Cape city attorney wins state legal award

Eric Cunningham, longtime city attorney for the City of Cape Girardeau, was recently honored by his peers with the Lou Czech Award at a meeting in Osage Beach, Missouri.

Cunningham, who has been the official legal specialist of Missouri’s 16th largest city for 26 years, has served through the administrations of four Cape Girardeau mayors and five city managers.

On July 24, Cunningham was given the award by the Missouri Municipal Attorneys Association (MMAA), emblematic of the municipal attorney of the year, “whose exemplary public service best displays the same high standards of accomplishment, professionalism and ethical conduct” exhibited by Czech, one of the founders of MMAA.

Among Cunningham’s notable achievements for Cape Girardeau city government since 1995:

• assisted with a charter review commission and a complete rezoning.
• handled numerous annexations and several lawsuits against the city,
• guided the City Council in navigating election ballot language issues.
• helped with personnel issues, ethics questions and training of both city personnel and City Council and advisory board members.
• mentored, supervised and coached the city prosecuting attorney to represent the city in municipal court.

According to the www.cityofcape.org, the city’s official website, “the legal advisor to local elected officials serves a quiet yet critical role in the ethical management of public business and resources.”

Former city manager Scott Meyer, who worked alongside Cunningham for 12 years, lavished high praise on the attorney.

“The counsel I received from Eric is beyond value. His knowledge of the law, charter and ordinances was only secondary to his understanding of the history of the contest of the city’s culture. While Eric works directly for the city manager, he also has a reporting relationship with the (City) Council. As many of you know, this often puts him in a difficult spot. Eric has always handled this relationship with poise and integrity,” Meyer said.

Cunningham, according to a news release, gives credit to others for his success.

“The city staff I’ve worked with over the years have been delightful. They have had the genuine interest of the public at heart (and) my hat is off to them,” he said.

Since 1986, Cunningham has served on the Mid-America Adult and Teen Challenge International Board of Directors, an organization helping people overcome addiction so that they may live happy, healthy and productive lives. He has served as president of the not-for-profit board.

Cunningham will be honored at today’s City Council meeting for receiving the MMAA award.