FOURTEEN CIRCULATING PETITIONS FOR COUNCIL

With as many as 14 nominating petitions circulating through Cape Girardeau, there apparently is enough interest in the spring municipal election to warrant a primary runoff in February.

On Wednesday, the first day for filing petitions, Melvin Gateley filed for the mayor's race and James "J.J." Williamson filed for the Ward 1 council seat.

Gateley is now on the city council, halfway through a four-year term. Williamson is making his first bid for council.

No other petitions were filed this week, but several people have picked up petitions at city hall.

At least two other candidates are expected to file for mayor, with Michael Sterling -- president of the Cape Girardeau chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- and Councilman Melvin Kasten, who also is halfway through his first term on the council, both circulating nominating petitions.

Many other people have picked up the petitions, which doesn't necessarily mean they'll enter the race for the three wards open in 1994. The April 5 election will decide who replaces David Limbaugh, Mary Wulfers and Doug Richards on the city council.

Sterling picked up a council petition for a yet unknown candidate, as did Adele Kupchella.

Kupchella lives at 303 S. Spanish in Ward 2, which is one of the open wards. But Kupchella hasn't lived in the city for four consecutive years as required by the city charter.

In Ward 1, in the city's northeast side, Frank Stoffregen of 223 Capaha Trail, picked up a nominating petition Friday.

The race in Ward 2, in east-central Cape Girardeau, could field several candidates. If there are more than two candidates either for mayor or in any of the three open wards, there will be a Feb. 8 primary.

Tom Neumeyer, 25 S. Lorimier, Debra Willis, 418 Themis, Joseph Sampson, 210 S. Frederick, and R. Todd McBride, 327 S. Spanish, all have picked up election petitions in Ward 2.

Jess D. Hopple of 2700 Bloomfield Road, has picked up a petition in Ward 6, which encompasses the city's west side.

Hopple filed for election in 1992, but was declared ineligible because at the time he had not lived in Cape Girardeau four years.

Also, Dennis Dobson, who lives at the recently annexed Twin Lakes subdivision west of Interstate 55, has picked up a nominating petition.

If the petition is for Dobson, or anyone living in Twin Lakes, it's unclear whether they would be eligible to seek the Ward 6 seat.

City Attorney Warren Wells said he doesn't know how the residency requirement applies to residents of an area that has been annexed.

"I would have to find some case law dealing with that issue in other cities," Wells said. "I don't think it's addressed in the city charter.

"That would pose one of the first serious questions in the election. I wouldn't rule out that he'd be able to run, but I just don't know."

Wells said he wouldn't be surprised if other questions arise in the city's first election under the ward system. In 1992, residents voted overwhelmingly to scrap at-large city council elections for a ward system of government.

The only other person who has picked up an election petition is Lawrence Godfrey of 1732 Rampart.

Godfrey is in Gateley's ward, which won't be up for election until 1996. The only way Godfrey could run for the seat next year is if Gateley resigned from the council.

But Gateley said Friday that, although he's discussed the possibility of resigning from the council to seek the mayor's office, he's rejected the notion since.

Godfrey said he hasn't done anything with the petition. "It's just sitting there just in case," he said.

Godfrey ran unsuccessfully for the city council in 1992. He also spearheaded the petition initiative that placed the ward election issue on the ballot in November 1992.

Godfrey said he's encouraged at the number of people who apparently are interested in the 1994 race. "The more the merrier to bring out some of the issues," he said.

If Gateley were to change his mind and resign from the council, Wells said the council would have to decide how to proceed with a special election for his Ward 5 seat.

"There would have to be an election to select his replacement," Wells said. "The question is when the council would do that.

"I would think they would have to give everybody a chance to file for the full period. It then becomes a question of whether there is enough time leading up to that to have an election in April."