GATELEY, SCHNEIDER EYE COUNCIL; GATELEY HOPES TO DEVOTE TIME TO GOVERNMENT

Melvin Gateley, who for the past several years has spearheaded community development through his work with Vision 2000, says he now wants to devote his energies to Cape Girardeau city government.

A retired public school educator and administrator, Gateley will seek one of three four-year terms on the city council. He'll join incumbent Al Spradling III, Lawrence Godfrey, Melvin Kasten and Loretta Schneider on the ballot April 7.

He was principal at L.J. Schultz School for 21 years before his retirement in 1986. He also is a past president of the Missouri State Teachers Association.

He now volunteers his time as a member of the Vision 2000 Community Relations Council.

"I was inspired to be a candidate from the standpoint of community service," Gateley said of his candidacy. "Cape's been good to our family and I thought I wanted to be a team member and assist with development of plans for the great city of Cape Girardeau."

Gateley has a five-point platform that he pledges to work for if elected to the council. He said his first priority is to provide "effective, caring leadership."

"I will reflect the interests of all the people," he said. "I feel I can represent everyone regardless of their status in our city."

The second point of his platform is "problem solving," he said. "I've always been a firm believer that if you can sit down together you can arrive at solutions to problems," he said.

"The third thing I'd work on is the idea of developing a sense of cooperation and harmony between city government and citizens."

Gateley said he also would work to encourage and inspire all residents to become involved in issues that affect the community.

"I'm a great believer in inspiring individuals each person to get involved, because each person can make a difference," he said. "And lastly, I will work to give creative, positive, enthusiastic, visionary leadership."

Gateley said one of the primary concerns of city government during the next four years likely will be in the area of economic development and city growth.

"We're going to have to watch our sources of revenue because the sales tax receipts are sagging a little bit," he said. "We have to keep a watchful eye on expenditures as well as revenue."

He said that if elected he would work to develop a strategic plan for growth that includes governments, business, civic and education leaders from throughout the county.

Gateley said the key to making Cape Girardeau a desirous place to live can be summarized by "giving Cape three A's," which include "atmosphere, affordability and achievable planning goals.

"We need to work together so that our people like to live here, work here, and educate their kids here," he said.

Gateley said tourism is an important part of attracting visitors and new residents, and he would work to make certain that tourism funds are spent wisely and effectively.

Gateley said that he'd also try to develop a neighborhood redevelopment and beautification program for Cape Girardeau's historic riverfront, from the Red Star district to the south end of town.

"We need to invest in historic Cape to keep some bright spots in those areas and not just neglect them just because they're the older areas of the city," he said. "They're areas that have real value and meaning to a lot of our residents.

"We need to keep some landmarks there and programs of redevelopment and block-by-block beautification programs."

Gateley was born and reared at Oran. He earned a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1950 and a master's degree in school administration in 1956 from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn.

He later earned a specialist in education degree from Southeast in 1977.

Gateley was a school teacher and administrator at Southeast Missouri schools for a number of years, before he was named in 1965 as L.J. Schultz Middle School's first principal.

He is a deacon at the First Baptist Church and a member and past president of the Breakfast Optimist Club. He also serves on the city's Bicentennial Commission. He is a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and serves on the chamber's beautification and education committees.