City beat - Al Spradling, our mayor!

By Anne-Marie Bernhardt

"I have a dream...!" Martin Luther King once said.

Everyone has a dream.

Al Spradling III's dream was to be a political leader following his fathers footsteps.

Mayor Spradling said, "My father was a state representative when I was young. I always knew that I wanted to become a political leader, but I wanted to work locally."

The Spradling name has been well known in Cape Girardeau for many years. Now Al Spradling III is the mayor of the town that he grew up in. He has been mayor for 7 1/2 years.

Mayor Spradling's duties require about 15 hours of work per week. Some of his duties include presiding at council meetings, giving talks to civic groups, presiding at ribbon cuttings and welcomings, representing the city in time of need, answering questions, and solving problems.

If you were a new family in this community, what would you like to know about the surroundings from Cape's mayor?

Mayor Spradling said he would ask, "Do you have kids? What are their interests? There are probably activities to fill your child's schedule. We have public and private schools available. This community is very friendly, and we don't have a big record of crime problems. We have a large variety of parks all over the town, and we also have a bike/hike trail. There are plenty of career fields to enter. If you are expecting or ill, we have two hospitals and many doctors to choose from. I hope you enjoy Cape Girardeau."

"You can always improve the town," the mayor said. "It's not too big, but it's not too small. Our community is very diverse, and there are many things to do. It is not a very expensive city, and it is a fairly safe place."

Spradling said he would like to see the river campus develop and the downtown area become a very viable place once again.

The mayor said that he can't do anything alone. He thinks that the city's greatest accomplishment during his term was repairing the streets and sewers and creating the bike/hike trail.

"The best thing about being the mayor was meeting new people of different nationalities," he commented.

Also he said there really isn't a worst thing about being the mayor, except "complaining citizens."

The mayor said he was in disbelief, shock, and horror when he first heard about the terrorist attack on Sept. 11.

Spradling attended SEMO and then went to the University of Missouri in Kansas City and got his law degree. However, a college degree is not required to become the mayor, he said.

"If you want to become the mayor, you need a good education, need to be able to speak in public, know your history, like to help, work, and do all of that without a lot of money," Spradling said.

When the mayor's term expires, a new mayor will take his place. His words of advice for the city's future mayor are: "Just have fun!"