ANOTHER COUNCIL CANDIDATE AN ELIGIBILITY QUESTION

Jess Hopple of 2700 Bloomfield Rd. Friday filed a nominating petition for Cape Girardeau's Ward 6 city council seat.

It's Hopple's second try at the council. In 1991, he filed as a candidate, but was declared ineligible because he hadn't been a resident of the city for the requisite four years prior to the 1992 election.

Hopple, 60, moved to Cape Girardeau in December 1990 and faces the same eligibility obstacle in the April 1994 election.

"The last time, I didn't take issue with the eligibility requirement," Hopple said Friday. "This time I will.

"As far as I can figure, I'm less than 100 days short of the requirement, but there's already been a precedent of council members declared eligible who were short of the four years," he added.

In the past decade the eligibility of two other council candidates, Gary Schreiner in 1983 and David Limbaugh in 1986, was called into question. Both were later allowed to run.

Schreiner was declared eligible after then-City Manager Gary Eide ruled that the candidate had signed a contract to teach at Southeast Missouri State University and purchased a home here prior to April 1980, at least four years before the 1984 election.

Although Schreiner did not move to Cape Girardeau until later in 1980, Eide said Schreiner met the residency requirement on the basis of intent.

In December 1985, Eide declared Limbaugh -- whose second term on the city council expires in April -- eligible also based on his intent to reside in Cape Girardeau.

Limbaugh grew up here, but practiced law in Salem for two years before moving back to Cape Girardeau in January 1983.

The only other Ward 6 candidate to file, Dennis Dobson of 157 Pebble Lane, also might face an eligibility challenge.

That's because Dobson resides in the recently annexed Twin Lakes subdivision.

Hopple is a retired Ford Motor Co. executive and a volunteer in a number of civic and church organizations.

"I'm not a businessman," he said. "I have no axes to grind. I see a lot of good potential for people in this town.

"One of the strongest planks I've got to offer is the fact I am retired, I'm professional, and I've got the time to give to the needs of the people in Ward 6 and the whole city's needs."

Hopple said he's a certified arbitration mediator, which gives him ample decision-making skills.

He served on the city's Zone Election Committee, which ironed out legal problems with the ward election measure approved last year by the city's voters.

Although the ward system will "probably create a lot of questions" as it's implemented, Hopple said the change is something the community wants.

He said he hopes to bring more timely responsiveness to the city council.

"We need somebody on the council that has the capability of making decisions, instead of putting things on the back burner," Hopple said. "I think that's happened too often in the past, and that will have to change. The people are tired of it."

Hopple was born in Poplar Bluff but was reared in Jefferson County. He and his wife, Freida, spent 41 years living in DeSoto before moving to California in 1973.

They have two sons, two daughters and three grandchildren.

Since moving to Cape Girardeau in late 1990, Hopple said he's been involved in numerous civic organizations.

He's on the boards of directors for the Salvation Army, the Veterans Administration Home and Mid-America Teen Challenge.

Hopple also is a member of First Assembly of God Church, St. Mark's Masonic Lodge #93 in Cape Girardeau, and the Cape Girardeau Shrine Club.