Letter to the Editor

PILOT: Court worries

Sunday, February 2, 2003

I am two things, a lifelong resident of Sikeston and an employee of the BMU, Sikeston Power Plant. If you are a concerned citizen of Sikeston and have been following the PILOT referendum, you have realized that there are differing opinions between those for and against it.

The one thing there is an apparent agreement on is, if the PILOT referendum is passed, the city of Sikeston can expect legal action in the form of lawsuits to be filed by the contract cities that comprise a large portion of the power sales from the power plant. To me this would indicate something is inherently wrong with the referendum from the onset.

I am uncomfortable knowing that the future of utility and our city could be in the hands of lawyers being decided in a courtroom somewhere. There are those who would subscribe to the theory of "nothing ventured, nothing gained." I wonder if that is the same advice Enron investors were given.

Jimmy Davis