NEW CITY COUNCIL SWORN IN

Members of the old Cape Girardeau City Council dealt with several minor matters in less than 10 minutes Monday, before adjourning and watching as a new mayor and three new councilmen were sworn in by City Clerk Gayle Conrad.

The last order of business handled by the old council was to canvass returns from last Tuesday's city election where Albert M. Spradling, III was elected mayor and Richard "Butch" Eggimann, Tom Neumeyer, and James J.J. Williamson won seats on the council.

After retiring Mayor Gene Rhodes banged the gavel to end the last meeting of the old council, Spradling was administered the oath as mayor, and then the three council members were sworn in together.

The brief ceremony in the council chambers had a historic flare to it, because Williamson is the first black ever elected to the council in Cape Girardeau.

As the new council members took their seats, Mayor Spradling presented plaques of appreciation from the city to the outgoing members: Rhodes, who served eight years as mayor; and Mary Wulfers and Doug Richards who served four years each. David Limbaugh, who served eight years on the council, was out of town and absent from Monday's meeting.

As Spradling presented Rhodes with his plaque, the former mayor advised his successor: "You'd better get prepared to sign your name a whole lot of times."

One of Spradling's first acts as mayor was to resign his seat on the city council from Ward 3. Spradling asked city staff to begin taking appropriate steps to call a special election to fill his seat.

The special election will likely occur as part of the Aug. 2 primary election.

Spradling also proposed a seating chart for the new council, which will have new council members sitting beside Melvin Gateley and Melvin Kasten, who are in the middle of four year terms. Spradling said he believes having new members sitting next to experienced members will give the new members someone to query during meetings.

The first regular meeting of the new council will be Monday night. One item of business for that meeting, Spradling said, will be the election of a mayor pro tem. That person will preside over council meetings when the mayor is absent.

Rhodes, in his final comments, said he enjoyed the opportunity to work with other council members the last eight years, with city staff, and with the citizens. He wished the new council well.

"It's been my pleasure to serve the city of Cape the last eight years," said Rhodes. "It has been frustrating some of the time, satisfying some of the time, and gratifying a lot of the time."

He told the newly elected council members: "I think you will do a great job and I complement you on your election victory ... if I can help in any way, I am willing to do so."

During his eight-year stint as mayor, Rhodes acknowledged that there had been "a lot of discussion and arguments" between council members and with city staff. But he noted, "that's the way it should be."

Gateley, who lost to Spradling for mayor, said he looked forward to seeing the new council get organized "and go forward for the betterment of the city."

Before adjourning, the old council approved two resolutions stating the city's intent to seek funding for the water plant and wastewater treatment plant through the Title IX Special Economic Development and Adjustment Assistance Program of the federal government.

The council also repealed an ordinance approved at its April 4 meeting, setting June 7 as the date of a special election for the local option on riverboat gambling. The ordinance was approved to schedule an election to make sure the city was in compliance with a constitutional amendment legalizing games of chance on gambling boats.

But since the constitutional amendment failed statewide last Tuesday, it was decided the election is not necessary. The ordinance was approved as an emergency measure, given three readings and passed.

Responding to a question from Rhodes, City Attorney Warren Wells said he had received no request from Boyd Gaming to repeal the ordinance. Wells said he contacted officials of the company about what they wanted the city to do and got no reply.