CAPE COUNTY INCUMBENTS EXPECTED TO RUN

Cape Girardeau County officeholders want to keep their jobs.

Nine county offices are up for election this year: presiding commissioner, circuit clerk, county clerk, recorder of deeds, prosecuting attorney, county auditor, county collector, associate circuit judge Division III and associate circuit judge Division IV.

At this point, only County Collector Harold Kuehle has ruled out running for re-election.

County Clerk Rodney Miller has announced he will seek re-election. He predicted the other incumbents will too.

The only other candidate who has officially announced for office is Judy Beussink of Jackson.

Beussink, a Democrat, plans to run for county collector.

The filing period opens Feb. 24 at 8 a.m. and ends March 31 at 5 p.m.

Miller, a Democrat, has served as county clerk for 20 years.

Miller promised when he was first elected to administer the office fairly and efficiently without regard to politics.

He said he believes he has kept his promise.

"We have an excellent county government where everyone works together with the best interests of the citizens of this county as their priorities," he said.

"Other than the election process, the position of county clerk is much like that of being the business manager for the county government," he said.

Miller has worked to promote voter participation and voter registration.

Under Miller, the county began using a punch card voting system in 1980.

Miller has been active in n the Missouri Association of Counties since 1979. He served as state president of the organization of county officials in 1989.

He chairs the organization's insurance committee, which helped establish a statewide liability insurance pool. He is the first and only chairman of the Missouri Association of Counties' workers compensation pool, which includes more than 90 counties and $4 million in premiums.

The pool has returned more than $2 million in dividends to member counties, including more than $45,000 to Cape Girardeau County, Miller said.

Miller served as president of the Missouri County Clerks Association in 1991.

He and his wife, Jan, live on a farm near Millersville and are members of the Millersville Methodist Church. They have two sons.

In the county collector's race, Beussink said she is prepared to take "the big plunge" and run for office.

"I am qualified, capable, hardworking and honest. Those are the merits on which I am running," she said.

Beussink said she has a good understanding of the job of county collector because she works with tax books in her current position.

"I realize it is a big job, but I am up to the challenge," she said.

Beussink has worked for Cape Girardeau County government for more than 32 years.

She began her career as deputy county clerk on Sept. 1, 1965. Today, she is chief deputy with the county clerk's office.

Beussink is an honor graduate of Portageville High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University.

She is active in a number of civic organizations, including the American Legion Auxiliary, the Jackson Heritage Association and the Cape County Democratic Central Committee.

She and her husband, David, are members of Immaculate Conception Church in Jackson. They have two children.