Cape council candidate profiles

Ward 3 candidates

Stan Wicks

Age: 43

Occupation: President of Wicks Enterprises Inc., At Your Service Portable Toilets and a board member of Wicks Properties LLC. Serves on the Cape Girardeau Board of Examiners.

Education: Has a high school equivalency degree. Holds a master electrician license and a contractor's license.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Debbie, have two children.

Political experience: Previously ran unsuccessfully for state representative and mayor.

R. Todd McBride

Age: 43

Occupation: Mortgage broker

Education: Graduated Cape Girardeau Central High School and has taken continuing education courses in real estate and the mortgage business

Personal: Single

Political experience: Served as Cape Girardeau County Democratic Party chairman for six years and also has been active with the statewide Democratic Party.

Debra Ann Tracy

Age: 51

Write-in candidate

Occupation: Housewife, mother and community volunteer. Served with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, PTA elementary through senior high, CHS Booster Club, Junior Service League, Family Learning Center, Women's Safe House, Cottonwood, Church Women United, Bible Study Fellowship and Southeast Missouri Young Life. Member and elder of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Bookkeeping for husband's company, Timberline International Forest Products Inc.

Education: Graduated from Creston Community High School in Iowa. Attended Southwest Community College at Creston, Missouri Western at St. Joseph, Mo., and Southeast Missouri State University.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, Brian, have a daughter.

Political experience: First run for political office

Q. Why do you want to serve on the city council?

Wicks: I am running for city council because I think I will do a great

job. Two, I want to return the focus of running for elected office back

to the voters. Elected officials' No. 1 priority is supposed to be the

voter. Everything else is second.

McBride: I feel this is an opportunity for me to serve my community to help make Cape Girardeau a better place to live. I can utilize my 25 years of business experience to help our city work through its budget issues. I believe we need someone to help reunite the community.

Tracy: My primary motivation for serving on city council is service. I see it as an opportunity to make a personal contribution first of all to my neighbors and secondly to my community at large. Issues of personal concern to me involve maintaining the integrity of our neighborhood surrounding the university; facilitating communication between citizens and community government; resolution of the "no man's land" issue on Nash Road; and facilitating adequate air travel service to meet area needs.

Q. What is the most important issue facing city government?

Wicks: City council meetings can and do seem intimidating to most people. It would be nice to make it seem friendlier to the citizens, to get them to attend more and to speak more freely.

McBride: To find ways to obtain the necessary revenue for city progress.

Tracy: I view accountability as the most important issue always facing city government in keeping with its mission statement.

Q. Do you support the proposed transportation sales tax issue expected to be on the August ballot?

Wicks: I believe the tax to be worth the money. So far it has produced what it has promised. The first time that money gets diverted for something else, I will be the first to vote against it.

McBride: Yes. The money is needed for infrastructure improvements, which I fully support as long as the money is spent where it is most needed and in the most effective manner.

Tracy: I agree with the principle that transportation trust fund monies be allocated only to specific, well-publicized street projects. As far as I am currently informed I would vote yes for the proposed capital improvements under the five-year plan. I would stress every avenue of community networking be utilized to keep the public informed regarding ongoing projects that directly affect the investments of citizens impacted by their implementation.

Q. What attributes would you bring to the city council?

Wicks: The attributes I bring will be the ability to listen to the people of Ward 3. Then I will be the voice to the city for them. That voice will not be silenced until there has been an appropriate solution to their problem.

McBride: My 25 years of work in the construction industry, real estate development and mortgage banking provides a background for serving our city. I have been a resident of Cape Girardeau for 43 years. I have the experience to represent the citizens in their local government.

Tracy: My core beliefs are centered in faith, family and community. I appreciate Cape Girardeau and the people I have come to know here. I will strive to be truth seeking, willing to listen to people's concerns, patient, fair-minded and persevering. I am at a place in my life when I have the health, time, energy and willingness to commit to the obligations council service requires. I will also seek to be impartial but to honestly advocate for those who desire a voice of representation in Ward 3.

Q. What, if anything, would you like to see changed about the operation of city government?

Wicks: One of the problems I have recognized is that of organized sports. What else is there for adolescents to do? Nothing. We need to find more for our adolescents to do. There are many adolescents looking for something constructive to do but no place to do it. This is the next generation; why have we forgotten about them? I would like the city to seem friendlier toward its citizens. I would like to see faster response times to calls for police, potholes, street lines that are fading and snow on the streets.

McBride: The city council and citizens of Cape Girardeau working together for a better community.

Tracy: I have no preconceived opinion regarding changing of the way city government operates. I can only commit to the democratic process, which I believe in.

Ward 4 candidates

J.J. Williamson

Age: 51

Occupation: Insurance and real estate agent

Education: Sikeston High School, B.S. in administration from Sterling College in Sterling, Kan., and master's in business administration from California Coast University in Santa Ana, Calif.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Patricia, have four children.

Political experience: Served on the city council from 1994 to 1998.

Loretta A. Schneider

Age: 68

Occupation: Retired educator; formerly teacher, librarian and career counselor.

Education: St. Mary's High School, Cape Girardeau; B.S. in education; English and library science; master's in education from Southeast Missouri State University; doctorate in higher education from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, John, have four children.

Political experience: Council member from 1981 to 1986.

Q: Why do you want to serve on the council?

Williamson: I want to serve on the city council to help build positive relationships between all cultures and ethnic groups. I also want to help recognize and develop potential leaders in the community that will be sensitive to unmet needs of all citizens and develop cooperative efforts to meet those needs.

Schneider: The quality of life in Cape Girardeau is extremely important to me and I want to be a part of the decision making for the future of Cape Girardeau.

Q. What is the most important issue facing city government?

Williamson: One of the most important issues I hear facing city government is the need for more public transportation.

Schneider: Future planning and development and a clean, well-kept, attractive city are pressing issues. That includes creating pride for all who live here. Public transportation, streets and infrastructure, trust in city government, and preserving and promoting our rich history are also important at this time.

Q. Do you support the proposed transportation sales tax expected to be on the August ballot?

Williamson: Yes, I support the transportation sales tax because when this type of tax is passed it means the voters agree that they want the city to continue growing by improving the streets and infrastructure.

Schneider: Yes, I do support the transportation tax issue; I campaigned for the support of the tax twice previously and I will again. Street planning and development are vital to all who live, work, shop and visit in Cape Girardeau.

Q. What attributes would you bring to the city council?

Williamson: I feel I have proven myself as a past council member and community leader to be a team player who is fair and objective when it comes to making decisions. I have a strong passion for the city and will work hard along with the mayor, other council members and staff to ensure that Cape Girardeau continues to be a great place to visit, live, work and raise a family.

Schneider: Experience in city government as a former council member and many years of planning for the future through Vision 2000 and Vision 2020; professional background that includes many aspects of marketing and economic development; participation in Chamber of Commerce Leadership Cape, Convention and Visitors Bureau, historic preservation, local voting as an election judge, and knowledge of the city gained as a lifelong resident and parent of four successful public-school-educated children. I can make decisions and know how to get matters accomplished. I am committed to good local government and dedicated to providing the best quality of life for Cape Girardeau citizens.

Q. What, if anything, would you like to see changed about the operation of city government?

Williamson: Currently, I would not make any changes to the operation of Cape's city government.

Schneider: It is essential the council establish trust in our city government. We have a home-rule city charter with a council/manager form of government. Our charter has worked well for the city; however, we are long overdue in forming a commission to evaluate all articles of the charter to determine if any changes need to be made for the future.