JACKSON WARD 1 ALDERMAN WON'T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mayor Paul Sander and incumbents in three of the four aldermanic wards have filed for re-election in 2001. First Ward Aldermen Dave Hitt has decided not to run again after completing his fourth two-year term next year.

Ward 2 Alderman Kerry Hoffman, Ward 3 Alderwoman Valerie Tuschoff and Ward 4 Alderman Larry Hall all have filed. Filing for the April election opened Tuesday and will conclude Jan. 16.

Hitt said he has no particular reason for deciding not to run again. "It's just time to move on and do something different."

He also plans to call it a career as a high school football official, a pastime he has participated in the past 22 years.

Hitt is the Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness director.

Before becoming an alderman in 1993, he served on the Parks and Recreation Board for nine years. He assumed the alderman seat vacated when Sander ran for mayor and won. Sander will be seeking his fifth term as mayor.

Hitt ran against second cousin Vicki Abernathy when first elected nearly eight years ago. "At times she would be on one side of the street and I'd be on the other side going door-to-door," he said.

He was unopposed in his second and third bids for re-election.