Local officials: Nixon's veto "disappointing'

Jefferson City area leaders are calling at least one aspect of the freezes and vetoes announced Tuesday "extremely disappointing."

Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday the vetoing or freezing of more than $1.1 billion of spending in the state's next budget, which included a veto of funds that would have been allocated for renovation of the St. Mary's Health Complex, which will be vacant when St. Mary's moves to its new location in November. The $6 million renovation would have allowed the complex to be used by Lincoln University for its nursing program, Linn State Technical College and some state agencies, such as the transportation department.

"It's extremely disappointing," said Randy Allen, president and CEO of the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.

Allen said the announcement took him by surprise and the entire community, including the chamber and a chamber task force, had worked hard with both the governor's office and the Legislature since the beginning of the year to make the case for the project at St. Mary's.

"To have it stopped through this, it's just very disappointing," Allen said.

Cole County Presiding Commissioner Marc Ellinger said the news was upsetting, considering the promises made by Nixon on the St. Mary's project.

"I'm bitterly disappointed, particularly since the governor and his administration directly and unequivocally committed to doing the project," Ellinger said. "They gave us their word they would do the project. ... The governor had promised that this project would go forward and you see what he's done and what his promise was worth."

Ellinger said the county would advocate for an override of the governor's veto, though he said it was unfortunate such a measure would be needed.

"It's unfortunate that such duplicitous behavior gets us to the point where that's (needed)," Ellinger said. "It was a project that had support across all corners of the community, it had support across the state, as the Legislature passed it from all different parts of the state. It was a great opportunity to address not just the future of Lincoln University, but the core of Jefferson City and also to help out state government."

Mayor Eric Struemph could not be reached for this story and City Administrator Steve Crowell said 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Scrivner was handling the city's reaction to the announcement.

Scrivner said the veto, instead of withholding the funds, is especially disappointing, since an override is the only way to restore those funds.

"We obviously were hoping those funds would be available," Scrivner said. "We were encouraged by the fact that ... that was one of (Nixon's) initiatives."

Scrivner said the project also had been part of Transformation, the failed economic development sales tax put forward by the chamber that sought to pay for 30 different projects, which showed the support for the project from city and county leaders who had drafted the project list.

Without state funds, Scrivner said it would be difficult to take on the project as the city would be unable to come up with the funds on its own.

Misty Young, Lincoln University spokeswoman, issued a release from the university stating it understands the need to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer funds.

"Unfortunately, these cuts will affect Lincoln University and its students," the release states. "We will continue to hold out hope that the funding for the St. Mary's project and the Wellness Center will be reinstated. That still leaves the university with an anticipated $1 million shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, which will be difficult to recoup in this already tough economic climate."

The university was slated to receive $2.8 million in state money as a 50 percent match to money raised locally, for construction of a new student Wellness Center on Locust Street at East Atchison, south of the Scruggs Residence Hall. The $2.8 million also was vetoed by Nixon on Tuesday.

Donald Claycomb, president of Linn State Techinical College, said he was surprised the governor's cuts went as deep as they did, but the college will do the best it can with what it has.

"We're disappointed it hasn't worked out up to this point," Claycomb said. "We'll do what we can to make the best of it."

Ellinger said if there is no veto override, the future of the facility would be up to St. Mary's.

"We did our job, which was to get the appropriation through the General Assembly, as the governor requested," Ellinger said.

Allen said the chamber could work with local contacts and representatives to come up with a strategy on how to get this project done another way.

"We thought that this project was very, very important, both to the state and our local community," Allen said. "There's a case that it's a good project, and it's worth the money so it's probably worth the effort to see if we can salvage it."