CITY OFFICIAL TAKES SEMO POST; AL STOVERINK WILL MANAGE PHYSICAL PLANT

Al Stoverink, Cape Girardeau's assistant city manager since 1988, will become the director of the physical plant at Southeast Missouri State University on Oct. 1.

The hiring announcement was made by the university Tuesday, the conclusion of a two-month candidate search that attracted 70 applicants.

A chance for personal and professional growth drove his decision to switch from a city to a university management position, Stoverink said. "I like to constantly see development and progress, and I was just at a point where I was ready for a change. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

The comparative stability of the university job was another factor, he said. "My wife and I are both from here. We have made a decision in our lives to raise our family in the Cape Girardeau area. There aren't that many opportunities in the immediate area."

The 38-year-old Stoverink and his wife Carol have five children.

Stoverink will be hired at an annual salary of $59,000. His salary with the city was $52,397.

The position of physical plant manager had been open since the resignation of William Moon on June 18. Gil Seres, the university's director of business services, has been serving as interim physical plant director since Moon resigned.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Kenneth Dobbins, the university's executive vice president, extolled Stoverink's experience in developing the city's infrastructure and public works projects.

"Al's outstanding city management, leadership and planning credential, in addition to his highly regarded experience in working with the city's infrastructure and public works, will be a great asset in directing the university's physical plant operations in the years ahead."

Stoverink has a master of science degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a bachelor of science degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southeast Missouri State University.

Before assuming jobs with Cape Girardeau, he was an administrative assistant to the city manager in Mexico, Mo., and city administrator in Perryville.

On becoming the city's finance director in 1985, Stoverink said, he was given the mission to create a finance department and assess the city's needs to automate.

He counts elevating the city's accounting system to generally accepted principles as one of his accomplishments, along with the long-range planning that has included a master sewer plan, an updating of the major street plan and acquisition of the water system.

But he said no vacuum will be created when he leaves.

"We have a real outstanding management team here and staff of people throughout the ranks," Stoverink said. "A real customer service attitude exists. It gives you a good feeling to be working with professional people who are dedicated."

Whether or not to replace him with another assistant city manager is a key decision City Manager J. Ronald Fischer now faces, Stoverink said.

"The position I filled is changing and needs to change to take advantage of the assets and skills these people have."

"... He and I have been working closely together as a team. I feel we have developed an organization and staff where other people on the staff can pick up some of the roles I have played."

Stoverink has delegated more and more of his responsibilities over the years, leaving the budget as his primary assignment.

Comparing the university campus to "a city within a city," Stoverink said there are many similarities between the job he is leaving and the one he is taking.

"I'll be working at it from a different perspective, but when you get down to it, the basics are facility planning and personnel."

Seventy buildings with two million square feet of space dot the 400-acre Southeast campus. The physical plant has 145 employees.

Stoverink said the city's change to ward elections in the spring was only a peripheral issue in his decision to leave city government. "What's most important relative to the city council makeup as it pertains to staff and the community as a whole is who people elect," he said.

"What kind of person, and are they there for the good of the city, are they trying to do what's right. As long as you've got those kind of people getting elected, the system of representation is secondary."

But city managers usually are the focal point when issues arise, and Stoverink acknowledged that "the volatility of local government politics in general is certainly an issue."

Fischer praised Stoverink, saying, "Al has played a very important part with the management team in the city of Cape Girardeau. The type of management style I have is a team style and Al has been a key part of that. He'll make the university a top-notch person."

Fischer said he knew that Stoverink and his wife Carol had decided they wanted to stay in Cape Girardeau. Moving to the job at Southeast "opens up security and stability for him and his family," Fischer said.

"I hate to see him leave, but I am happy for Al and Carol and it opens a new challenge for him and I am sure he will rise to that position.

"Al is always looking for a challenge. He is not satisfied with everything being day-to-day operations. He is always looking for a way to do it different or better, especially in the areas of finance and management," Fischer said. "This is where Al is strong."

Stoverink has been functioning as assistant city manger/finance director since Fischer became city manager in February 1988. Fischer said there are good people in the finance department such as John Richbourg, the comptroller, and Mary Thompson, the city collector who can help with Stoverink's duties.

Sept. 30 will be Stoverink's last day with the city. Fischer said no decision has been made on how to replace him.

"We're managing here as a team. I do want to counsel and discuss this with my department heads. We will be doing that over the next few weeks."

Stoverink wanted to express his appreciation for the way people in the city have treated him. "It's going to be difficult to leave some of the working relationships I have developed, not only in government but with the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations."

But Stoverink expects to have at least some of the same involvements through the university. "I'm not just going to disappear from the landscape."