SCOTT CITY NIXES MAN'S COUNCIL CANDIDACY, CITES RESIDENCY RULE

SCOTT CITY -- A candidate who filed for a one-year term on the Scott City Council will not be allowed to run because he has lived in the city for only two months.

The Scott City Council voted Monday that J.D. Warren is ineligible to run for a seat on the council under state and city law. He had filed for a one-year term in Ward 2.

"I don't feel that the city should be in violation of state law whatsoever," said Councilman Ron Oller after city attorney Francis Siebert read the law to council members.

Warren, who attended the meeting, urged the council to allow him to run. He said he intends to live in Scott City for several more years and would have moved there sooner if he could have sold his home in Cape Girardeau.

"I believe the council should consider that my intent is to live here," Warren told the council.

After being asked by council members, Warren said he had voted in Cape Girardeau County last year and had not purchased a Scott City sticker for the past two years.

City law requires candidates to live in the city for one year and in the ward in which they intend to run for six months at the time they file for a seat on the council.

A former Cape Girardeau resident, Warren ran unsuccessfully for the Cape Girardeau City Council in 1990.

Warren said he has had a mailing address in Scott City for two years and has operated a business there for that long. He said he intends to build a home in the city.

In a motion by Council Member Brenda Moyers, the council unanimously decided not to allow Warren to run.

"I believe the state law is very clear in regard to this issue," said Mayor Shirley Young.

Edith Davidson and Kenny Holder have also filed for the one-year term in Ward 2. Davidson, who currently holds the position, abstained from voting Monday.

A primary election, scheduled for Feb. 4, will still be needed for a two-year term in Ward 2. Incumbent John Rogers, Terry Gettings and George Moit have filed for the seat.

In other business, the council adopted a stricter liquor license law that allows the city to issue a temporary, 90-day conditional liquor license to businesses instead of a one-year license. A one-year license can be issued to an applicant after the 90 days if rules set by the license have not been violated.

The law contains specific violations that would allow police to charge a business owner with maintaining a disorderly house. The law also prohibits entertainment, advertising, films or videos that may be considered "obscene."

Mayor Shirley Young on Monday appointed a "911 committee" that will oversee the implementation of an Enhanced 911 emergency telephone system in the city. E911 was approved by voters in November.

Co-chairmen of the committee are Police Chief David Beck and Fire Chief Les Crump. Other members are the mayor, Sgt. Jim Oldham of the police department, Police Clerk Susan Harmon, Randy Everett, who is the director of North Scott County Ambulance, and Ann Huck, mayor of Commerce.

The council also set a public hearing for Jan. 20 to consider whether there should be parking along the 400 and 500 blocks of Maple Street.

City officials said residents have been complaining that because of cars parked along the street, it is often difficult for cars to travel both ways along the street.