COUNCIL PRIMARY REMAINS IN DOUBT

A seventh candidate for Cape Girardeau City Council filed Friday, but his eligibility is in question leaving doubt as to whether there will be a primary election Feb. 4.

A primary election is only held if there are seven or more candidates for the three council seats to be decided in the April municipal election.

The candidate, Jess D. Hopple, 58, of 2700 Bloomfield Road was one of two people who filed Friday, the filing deadline for council candidates. Councilman Hugh White, who announced Thursday he would seek re-election, officially filed Friday at City Hall.

The city charter states that a council member must have been a resident of Cape Girardeau for at least four consecutive years immediately prior to his or her election.

Hopple said Saturday that he and his wife, Freida, moved to Cape Girardeau in December 1990.

Hopple said he was aware of the eligibility requirement before filing his candidate's petition.

But he suggested he might meet the residency requirement on the basis of intent to reside here.

"I know in the past that there have been some exceptions made," said Hopple.

The residency-requirement issue has surfaced before, both in 1983 and 1985.

Both times, candidates were declared eligible on the basis of their intent to reside in Cape Girardeau.

City Councilman David Limbaugh was elected in 1986 after he was declared eligible in December 1985 by then City Manager Gary A. Eide. Limbaugh grew up in Cape Girardeau, but subsequently practiced law in Salem for two years before moving back here in January 1983.

But Eide determined that Limbaugh met the four-year residency requirement because of his intent to reside here.

Eide said at the time that his decision was based on a Missouri Supreme Court case involving former Gov. Christopher Bond in which the high court ruled that intent was a key factor in determining whether a candidate meets residency requirements.

Limbaugh had said that he had informed the partners in his family's Cape Girardeau law firm prior to April 1982 of his plan to return to Cape Girardeau to practice law.

In 1983, Eide ruled that Gary Schreiner met the residency requirement for a council candidate because Schreiner had signed a contract to teach at Southeast Missouri State University and had purchased a home prior to April 1980, four years prior to the 1984 municipal election.

Although Schreiner did not actually move to Cape Girardeau until later in 1980, Eide said Schreiner met the residency requirement on the basis of intent.

Hopple said Saturday that while he has only resided in Cape Girardeau for a year, he and his wife had decided five or six years ago that they wanted to move from San Jose, Calif., to Cape Girardeau.

Hopple said that his two daughters attended Southeast Missouri State University. One of them has resided in Cape Girardeau for the past 16 years.

"We just felt we were moving back home," said Hopple, a retired Ford Motor Co. manager.

Hopple was born in Poplar Bluff. He said both he and his wife grew up in Jefferson County.

The couple spent 41 years living in DeSoto, where they raised their children two sons and two daughters.

Jess and Freida Hopple moved to California in 1973 and stayed there for 18 years before moving to Cape Girardeau a year ago.

Hopple retired in 1984 and his wife retired two years ago. As to moving to Cape Girardeau, Hopple said, "We really put the wheels in motion two years ago when my wife was planning to retire."

Said Hopple, "I think that consideration should be given to the fact that we planned this move five or six years ago. We knew we were coming here."

Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said, "It's a matter the city attorney will have to look at, and there will have to be a determination made as to eligibility of the candidate in accordance with the city charter."

But he said, "It sounds like a pretty clear case of ineligibility."

Stoverink said, "There is no way we can make an exception" unless there is some legal precedent in regards to the definition of residency.

"But it doesn't sound like this individual will meet any definition of residency that I am aware of," said Stoverink.

Reached at his home Saturday evening, City Attorney Warren Wells said the residency issue will have to be examined.

He said he would also look at "what has been done in the past."

"We'll just have to go back and look at what practices have been followed in the past."

In speaking of his candidacy, Hopple emphasized his business management background.

"I think that more emphasis should be directed toward the economic development growth of the area," he said. "I really feel like Cape is sitting at a threshold where change is going to be a way of life."

He said change is "a very valuable tool" that can create jobs and growth.

"I feel like the advantage of coming in as a new kid on the block is that maybe I can see things and put them in perspective much differently than someone who has lived here all their life."

Besides Hopple and White, council candidates are Councilman Al Spradling III, Lawrence Godfrey, Melvin Kasten, Melvin Gateley and Loretta Schneider, a former council member.