Brunke replaces Kangas with appointment as interim director of development services

Cape Girardeau assistant public works director Casey Brunke has been appointed to serve as interim community development director for the City of Cape Girardeau. Brunke's appointment follows the departure of Anna Kangas who left the community development director role this month.

Brunke will maintain her position as assistant public works director while serving as interim community development director. Deputy city manager Molly Mehner said roughly 80% of Brunke's time will be spent in community development and the other 20% will be focused on public works.

"The departments work closely together so it should work out well," Mehner said.

City Hall is seen Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Brunke is no stranger to the community development department. From 2011 to 2018, Brunke served as a city engineer.

The community development department encompasses four divisions: engineering, inspections, planning and geographic information systems mapping.

"I'm looking forward to building relationships with all the different departments that community development works with and with our development community and staff to see what we can accomplish together," Brunke said.

Kangas has a new position at Boulder Construction LLC. in Cape Girardeau.

"In the last several years working on projects for the city, I discovered I really enjoy the design and construction aspect of projects," Kangas said. "In my new role at Boulder Construction I am a preconstruction manager, which means I help find the codes and ordinances that apply to projects in different municipalities and help with plan review and permit process, as well as design development."

As community development director, Kangas led several projects, including Cape Girardeau's new City Hall -- dedicated Jan. 31.

This was her second stint with the city. She started as a commercial plan reviewer in 2011 and became a building and code enforcement manager in 2015, according to previous Southeast Missourian reporting. She left the city in 2019 for a position in Colorado but returned the following year.