BED-AND-BREAKFAST OWNER IS FIRST TO FILE FOR CITY COUNCIL IN WARD 2

MAP - More than half way into the filing period, the at-large mayor's race and three city council races remain wide open in Cape Girardeau. The three ward seats up for election include Ward 1, in the city's northeast side; Ward 2, east and southeast Cape Girardeau; and Ward 6, on the west side. Candidates have until Dec. 10 to file election petitions at city hall.

Tom Neumeyer of 25 S. Lorimier filed Friday as a Cape Girardeau City Council candidate for Ward 2 on the city's east side.

Neumeyer is the first candidate to file in Ward 2 -- one of three wards that, along with the mayor's at-large seat, is up for election April 5.

Neumeyer is a professional photographer and owns and operates Neumeyer Bed and Breakfast. He said Friday he looks forward to the opportunity to represent his ward.

"Ward 2 encompasses an area that has a unique combination of assets -- a culturally and ethnically diverse population, a deeply-rooted heritage and beautiful neighborhoods with wonderful homes," he said.

Neumeyer is vice president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, which was formed recently to promote the downtown area and lobby for continued improvements.

"The area along the Mississippi River is on the verge of a new renaissance," Neumeyer said. "We will be experiencing economic impact from riverboat gaming and, hopefully, cultural enhancement with development of the former St. Vincent's seminary."

But he said the area also has liabilities.

"The challenges of drug and criminal elements need responses, such as better street lighting and more police presence," he said.

Neumeyer also has lobbied the city council for passage of a proposed minimum property maintenance code.

"We have poorly maintained rental property that is a threat to the tenants and the neighborhoods," he said.

Neumeyer said he considers economic development and the city's growth a priority for city government. He said other communities in Southeast Missouri have grown while Cape Girardeau's population has remained stagnant for the past decade.

"I want the city to be recognized as a growing, viable community," he said.

He called the present makeup of the council "too limited in its demographics," and welcomed the new ward system of representation.

"The ward system will provide the city's residents with better representation and hopefully more diversification in the council membership," he added.

Neumeyer works in wedding, portrait and commercial photography from his business at 117 Independence. He formerly was a writer and photographer for the News Guardian and Southeast Missourian newspapers in Cape Girardeau.

He and his wife, Terri, opened Neumeyer Bed and Breakfast four years ago. Neumeyer has two daughters, ages 19 and 16, and a stepson, age 16.

A native of Cape Girardeau, Neumeyer graduated in 1972 from Southeast Missouri State, where he has attended graduate school.

He's a board member with the Greater Cape Girardeau Historical Association, the Cape Girardeau Public Library Foundation, and the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

He also is a member of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association, and the Cape Girardeau Bicentennial Commission. Neumeyer is co-founder of the Children's Rights Coalition and a past member of the Cape Girardeau Council for Gifted Children.

More than half way into the filing period, which expires Dec. 10, all four races remain wide open. Although Neumeyer is the only Ward 2 candidate to file an election petition, three other candidates -- Debra Willis, 418 Themis, Joseph Sampson, 210 S. Frederick, and R. Todd McBride, 327 S. Spanish -- have picked up petitions at city hall.

Only one candidate, Councilman Melvin Gateley, has filed for the mayor's post. Michael Sterling, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has picked up a nominating petition.

Councilman Melvin Kasten, who also picked up a petition, has since said he won't seek the mayor's seat.

In Ward 1, in the northeast part of the city, two candidates have filed for election -- James "J.J." Williamson Jr., 117 Centennial Drive, and Frank Stoffregen, 223 Capaha Trail.

No candidates have yet filed in Ward 6, on the city's west side. But Richard Eggimann of 235 Hillview and Jess Hopple of 2700 Bloomfield have picked up election petitions.

A third possible candidate is Dennis Dobson, who lives at Twin Lakes Subdivision. But it's unclear whether Dobson will be eligible to run because Twin Lakes was only recently annexed into the city.

City Attorney Warren Wells said he's not certain how the four-year residency requirement for council candidates applies to annexations.

If more than two candidates file in any ward or for the mayor's seat, a primary election will be held Feb. 8 to narrow the field.