Mask order prompts 'unusual' interest in Cape County health board

A week ago, a required face-covering order issued by the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center went into effect.

By week’s end, the county election board was fielding multiple emails and taking phone calls from people who want to supplant and replace the current county health department board of trustees, which issued the mandate effective July 13.

“We’ve been dealing with this all day,” said Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers on Friday.

Summers said the level of interest in serving on the trustee board is “unusual.”

The next general municipal election, on April 6, will fill three four-year positions on the board.

Trustees whose terms expire next year are Georganne P. Syler, Emily Tuschoff Collins and John M. Freeze.

A fourth trustee slot also coming open in April is currently occupied by Diane Howard, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term.

The only one of the five trustees who will not face the voters in the spring is chairman Roland Sander, whose term does not run out until 2023.

The candidate filing period for the health department trustees board opens Dec. 15 and closes Jan. 19.

A would-be candidate must file in person at the county clerk’s office, 1 Barton Square, Suite 301, in Jackson.

A prospective trustee board hopeful must show identification and complete required paperwork to be eligible for election.

Health center director Jane Wernsman is appointed by county commissioners on an annual basis. Wernsman’s next review by the commission is slated for February.