Fox to seek second mayoral term in Cape

Following a half-century trend among Cape Girardeau's most recent mayors, Bob Fox will seek a second term in 2022.

Since the administration of Howard C. Tooke, first elected in 1970 and then reelected four years later, his successors at City Hall successfully sought two full four-year mayoral terms.

In addition to Tooke, Gene Rhodes, Al Spradling III, Jay Knudtson and Harry Rediger all served back-to-back tenures.

Fox, 72, a former Ward 5 Cape Girardeau councilman, who graduated from Kennett High School and started his Cape Girardeau dental practice in 1975, won the city's top elected post in 2018.

Why do you run again?

There are a lot of things that we have begun that I would like to finish: the new City Hall, improvements at (city-owned) Cape Regional Airport and a dock on the river, which would be great for downtown.

Plus, I enjoy it. I enjoy giving back to a community that's been so good to us. I've made a lot of friends here and raised my family here. I'm not really a native but I consider Cape our home. When you've been here as long as I have, maybe I am a native now.

We have a new city manager and after the April election, we'll need to go through a strategic, long-range planning process -- which we haven't done for awhile. We've had great public support for many things (and) I hope we get backing for the internet sales tax in November. If the referendum passes, it'll change the landscape of what the city can do.

Incoming city manager, Kenneth Haskin (right), embraces mayor Bob Fox (left) after making a speech at Haskin's introductory news conference April 22 in the chambers of Cape Girardeau City Council.Sarah Yenesel

When did you decide to seek a second term?

In the last couple of weeks. I talked it over a lot with Connie, my wife, to whom I've been married 51 years. I'll be 73 this year. I've been blessed with good health. Anybody my age will have issues here and there but I'm healthy and happy -- and Connie is happy with the decision. You know, we wanted to travel and (the job) does sort of hinder that but we still get in trips here and there.

At Kenneth Haskin's introductory news conference this spring, the city manager said he was impressed Cape Girardeau hadn't forsaken its downtown.

Where else can you have a viable, vibrant downtown with something like the River Campus at one end and the (Century) Casino at the other? Everything in-between is improving.

In your opinion, is it important to have continuity in the mayor's office with a new city manager on board, relatively new human resources, finance and development services directors, plus with the recent passing of Julia Jones, you'll need a new parks and recreation director, too?

Yes, I think it's important. There are also three City Council terms expiring in April, with Ward 2 term-limited. I told Ken (Haskin) I would re-run because I didn't want him to be in the position of suddenly having a new mayor. There's a big learning process in being mayor and it takes a year or two just to get familiar with everything going on. People still ask me questions I don't know the answer to, but I know where to go to find out.

For all of us, there are things that feed our energy and others that drain our energy. What have been the difficult parts of your tenure to-date?

I think the most difficult part is what's happening in our country; it's so divisive and it's been that way politically. Luckily, City Council is not really a political thing. I try to stay away from that. Cape Girardeau's been pretty steady. We're open to change but we're also very diverse -- a lot more than people may think.

Your best moment since taking office?

We had our Parks and Recreation Stormwater (tax) renewal (in 2018) and there was a lot of controversy over the aquatic center. The fact that PRS2 passed with 81% approval was a big deal. (The vote) showed me the people realized the importance of what Parks & Rec does and of making long-range plans.

A good moment, too, was the hiring of (Haskin). The process was exhausting in some ways, time-consuming, all-consuming for awhile, but to have a leader like Scott (Meyer) -- who had been here 12 years -- and to think about replacing him makes you anxious. You don't know what you're going to get but I'm telling you we've got a great man in Kenny, with great ideas and great leadership abilities and that's what (Cape Girardeau) needed. The right person at the right time.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox (left) receives a gavel from outgoing Mayor Harry Rediger after Fox's swearing-in ceremony in April 2018.Southeast Missourian file

Worst moment?

The national stuff. One thing that sticks in my mind was somebody put a sign at (Fox Family Dental) calling me a racist. That was upsetting because that's the last thing in the world I am. Also, that someone would do it at my son's place of business. I apologized to (my son) and until that moment, I was open to meeting with anybody to talk about anything. But I decided when it came to a certain group, I wasn't going to meet with them. If they're going to do stuff like that, I'm not going to meet. That was a downer.

Does the Confederate monument controversy from 2020 come to mind as a down moment?

I don't think about it too much. Again, that's one of the national movements that in my mind is erasing history. I don't agree with that. Whether history is bad or good, it's our history and we learn from our mistakes and some errors have been tremendous -- but we've learned and moved forward and we're better for it. If a person makes a mistake in his personal life, he can correct it and will be a better person afterward.

It's early but do you think about leaving a legacy?

I hope people think of me as a mayor who wanted to educate the public on what the city does and who got more people involved in municipal government. That's why I'm really behind our Citizen Academy effort.