Redistricting plan changes boundaries for Cape voters

The Cape Girardeau County Commission has reworked voting district boundaries to compensate for the rapid growth in the county outside of Cape Girardeau.

Residents of the 17th Precinct in Cape Girardeau -- the far west side of the city, south of Kingshighway and north of Bloomfield -- are now included in District 2 instead of District 1, meaning all of Cape Girardeau will be included in one district and the rest of the county will be in the other.

"Basically, you'll have an urban commissioner and a rural commissioner," said Larry Bock, the first district commissioner, who represents the out-county population.

The 17th Precinct consists of 5,640 residents, according to the 2000 census.

Some residents in the 17th Precinct are apathetic about the switch.

"It doesn't matter to me," said Shirley Gregory, of 3631 Old Hopper Road. "As long as somebody takes the job, it's OK with me."

Susan Meyer, of 818 Pheasant Cove Drive, said it didn't matter much to her, either.

"I don't get that involved in politics," she said.

Before the redistricting occurred, there were 40,750 inhabitants in District 1 and 29,291 in District 2. With the change, there are 34,951 inhabitants in District 2 and 35,110 in District 1, a difference of 159.

The change means 17th Precinct voters will not have a chance to re-elect the man they helped put into office, Bock, in the 2004 fall election. Bock won the 2000 election by a landslide. Joe Gambill is the District 2 representative. He won by roughly 800 votes in 2000.

Kathy Swan, a local businesswoman noted for her involvement in local politics, lives in the 17th Precinct.

She said she thought it made sense to make the change, given the population trends and the fact that the entire city will now be in the same district.

"But each of the commissioners does a fabulous job and makes good decisions, so I can't really say it matters at this point which one of the three might represent us," she said.

The two district commissioners are elected by constituents in each district. The presiding commissioner, currently Gerald Jones, is elected at-large.

"The redistricting won't make any difference until the next election," he said. "We're required to redistrict just like they do for state reps."

Until the next election, commissioners will continue to represent the contituents who elected them.

However, Bock said the commissioners make countywide decisions that are generally not based on which district the commissioner is representing.

"Most of my calls are county road calls and most of those come from the rural area," he said. "But I get calls from the city of Cape and all parts of the county for different situations. There's a lot of good people in Precinct 17. They'll be represented by the second commissioner, but they can still call me."

Attempts to reach Gambill at his home Wednesday were unsuccessful.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635