VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE VALUABLE INPUT AS BOARD MEMBERS

A committee of three Cape Girardeau councilmen has made several recommendations regarding city committees and advisory boards. For the most part, the panel has made some sensible and, in some cases, much-needed suggestions for improving the operations of the boards and committees.

One suggestion that needs to be carefully considered, however, is the suggestion that members of these boards and committees all be residents of the city, except for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Advisory Board, which serves an area much larger than the city.

Currently there are approximately 170 members of the various boards and committees. Only four of those positions are held by non-residents. It doesn't seem like there is much of a problem with having non-residents on city boards and committees. As the airport board example suggests, there are, indeed, times when counsel from individuals who don't live in the city might be valuable. There also are individuals who have extensive interests in the city because of business or industrial relationships but who do not live in the city. They might make good participants in city discussions.

Unless having non-residents on city boards and committees becomes a problem at some future time, it may be better not to exclude them from potential service to the city.

Even the three councilmen making the recommendations weren't unanimous on this recommendation. The full council should consider this proposal carefully.

Other recommendations, however, are practical and sensible. These suggestions cover several areas of how the boards and committees operate:

-- No one should be allowed to serve on more than one city board at a time. Several people currently are on more than one board.

-- The city should do a better job of advertising board vacancies and encouraging volunteer participation.

-- Council members shouldn't serve on advisory boards, except as ex-officio members.

-- Several one-time boards, such as the minimum property standards committee and the solid-waste task force, should be eliminated.

Finding volunteers who are willing to devote the time and effort to serving on a city board or committee isn't always easy. Residents of Cape Girardeau owe a debt of gratitude to the nearly 170 individuals who currently make the time to participate in the workings of city government.