GAMBLING ADVOCATES GET A SECOND CHANCE

Proponents of riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau will have another shot at the issue when it goes back on the ballot Nov. 2.

The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will give first reading of an ordinance to place the riverboat gambling question on the city ballot.

That action comes on the heels of a successful petition initiative waged by gambling proponents following the measure's defeat here June 8.

At that election, riverboat gambling was defeated 5,506 votes to 4,940, a margin of 53-47 percent.

In a letter to the council members, City Attorney Warren Wells said: "The Cape Girardeau County clerk has now determined that the petitions presented to the council at its last regular meeting on June 21 with regard to riverboat gambling are in order and have sufficient signatures to meet the requirements of the statute for placement of this issue on the ballot."

Proponents of riverboat gambling have vowed the issue will have a different outcome in November. When organizers presented the council with petitions bearing more than 3,700 signatures, they claimed many supporters failed to vote in June.

In order to force an election, the city charter requires the signatures of 2,254 registered city voters.

David Knight, one of those who gathered signatures, said Tuesday that the response to the petition effort indicates broad-based citizen support for riverboat gambling.

"The consensus of opinion while we were gathering signatures is that a lot of people just slept through it (in June)," Knight said. "They assumed it was going to pass and stayed home in droves."

Knight said he believes supporters of riverboat gambling "learned the lesson" on June 8 that "overconfidence is often a detrimental emotion."

He also said students at Southeast Missouri State University should boost the "yes" votes in November.

"I would assume they would support it, since they are the prime beneficiaries of some of the jobs that would be provided," Knight added. "This is an opportunity for us to increase enrollment by being able to provide employment for prospective students."

One question that's likely to be raised by a fall vote is whether, depending on the results, gambling opponents could mount a similar effort to repeal the measure or force yet another election.

Some opponents have suggested that if the petition initiative results in a "yes" vote in November, they will petition for a referendum to repeal the measure.

Wells said last week that the state statute providing for a local vote on riverboat gambling does not address the issue.

But he said he didn't think the referendum process applied to laws enacted through the initiative process.

"The referendum process is used when the council adopts an ordinance that the voters want repealed," Wells said. "If the council refuses to repeal the ordinance, the voters then have the right to repeal the ordinance through referendum.

"I don't think you could say that the referendum process would apply to law passed as a result of a ballot initiative."

The city charter does require once a petition measure is defeated by voters that a year pass before the same initiative is again brought before the voters.

But Wells said state laws might conflict with the city charter, which could be grounds for a legal challenge to the local charter.

In other words, it's unclear whether opponents or proponents of riverboat gambling would be able to immediately remount campaigns to change the outcome of the November election.

"Any kind of pronouncement one way or the other would be inappropriate," Wells said. "It's really up in the air, and it's very likely there will have to be some court cases before it's resolved."

In other business tonight, the council will consider a contract with J. Stuart Todd Inc., architects, for an architectural review of the St. Vincent's Seminary property.

The contract was recommended by the city's Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation Task Force, a group appointed by the council to devise ways to finance the potential purchase of the seminary property by the Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation.

The council previously asked the city staff to draft a contract proposal for the preliminary architectural review and develop cost estimates for renovation of the seminary facilities, including asbestos abatement.

The council agreed to fund half the study if the owners of the seminary property agreed to grant the city the first right of refusal for any offer on the property during the review process.

Although that request was refused by the property owners, the city staff has recommended the council approve the contract with J. Stuart Todd Inc. and funding for half the cost of the $17,480 study.

In a letter to council members, Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said that despite the owners' rejection of first right of refusal, "the Colonial Foundation has moved ahead with serious negotiations towards the purchase of the property on their own.

"If consideration of the (foundation) proposal for this property as a community project is to proceed, it seems that the recommended step of carrying out the attached scope of services would be essential."

In other action the council will consider:

20Appointment of an associate municipal judge to preside over cases to which Municipal Judge Ed Calvin is unable due to conflicts of interest or when he's unavailable. Two local attorneys, Jeffrey P. Dix and Paul Gilbert have said they're interested in the appointment.

20Abolishment of the Citizens Personnel Board, which considers appeals from city employees with regard to firing, demotions and suspension without pay. The board has heard no appeals nor met since December 1989.

An ordinance that alters city law with regard to playing in city streets, an issue raised at the council's June 21 meeting.

20A contract with Sides Construction Company in the amount of $23,500 for replacement of the ceiling at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. Sides was the lowest of three bids, including Drury Supply Co., $23,733, and Miller Drywall Co., $24,000. The engineer's estimate for the work was $20,730.