CITY OFFICIALS WANT CHARTER CHANGES PULLED

Two weeks ago, the Cape Girardeau City Council voted to submit to voters a dozen proposed changes to the city charter.

But City Manager Michael Miller wants the council to remove two of the amendments that were slated to be on the April 2 ballot. The council will consider the request tonight.

One amendment would prohibit the city from regulating trades. The other amendment would add cable television to the list of utility franchise agreements that require voter approval.

Both measures were among those proposed by the city's Charter Review Committee.

Miller and Eric Cunningham, interim city attorney, said the prohibition against regulating trades could make it impossible for the city to impose standards and testing for licenses.

"To a large extent, licensing could become merely a fund-raising activity for the city," they said in a letter to the council.

The charter amendment also could invalidate current ordinances that allow the city in Municipal Court to prosecute individuals who practice construction trades without licenses, they said.

Cunningham said it would make it harder for the city to enforce building codes.

Currently, a violation of code standards can result in charges being filed in Municipal Court and tradesmen being subjected to fines and/or jail time.

A person faces possible revocation of his license if he has two convictions for code violations, Cunningham said.

But that amounts to regulation, which the amendment could invalidate, he said.

Cunningham doesn't believe the cable TV franchise amendment is legal.

The federal cable act clearly spells out the conditions that cable TV operators must meet in order to be granted a franchise or have one renewed, he said.

The city and TCI Cablevision recently agreed to a new franchise, which wasn't submitted to the voters. The terms of that agreement can't be changed without TCI's written consent.

Even if voters were to amend the city charter, any future election on a cable TV franchise agreement would be meaningless at best, Cunningham said.

"I don't want to see the city put something on the ballot and the voters have to consider something which isn't legal," he said.