Post-Dispatch editorial: the sad legacy of the Jetton era

An editorial posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website sums up Rod Jetton's years in power in the Missouri House as a waste:

Perhaps the greatest irony of Mr. Jetton’s last days in the Legislature was that work on voter ID, as well as work on such causes as abortion restrictions and illegal immigration, was held up by a Jetton sweetheart deal that even his GOP colleagues hated.

A year ago, Mr. Jetton had engineered a stealth amendment to an economic development bill that benefited developer Robert W. Plaster of Lebanon, a major campaign contributor and hunting buddy of the speaker’s. The amendment allowed a single person — in this case, Mr. Plaster — to incorporate land near Table Rock Lake as a “village,” thus bypassing local officials in Stone County.

Other developers began trying to take advantage of the “village law,” causing local officials around the state to complain to their legislators. Their effort to repeal the village law caused a logjam and filibusters during the last week of the legislative session. Mr. Jetton finally relented at 4 o’clock Friday morning, but only after cutting a deal that gives Mr. Plaster more time to set up his village.

By then, even some of his fellow Republicans were sick of him. Still, by dragging his feet Rod Jetton may inadvertently have saved the people of Missouri from several other lousy laws. It’s not much of a legacy for the star of the Class of 2000, but it’s all there is.

Jetton's connection to Robert Plaster was explored in the Oct. 17, 2007, Turner Report and this is a prime example of money influencing politics:

Speaker of the House Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, received $6,375 from Lebanon developer Robert Plaster or interests connected to him on Sept. 24, according to his third quarter disclosure report filed Oct. 11 with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The report indicates the Speaker Jetton Leadership Committee received maximum $1,275 contributions from Plaster, something listed as Plaster Grandchildren Invest, Evergreen National, and Empire Ranch. All have the mailing address, Box 129, Lebanon.

The Springfield News-Leader has had a series of article and editorials exploring how Jetton inserted a provision in a law that went into effect Aug. 28 that will allow Plaster to have an easier time taking property he owns and incorporating it as a village, which will exempt it from such governmental controls as planning and zoning ordinances

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