Candidate fails to qualify, leaves two running in Ward 4

Painting contractor J. Clay Waller failed to qualify as a Cape Girardeau City Council candidate because he didn't submit enough valid signatures on his nominating petition, city clerk Gayle Conrad said Friday.

That leaves former council members Loretta Schneider and J.J. Williamson as the only candidates seeking the open Ward 4 seat.

As a result, there won't be a primary election in that ward. The open seat will be filled in a special election on April 5.

But there will be a primary on April 5 in Ward 3, where candidates Stan Wicks, R. Todd McBride and Ellen Dillon are vying for an open seat. The top two vote-getters in that race will square off in a special election on June 7, city officials said.

The council, at its joint meeting with the Jackson Board of Aldermen on Monday night, is scheduled to approve election ordinances setting up the special elections.

For now, the council remains shorthanded as a result of the resignations of Jay Purcell in Ward 3 and Hugh White in Ward 4.

Waller submitted a nominating petition with 57 signatures when he filed Tuesday on the final day of filing.

But Conrad said a check by the county clerk's office found that only 48 of the signatures were valid, two less than the 50 needed under the city's charter to get on the ballot.

Five signatures were from residents who weren't registered to vote. Four other signatures were from residents outside Ward 4, the city clerk said.

Conrad said the latter signatures came from residents who lived in another ward, but whose street bordered Ward 4. She said Waller collected signatures from "the wrong side of the street."

Waller said he was surprised he came up short in the number of valid signatures. He said all the signers claimed to be registered voters.

"I asked everybody I knew," he said. "After I hit 57, I thought that ought to be sufficient."

Waller said a ski trip to Vail, Colo., left him little time to collect the necessary signatures and meet the filing deadline.

"I kind of waited until the last minute," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123