QUALITIES OF LIFE, CAPE GIRARDEAU; SPECIAL REPORT: GOV'T & POLITICS; LITTLE DIVERSITY ON CAPE BOARDS

Men, most of them white, run Cape Girardeau's City Council and Board of Education.

No women serve on the two boards despite the fact that census figures show females make up 53 percent of the city's population.

One black, the Rev. William Bird, serves on the seven-member school board. Of the seven city councilmen, one -- insurance agency owner J.J. Williamson -- is black.

Both men were the first blacks elected to the boards. Williamson was elected in 1994 to the council, narrowing defeating his election opponent in the Ward 1 race. Bird won a seat on the school board in 1996, running unopposed.

Although Bird is the first black to win a school board election, he is the second black to serve on the school board. Johnny James was appointed in 1989 and served several years on the board.

Diversity in race and gender has been identified as one of the quality-of-life indicators that the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce plans to track annually in studying the state of the city.

Women have served on the City Council and school board in the past.

State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, served on the Board of Education for 20 years before leaving the board in 1982.

Kasten doesn't read anything into the fact that all the council and school boards currently are held by men.

"I have never felt I wanted to be elected because I was a woman."

But, she said, "I certainly think that women add a dimension that is extremely important."

Since more women have been elected to the Missouri Legislature, there has been a greater focus on family issues, she said.

As late as 1995, the school board included a woman. Cape Girardeau had a woman council member as late as the spring of 1994. Mary Wulfers served four years on the council, ending in April 1994.

Loretta Schneider was the first woman to serve on the City Council. She served from 1981 to 1986 on the council and then was defeated in her bid to become mayor.

At one time in the early 1980s, the council included two women.

Schneider said she would like to see more women run for elective office in Cape Girardeau.

"Often times we have different ways of thinking that others do not have, which in my view makes it a better city," she said.

Diversity would be good for the city, she said. "I think very often we get viewed as a city that is perhaps somewhat sexist in the way we make decisions."

Most of city government's top administrators are men, she said.

Schneider said there was a gender bias when she served on the council.

Schneider said she and fellow council member Cecelia "Skeets" Sonderman often were criticized for their views.

Schneider doesn't like the ward system, which was approved by voters in 1992 to replace at-large elections.

With ward systems, fewer voters decide who gets elected to a council seat, she said.

"In many cases, it makes it difficult to get women elected," she said.

But Schneider said the chamber could help promote diversity by encouraging women and minority residents to run for office.

Brenda Dohogne lost in her bid to win a seat on the council in April 1994.

"Part of getting elected is name recognition," said Dohogne. "The ladies with the time to do the job are full-time homemakers," she said.

"Consequently, you are starting from zero with no name recognition."

The job of raising a family also makes it difficult for many women to devote the time needed to serve on the council or school board.

"It is like taking on a full-time job," she said.

In a city where 6.9 percent of the population is black, it takes white votes to elect black candidates.

"It sure wasn't the black vote that got me elected," said Williamson.

Williamson said he campaigned door to door in his ward. Some residents flatly told him they wouldn't vote for a black.

Williamson said it is important to have minorities and women on elected boards if the city is to attract new businesses and people to the area.

"I think it is important to have diversity of color and gender on the various boards. Without that, people on the outside say those people aren't progressing," he said.

Diversity brings different perspectives and viewpoints to the local governing boards, Bird said.

He expects more minority candidates will run for local office in the future.

"I think people have got to take a more active role in our society and our community," he said.

"Rather than taking the viewpoint of criticizing and saying how things should be, they should take an active role in saying, `What can I do to help make the community better.'"