FOUR SPRING MUNICIPAL CONTESTS, TWO PRIMARY ELECTIONS FACE VOTERS

The stage is set in Cape Girardeau for four spring municipal races, two of which will include February primary elections.

The election filing period closed Friday with eight candidates seeking election to three seats on the council and two mayoral candidates.

Al Spradling III, a current city councilman, filed a petition Friday for the mayor's race.

The only other last-minute filing was a "protest petition" filed by Lawrence Godfrey of 1732 Rampart.

Spradling will square off against Melvin Gateley, also a current councilman, in the April 5 general election.

Current Mayor Gene Rhodes chose not to seek a third, four-year term as the city's mayor.

Spradling, 46, is making his second try for the mayor's seat, losing a 1990 bid to Rhodes. The candidate lives at 842 Karau Lane, in Ward 3 in the north-central part of the city. Spradling is a Cape Girardeau attorney.

Gateley, 67, of 1725 Brookwood, is in Ward 5 in northwest Cape Girardeau. He's a retired school administrator.

Godfrey also lives in Ward 5. No seat is up for election in Ward 5 in April.

Godfrey said Friday that his petition was a protest of the city charter, which allows a sitting councilman to run for mayor without relinquishing his council seat. The first two people to sign Godfrey's election petition were Gateley and his wife, Ella.

In Ward 1, on the city's northeast side, the candidates are James "J.J." Williamson Jr., 41, of 117 Centennial and Frank Stoffregen, 39, of 223 Capaha Trail.

Williamson is the finance manager for Heilig-Meyers Furniture in Cape Girardeau. Stoffregen owns and operates the Anything & Everything store at 1625 Independence.

There are three candidates in Ward 2, in the east and southeast part of Cape Girardeau.

Tom Neumeyer of 25 S. Lorimier, a professional photographer who owns and operates Neumeyer Bed and Breakfast, was the first to file.

Other candidates include Joseph Sampson, 31, of 210 S. Frederick, and Brenda Dohogne, 44, of 319 N. Main.

Sampson is the administrator of Community Service Management, a private organization that administers community service and probation programs for the state courts. Dohogne is a homemaker.

The three candidates will square off in a Feb. 8 primary, where voters will select two candidates for the April 5 general election.

In Ward 6, on the city's west side, there also will be a primary election. Four candidates have filed in the ward, but only three will be eligible to run.

Jess Hopple of 2700 Bloomfield Road was declared ineligible by City Attorney Warren Wells because he hasn't lived in Cape Girardeau the requisite four years.

The eligibility of Dennis Dobson, 51, of 157 Pebble Lane, also was in question. But Wells said Dobson, who lives in the recently annexed Twin Lakes subdivision, is eligible based on legal precedents in other states.

Dobson is technical manager at Lone Star Cement plant in Cape Girardeau.

The other two candidates are Jay Knudtson, 30, of 1126 Cyprus Court, and Richard "Butch" Eggimann of 235 Hillview.

Knudtson is assistant vice president at Boatmen's National Bank, and Eggimann is a former elementary school principal and superintendent at the Kelso School District. He's now involved with real estate.