LESLIE SET FOR NEW ROLE AT CITY HALL

With nearly 20 years of experience in various levels of city administration, Doug Leslie is well prepared to take over this week for departing Cape Girardeau Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink.

Leslie, who was hired as the city's public works director in 1990, previously was the city manager in Nevada, Mo.

On Friday he'll assume the position of assistant city manager as Stoverink starts a new job as physical plant director at Southeast Missouri State University.

Leslie said Monday a "team approach" to city administration in Cape Girardeau will ease the transition from public works into city hall.

"Obviously, with any new job it's going to take a little while to get up to speed on several ongoing projects," he said. "One thing that will help, though, is that we've always worked as a management team, which should help facilitate the transition."

Leslie will continue to head the public works department. But unlike Stoverink, he won't have the duties of Cape Girardeau finance director; Comptroller John Richbourg has been promoted to finance director.

One of Stoverink's primary responsibilities was the city budget. Leslie said the budget process now will probably involve the work of several people.

"I think the issue of the department heads and Al having worked together closely will really help that situation," he said. "The changes made with regard to finance putting John in charge of that will probably be the biggest change in the office of assistant city manager.

"That and adding the responsibilities of public works; it's basically a tradeoff."

Leslie said he's glad to continue overseeing public works, where a number of projects he helped start remain unfinished.

"I'll work with public works the way Al worked with finance," he said. "Kevin McMeel (assistant public works director) will take on more of the day-to-day operations at public works. I'll be spending a couple of days a week there and the remainder of the time at city hall."

One public works project that's now in "mid-stream," Leslie said, is a pavement management program. That program uses a computer record of all city streets, their condition and expected useful life to help officials set priorities for street repairs.

"We're right in the middle of implementing that, and I want to see that through," he said. "There also are several major improvement projects that are in midstream."

Leslie's tenure as public works director has seen the city purchase and take over control of the water system. "I think that's been one of the most significant items we've worked on, and I certainly think it's been a success so far," he said.

The city also has implemented an ambitious citywide recycling program in an effort to reduce the amount of solid waste going to the landfill.

Many area cities ignored the writing on the wall that foretold more stringent federal solid-waste regulations.

Leslie said that despite public criticism the city of Cape Girardeau made changes in its solid-waste program to accommodate the coming changes.

"I think trying to work through all the changes in solid-waste regulations to make sure our program is in compliance has been a big challenge," he said. "But I think the programs we've established and the improvements we've made to our facilities have put us in real good shape to comply with those laws."

Leslie said he hopes that as assistant city manager he'll be able to do more "field work" with various department heads to better realize and meet needs of those departments.

Leslie's career in city government started in January 1974 when, as a graduate student intern at the University of Arkansas, he took a job with the city of Texarkana, Ark.

The position become full time, and in December 1975 he was hired as assistant city manager in Nevada. He was promoted to city manager in 1979 and worked for Nevada until January 1990, when he moved to Cape Girardeau as acting public works director.

Leslie has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas.