff writers Several hundred of the Universi-ty's lowest- pai- d employees picketed work sites, protested in Jefferson City or stayed home Tuesday in the first concrete action by Columbia campus workers against Gov. Christopher S. Bond's budget cuts that denied them a pay raise. University administrators esti-mated that the " day of concern" called by Public Service Employees Local No. 45 resulted in 300 to 500 ab-sences among the 1,100 laborers the union represents. Many of the pro-testers took a day of vacation time; those who didn't will be docked a day's pay. The union protested the loss of an expected 5 percent pay increase. The loss was caused by Bond's 10 percent budget reduction. The business of the University went on uninterrupted, said spokes-man Tom Shrout, despite the walk-out and the presence of a few pickets at the hospital and physical plant. Some departments, however, had to reduce services. Half the morning maintenance crew stayed off the job, leaving work on buildings and grounds delayed or not done. And, among craft workers, 80 to 90 percent were out, according to Ria Fritjers, vice chancellor for administrative services. Union business manager Mitchell Bennett said the purpose of the pro-test was not to disrupt the University so much as to signal the governor that state higher education employ-ees deserve cost- of- livi- ng increases as much as workers in the private sector. Bennett cited Bond's acceptance of a $ 17,500 raise this year as evi-dence of the governor's bad faith in dealing with the state's fiscal crisis. And Bennett said the Legislature's failure to pass a sales tax increase to better finance education was a sign of apathy in Jefferson City toward the plight of lower- inco- me workers. He contrasted the attitude of Uni-versity administrators to the gover-nor's: " I think they are making a sincere effort to give us an increase, while he is putting more emphasis on himself," he said. Ms. Fritjers sympathized, agree-ing that the workers are not well paid. " We understand the frustrations of the workers, but they're not the only ones," she said. No wage increase has been provided for University faculty, either, for the 1981- 8- 2 year. " It's an across- the- boar- d kind of thing," Shrout said. The protesting workers " are just being more vo-cal." One union member put his views succinctly: " Morale on campus is shot to hell," he said. Another member, Allie Femmuel- e- r, criticized the campus beautifica- tio- n project now under way. " For hard times, it's certainly ridicu-lous." Recently he applied for an off- camp- us job after 19 years with the University. " I think it's a damn shame that after almost 20 years I had to think about working some-where else," the refrigeration work-er said. In Jefferson City, Gov. Bond an-swered the charge concerning his raise by saying he was obligated to accept the increase adopted during Joseph Teasdale's administration. " In 1977, the Legislature estab-lished new salaries to take effect in 1978 and 1980," he said. " And it can-not be raised or lowered during the term of the current officeholder." Bond added that donating the raise to the treasury ". would not appease anyone or help the state's situation." Pat Vanzant, a hospital shop stew-ard and one of 25 picketers at the Ca-pitol in the morning, said there was little chance the protest would change anyone's mind. " But we can always hope," she added. Charter panel proposes seven- distri- ct plan By Susan James and Wendy S. Tai Mlssourian staff writer The Boone County Home Rule Charter Commission changed course Tuesday night and decided that the county's proposed legislative body, not voters, should pick its chairman to avoid political incompatibility within the group. In accordance with the change, commissioners approved a tentative redistricting of the county into seven sections. The 14- mem- ber commission also voted to reaffirm, in writing, the present, relatively autonomous oper-ation of Boone County Hospital, and decided the hospital's financial oper-ations should be independent from the county's. On recommendation of a subcom-mittee, commissioners unanimously approved a modification of the top echelon of county government. In-stead of having a six- pers- on legis-lative body elected by district, with a seventh member, the chairman, elected at- Iarg- e, commissioners voted to have a seven- memb- er legis-lative body, with its chairman elect-ed by his constituents. " I would like the commission to reconsider because of the disadvan-tage should the at- lar- ge chairman not be a member of the majority party," said commissioner Paul Sturgeon, former Centralia mayor. As a member of the subcommittee to redefine district boundaries, he and two other commissioners. Nor-ma Robb and Dr. Jim Reynolds, ex-- j pressed their concern about possible conflicts at the top of county govern-ment between the county executive, who will be elected countywide, and a chairman similarly chosen. If elected at- larg- e, the chairman may consider himself to have more authority and power than other leg-islators when he should merely pre-side over the body, Dr. Reynolds said. While the idea of providing the vot-ers with more a direct voice at the top may be desirable, he added, it does not seem feasible. " In theory, having two elected- at- larg- e officers may work," said Dr. Reynolds. " But in practice, there may be conflicts." To accompany that change, the commission adopted a tentative model of how the county would be di-vided into electoral districts. The model plan would give three seats to Columbia, create three others domi-nated by rural residents and split the last district between of city and county residents. Commissioners agreed to recon-sider boundary lines with an eye to-ward possibly providing more rural representation. In a 10-- 3 vote, the commission also approved a request to reaffirm that the operation and management of the Boone County Hospital be vested in the hospital board of trustees. It also expanded the board from five to seven members, elected to three- ye- ar staggered terms. f r In town today Boone County Fair events : 9 ajn. Junior and Senior Sheep Show, Sheep Barn. 1 p-- m. Local Pony and Horse Show, Arena. p-- m. Senior Beef Show and Judging, Arena. 7 pjn. Horse Pulling Con-test, Tractor Arena. 7 pjn. Baby Show for ages 1 to 2, Merchants Tent. Index Business ha Classified .2- 4- C Opinion 4A Sports 6- 7- A Theater 13A 1
Object Description
Title | Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1981-08-05 |
Description | Vol. 73rd Year, No. 274 |
Subject |
Columbia (Mo.) -- Newspapers Boone County (Mo.) -- Newspapers |
Coverage | United States -- Missouri -- Boone County -- Columbia |
Language | English |
Date.Search | 1981-08-05 |
Type | Newspapers |
Format | |
Collection Name | Columbia Missourian Newspaper Collection |
Publisher.Digital | University of Missouri Library Systems |
Rights | These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for distribution or publication. |
Contributing Institution |
State Historical Society of Missouri University of Missouri--Columbia. School of Journalism |
Copy Request | Contact the State Historical Society of Missouri at: (800) 747-6366 or (573) 882-7083 or email contact@shsmo.org. Some fees apply:http://shsmo.org/research/researchfees |
County |
Boone County (Mo.) |
Description
Title | Full Page |
Date.Search | 1981-08-05 |
Type | page |
Item.Transcript | f. T. VTF. I3Z.- 7- ' ?. z-.- v. :-. c:- l: y '-- 7 hut la:-.'- i . I". -- ': CL'JUblA, 1A.. Ll. lA 73rd Year - No. 274 ' Good Morning! It's Wednesday, August 5, 1981 8 g 58 Ptges 25 Centfl Public would raise taxes for education oy iven imss Mlssourian staff miter The words " tax cut" have become synonymous with the economic tenor of the times. However, in at least one area higher education Boone Countians seem willing to counter the prevailing trend and bear the burden of heavier taxation to ensure quality service, according to a sur-vey by the Columbia Mlssourian. The survey shows that two of three Boone County residents would be willing to pay higher taxes to sup-port higher education. And majority support exists in every major seg-ment of the population the old and the young, men and women, rich and poor, conservative and liberal. Boone Countians are out of step with their political leadership on an-other important issue, too. Only one of four local residents agrees with Gov. Christopher Bond's decision to freeze the salaries of state employ-ees, while 56 percent disagree. To a related question, survey re-spondents agree by a 2-- 1 margin that Columbia is being hurt by state bud-get cuts affecting the University. University administrators' action in freezing salaries gets a more sym-pathetic reaction than does the gov-ernor's freeze. For Mary Porter, 30, there's a simple reason she would be willing to pay more: " Higher education is one of the most important things there is, and it's been undersup- porte- d for a long time." MiSSQUmMXI Insight Although Lucille Henson, 67, doesn't have children of school age, she would favor higher taxes to en-sure her grandchildren's future. And her support doesn't stop with her own kin. " I think underprivileged children should have more opportu-nity to learn because a lot of them can't afford the education," she said. The strongest agreement with higher taxation comes from those connected with the University as stu-dents, staff or faculty. Three of four approved higher . education taxes. But more than half of those without a University connection also agreed. Catholics were more likely to ap-prove higher education taxes than Protestants. Almost 73 percent of Catholics said " yes" to 60 percent for Protestants. Also, liberals and moderates were slightly more likely than conservatives to approve. Even among conservatives, though, 58 percent would pay more. Income level didn't substantially alter responses on education taxes. For all income groups almost two out of three approved, although those earning over $ 30,000 a year were slightly more likely to support higher taxes. One of the minority was Frank Shobe, 25. " I've yet to see where the money actually goes when desig-nated programs are involved," he said. " I grew up in New Jersey, and they instituted a state lottery for ed-ucation. But it didn't work; educa-tion was no better off after the lot-tery." Nancy Fritsch, 42, is undecided about paying higher taxes. Her hesi-tation is based on a belief that our taxes are generally high enough. Still, she feels strongly about higher education and laments what she sees as a low regard for education statewide. " It's sad for our state, but sometimes we seem behind the times." On the salary freeze issue, Bond recently defended his veto of a pay raise for state employees and said the action was necessary to avert more state government layoffs and cutbacks in essential services. Most frequently mentioned by dis-approving residents was Bond's ac-ceptance of a personal pay hike in January. L. O. Garrett typifies this sentiment. " If he's going to raise his own pay he oughtn't to freeze the state employees. ' ' Actually, the governor's pay raise was approved by the Legislature be-fore he assumed office. However, critics of his decision to freeze state salaries say he has the option to turn back the $ 17,500 raise that boosted his salary to $ 55,000 a year. He hasn't elected to do so. v Those who work for the state gov-ernment most strongly criticized the governor's salary action. Alvin Ze- chi- el, 34, an employee at Ellis Fis- ch- el State Cancer Hospital, acknowl-edges that with cutbacks in federal support, " the states are hurting." But he added, I think more consid-eration should go into where the cuts should be made." Zechiel views the state Legislature as chief culprit. " I don't like the Leg-islature; I don't think they should vote on their own pay increases. Most people would accept freezes if the state officials didn't get any." Another state employee, Elaine Rochon, 30, agrees with the view that the governor should have han-dled the budget cuts differently. " With the salary freeze many peo-ple in my office at the Department of Revenue have to take added part- tim- e jobs at night. This definitely af-fects morale and performance. Peo-ple get so tired from trying to make ends meet with a second job that it affects their work." Criticism of the governor's action wasn't limited to state employees. Bruce Beard, 32, works for Truman Veterans Hospital, a federal employ-er. Still, he says he can relate to the . Survey Results At a Glance 1. Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to support higher education? Yes No Don't Know 63 28 9 2. Do you agree, or disagree, with Gov. Christopher Bond's action in freezing the salaries of state employees9 Agree Disagree Don't Know 26 56 18 3. Do you feel the University administration is handling H the budget cutbacks correctly? 1 Yes No Don't Know 1 27 23 50 1 4. Do you feel the City of Columbia is being hurt by budget I cuts affecting the University? I Yes No Don't Know 1 53 23 24 I 5. Will the cutback in state spending affect you directly? 1 Yes No 48 52 plight of those directly affected by the freeze. " It just seems like when they talk about cutbacks, you very rarely hear of big wheels taking cuts. It's always the poor person who does all the work that gets the ax in the end." Opposition to Bond's action was by no means universal. A man in his 20s, Hiram Cooper, said, " Why give anybody money when there's none to give?" Wandalee Riley, 62, prefacing her comments with, " some people think money grows on trees," obviously has done her homework when it comes to discussing budget figures. " They criticize his veto of a cost- - ( See GOVERNOR'S, Page 14A) Air strikers face fines, loss of jobs President's edict effective today WASHINGTON ( UPI) - The gov-ernment Tuesday warned air con-trollers their whole careers rest on a decision they must make before 10 ajn. CDT today: whether to go back to work or be fired. But the controllers, whose union is being fined $ 100,000 an hour, refused to call off their nationwide strike. While thousands of passengers scrambled for alternate transporta-tion on the second day of the strike, the government continued to crack down on the controllers with fines, restraining orders, contempt- of- cou- rt proceedings and renewed threats of mass firings. At the White House, President Reagan said he has " no choice" but to fire the controllers unless they re-turn to work by the deadline he gave them 10 a. nx Missouri time Wednesday. " The law is very explicit," Rea-gan said. " They understood the law. They took an oath in writing they would not strike. I think it's not a case of firing. I think they quit." Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, at a late- afterno- on news con-ference, warned the controllers their careers hinge on a decision they can-not postpone. " The choice must be made; the de-cision cannot be deferred," Lewis said. " The courts have ruled clearly, firmly and consistently. I hope all controllers understand there will be no turning back, no second chance." At a simultaneous news confer-ence at union headquarters, PATCO President Robert Poli accused the government of attempting to break the union by offering individual con-tracts to induce air controllers to re-turn to work. " That's a traditional breaking- of- the- unio- n tactic that has been used in the past," he told reporters. " It's called the ' yellow dog' concept and I understand they are considering doing that." A Transportation Department spokesman flatly denied the rumor. " There will be no separate contracts for individual controllers' he said. Poli said only 38 of about 13,000 striking controllers had returned to work since the strike was called Monday morning. Altogether, there are 17,000 controllers, whose job is to guide air traffic in and out of air-ports and among cities. " In talking to our people, I feel their resolve and strength is as strong as it was yesterday when they walked off the job," Poli said. " Our position has not changed.' ' Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration postponed a decision on whether to increase flights into the nation's 23 busiest airports to 75 percent of normal capacity. Current-ly, one of every two scheduled flights is being canceled. " We don't need the capacity to - move the traveling public," said FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms. He said the government's ' capacity to handle existing air traffic " contin- - ( See AIR, Page HA) i Robert Roger Mitchell Bennett, left, business manager of testers on a march around the University's Public Service Employees Local No. 45, and Jesse Hall. The workers were protesting the Willis Jones, president of the local, lead pro- - absence of wage increases for this year. One- da- y strike idles protesting M. U. employees By David Marcou and Paul Nowell Mlssourian staff writers Several hundred of the Universi-ty's lowest- pai- d employees picketed work sites, protested in Jefferson City or stayed home Tuesday in the first concrete action by Columbia campus workers against Gov. Christopher S. Bond's budget cuts that denied them a pay raise. University administrators esti-mated that the " day of concern" called by Public Service Employees Local No. 45 resulted in 300 to 500 ab-sences among the 1,100 laborers the union represents. Many of the pro-testers took a day of vacation time; those who didn't will be docked a day's pay. The union protested the loss of an expected 5 percent pay increase. The loss was caused by Bond's 10 percent budget reduction. The business of the University went on uninterrupted, said spokes-man Tom Shrout, despite the walk-out and the presence of a few pickets at the hospital and physical plant. Some departments, however, had to reduce services. Half the morning maintenance crew stayed off the job, leaving work on buildings and grounds delayed or not done. And, among craft workers, 80 to 90 percent were out, according to Ria Fritjers, vice chancellor for administrative services. Union business manager Mitchell Bennett said the purpose of the pro-test was not to disrupt the University so much as to signal the governor that state higher education employ-ees deserve cost- of- livi- ng increases as much as workers in the private sector. Bennett cited Bond's acceptance of a $ 17,500 raise this year as evi-dence of the governor's bad faith in dealing with the state's fiscal crisis. And Bennett said the Legislature's failure to pass a sales tax increase to better finance education was a sign of apathy in Jefferson City toward the plight of lower- inco- me workers. He contrasted the attitude of Uni-versity administrators to the gover-nor's: " I think they are making a sincere effort to give us an increase, while he is putting more emphasis on himself," he said. Ms. Fritjers sympathized, agree-ing that the workers are not well paid. " We understand the frustrations of the workers, but they're not the only ones," she said. No wage increase has been provided for University faculty, either, for the 1981- 8- 2 year. " It's an across- the- boar- d kind of thing," Shrout said. The protesting workers " are just being more vo-cal." One union member put his views succinctly: " Morale on campus is shot to hell," he said. Another member, Allie Femmuel- e- r, criticized the campus beautifica- tio- n project now under way. " For hard times, it's certainly ridicu-lous." Recently he applied for an off- camp- us job after 19 years with the University. " I think it's a damn shame that after almost 20 years I had to think about working some-where else," the refrigeration work-er said. In Jefferson City, Gov. Bond an-swered the charge concerning his raise by saying he was obligated to accept the increase adopted during Joseph Teasdale's administration. " In 1977, the Legislature estab-lished new salaries to take effect in 1978 and 1980," he said. " And it can-not be raised or lowered during the term of the current officeholder." Bond added that donating the raise to the treasury ". would not appease anyone or help the state's situation." Pat Vanzant, a hospital shop stew-ard and one of 25 picketers at the Ca-pitol in the morning, said there was little chance the protest would change anyone's mind. " But we can always hope," she added. Charter panel proposes seven- distri- ct plan By Susan James and Wendy S. Tai Mlssourian staff writer The Boone County Home Rule Charter Commission changed course Tuesday night and decided that the county's proposed legislative body, not voters, should pick its chairman to avoid political incompatibility within the group. In accordance with the change, commissioners approved a tentative redistricting of the county into seven sections. The 14- mem- ber commission also voted to reaffirm, in writing, the present, relatively autonomous oper-ation of Boone County Hospital, and decided the hospital's financial oper-ations should be independent from the county's. On recommendation of a subcom-mittee, commissioners unanimously approved a modification of the top echelon of county government. In-stead of having a six- pers- on legis-lative body elected by district, with a seventh member, the chairman, elected at- Iarg- e, commissioners voted to have a seven- memb- er legis-lative body, with its chairman elect-ed by his constituents. " I would like the commission to reconsider because of the disadvan-tage should the at- lar- ge chairman not be a member of the majority party," said commissioner Paul Sturgeon, former Centralia mayor. As a member of the subcommittee to redefine district boundaries, he and two other commissioners. Nor-ma Robb and Dr. Jim Reynolds, ex-- j pressed their concern about possible conflicts at the top of county govern-ment between the county executive, who will be elected countywide, and a chairman similarly chosen. If elected at- larg- e, the chairman may consider himself to have more authority and power than other leg-islators when he should merely pre-side over the body, Dr. Reynolds said. While the idea of providing the vot-ers with more a direct voice at the top may be desirable, he added, it does not seem feasible. " In theory, having two elected- at- larg- e officers may work," said Dr. Reynolds. " But in practice, there may be conflicts." To accompany that change, the commission adopted a tentative model of how the county would be di-vided into electoral districts. The model plan would give three seats to Columbia, create three others domi-nated by rural residents and split the last district between of city and county residents. Commissioners agreed to recon-sider boundary lines with an eye to-ward possibly providing more rural representation. In a 10-- 3 vote, the commission also approved a request to reaffirm that the operation and management of the Boone County Hospital be vested in the hospital board of trustees. It also expanded the board from five to seven members, elected to three- ye- ar staggered terms. f r In town today Boone County Fair events : 9 ajn. Junior and Senior Sheep Show, Sheep Barn. 1 p-- m. Local Pony and Horse Show, Arena. p-- m. Senior Beef Show and Judging, Arena. 7 pjn. Horse Pulling Con-test, Tractor Arena. 7 pjn. Baby Show for ages 1 to 2, Merchants Tent. Index Business ha Classified .2- 4- C Opinion 4A Sports 6- 7- A Theater 13A 1 |