Dan Presson files for Ward 1 council seat; Moore files for re-election in Ward 2

Dan Presson, who leads a Red Star neighborhood development organization, has filed as a candidate for the Cape Girardeau City Council Ward 1 seat, while Ward 2 Councilwoman Shelly Moore has filed for re-election for a second term.

Ward 1 Councilman Joe Uzoaru announced last month he will not seek re-election to a second four-year term.

Presson serves as president of Red Star Neighborhood Revival neighborhood group.

“I am excited for the opportunity,” Presson said Monday. “I am just looking forward to lending my hand in helping the city succeed.”

A South-east Missouri State University graduate, Presson said he is glad the city’s neighborhoods in the south and northeast parts of Cape Girardeau are “getting attention” from municipal government to redevelop and revive those areas.

Presson, who serves as coordinator of employer relations in career services at Southeast Missouri State University, said there has been “good momentum” in improving Cape Girardeau’s older neighborhoods.

Shelly Moore

As for Moore, she announced weeks ago she would seek re-election.

Ward 5 Councilman Bob Fox previously filed for mayor. Harry Rediger, the current mayor, is term-limited.

In addition to the council wards 1 and 2 seats and the mayor’s seat, voters in Ward 6 will choose a new council member in the April election.

Danny Essner, a retired Cape Girardeau banker was appointed in late August to fill the unexpired Ward 6 term of Wayne Bowen, who resigned to take a job at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Essner said last month he would not seek election to a four-year term, citing his parents’ health problems.

As of Monday, no one had filed as a council candidate for Ward 6.

The filing period, which opened Oct. 24, will close at 5 p.m. Nov. 21, city officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.