CANDIDATES: FEW FILINGS LOGGED FOR RACES IN CHAFFEE

CHAFFEE -- All four incumbents on the Chaffee Board of Aldermen have filed for re-election. None is opposed.

Aldermen who have filed are: Ward 4 Alderman Tom Cunningham, Ward 3 Alderman Dan Finley, Ward 1 Alderman Bill Cannon and Ward 2 Alderman Ed Gauthier.

A school board candidate, Randy Dooley, also has filed for re-election.

Cunningham, 41, of 608 Robin Hood, was first elected to a full term in 1987, after being appointed in 1985 to fill out an unexpired term on the board.

Cunningham, who also serves as mayor pro tem, is a lifelong resident of Chaffee. He is a 1969 graduate of Chaffee High School. He received a degree in industrial technology in 1974 from Southeast Missouri State University. He taught industrial arts at Chaffee High School for two years. Cunningham is now partially-retired.

He and his wife, Janeene, have two sons: Randy, 15, and Brian, 15. Both attend Chaffee High School.

Cunningham said: "Because I am semi-retired, I am fortunate to have the time to devote to the affairs of our city. I have been especially interested in improvements to city services in the past, and I want to make sure other planned improvements will continue on schedule."

Finley, 36, of 118 Gray, is completing his first term as alderman. He is a lifelong resident of Chaffee, and a 1974 graduate of Chaffee High School. For the past 13 years Finley has been employed as service manager for Schaefer Water Center in Cape Girardeau.

Finley and his wife, Judy, have two children: Jennifer, 12, and Danny Lee Finley, 9. They are members of the First Baptist Church of Chaffee, where Finley is a deacon and youth director.

Finley said he decided to run for alderman because it is a citizen's obligation to become involved in the community in which he lives. "I have wanted to become more involved with the inner workings of city government, and I can assure you that in my first term on the board, I have come to appreciate what is really involved in operating a city," Finley said.

Finley said he has become deeply involved in a number of major, on-going projects in Chaffee. He is chairman of the fire department committee and serves on the properties and real estate committee and water committee. He is a past member of the street committee.

Finley said because of his experience and background in water quality, he's been able to provide insight and assistance to the city on federal and state EPA and state Department of Natural Resources rules and policies on waste-water treatment standards.

Cannon, 55, of 108 E. Clarmon, is completing his second term on the board. He and his wife, Judy, have three grown children.

Cannon retired in 1985 as a locomotive railroad engineer for the Burlington Northern. He also owned and operated businesses in Chaffee and Cape Girardeau for several years. He is a veteran of the Army.

Cannon said he wants to continue working on goals and projects now under way. "We've got another year or two worth of work on resurfacing our streets and repairing our older concrete streets," he said. "We've also got a lot of alleys that need some repair work.

"I'm also very interested in seeing the completion of the waste-water treatment plant improvements that are now under way."

Looking ahead in the not-to-distant future, Cannon sees some major and expensive projects the city must contend with.

He said: "We're going to have to start thinking about replacing some of the older sewer and water mains in the original town of Chaffee. The most important priority there is getting the necessary funding to do the work," he explained. "And starting in the mid-1990s, sections of the Chaffee Housing Project will begin reverting to the city for ownership, operation and maintenance.

"We must start making plans soon to prepare for this changeover. Will the city receive the same HUD subsidy the housing authority is receiving now, or will we have to operate the housing area without any kind of assistance? These are questions the board of aldermen must begin to think about in a few years from now."

Cannon is chairman of the street committee, a member of the audit and finance committee, fire committee, and the real estate and property committee.

Dooley, 32, of 609 Hubbard, who filed for the school board, is no stranger to public service in Chaffee. He served as an alderman from 1990 to l991, when he resigned after moving out of his ward.

Dooley is a lifelong resident of Chaffee. He graduated from Chaffee High School in 1978, and received his pharmacology degree in 1982 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

He is employed as a staff pharmacist at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Prior to that Dooley operated a pharmacy in Chaffee.

Dooley is past president of the Chaffee Chamber of Commerce, past president and current member of the Chaffee High School Alumni Association, and a member of the First United Methodist Church of Chaffee. He and his wife, Shelley, have two children: Sarah, 5, and Steven, 3.

"I have always been interested in the education that students in the Chaffee school system receive," said Dooley. "I, myself, have gone through the system. The education I received allowed me to compete in college with students from other, most always, larger school systems.

"I understand the importance of preparing future graduates for the task of competing, whether it is in college, in vocational school, or in the job market."

Candidates for city offices may file at the city clerk's office at City Hall. School board candidates may file at the superintendent's office in the Chaffee High School building.