SPRADLING OUTLINES HIS PRIORITIES AS MAYORAL CANDIDATE

Cape Girardeau City Councilman Albert M. Spradling III, a mayoral candidate in the April 5 election, has issued a statement outlining his positions on issues he believes are important to citizens and central to the working of municipal government in the coming years.

Spradling wants to establish a "rainy day" fund, place a cap on fee increases that could be imposed without a vote of the people and take steps to better inform the public about the city's level of debt.

Spradling also outlined a community redevelopment program that he would implement if elected.

The attorney said he wanted to outline his priorities for Cape Girardeau and promised to make copies of his position on various issues available for the public. Copies can be picked up at his office at 1838 Broadway, or by calling 335-8296.

"The most important issue in this race is leadership," said Spradling, who is serving his sixth year on the council. "Good intentions are not enough, and while it's nice to be liked, it's more important to be respected. I've had years of experience as a negotiator dealing with financial contracts, facing tough issues and resolving them.

"If you are looking for a mayor who will do more than make you feel good, give me the opportunity to make government work. My experience as a negotiator and advocate will allow me as the city's chief elected officer to focus attention on the bottom line to see us through the critical years ahead."

Spradling pointed out that with the transition to a system of electing council members by zones, the mayor will be the only citywide elected official. Spradling stressed he has a "solid background" to serve in that position with a background in law and accounting, as a former bank examiner, and a degree in business administration with a major in accounting and a minor in economics.

Spradling is running against Councilman Melvin Gateley. The current mayor, Gene Rhodes, is not seeking re-election to a third term.

He is proposing that provisions be included in the city charter to establish a "rainy day" fund.

"Without protection, our reserves can be spent without the general public's knowledge to subsidize daily city operations. With the large majority of the city budget coming from sales tax, an economic downturn would have a severe impact on revenues," explained Spradling. "We need a secure and protected cash reserve to insure that we have the necessary funds to run essential city services in the event of a natural disaster to repair and replace infrastructure, or in case of an economic downturn."

On fee increases, Spradling is proposing that any increase greater than 5 percent in any year go to a vote of the people.

"Let's amend the charter to specify that the public has the last word on fee increases. You can't go to the people on every fee, that would paralyze the city government. But you can have common sense limitations that will keep spending in line," said Spradling.

"I advocate a 5 percent cap on fee increases. This way, minor increases that may occur year to year can be dealt with, but major increases would need to go to the voters. This establishes accountability, something we don't have on the state and federal level. I believe citizens of our community will support fee increases that can be legitimately justified. This will stop the tendency to substitute fee increases for sound fiscal management."

On the issue of city debt, Spradling pointed out that the city's debt is equal to about one-and-a-half times the annual city budget, or about $40 million.

"We need to ask ourselves when is our debt too much?" said Spradling. "The danger is that every time we support a worthy project, we don't know how the project's debt really affects the overall picture of city debt. In 10 years, when we are still paying for projects that we incurred this year, will we be able to fund new and perhaps more important needs?"

Spradling said he is concerned that eventually the city could get to the point where its annual debt payments are such a large burden that it restricts the city's ability to meet basic needs.

Spradling said he believes a way should be devised to keep the public aware of the city's level of debt and to help guide the council in making future decisions that extend debt.

Discussing community redevelopment, Spradling said he wants to focus on the "least prosperous parts of the community" through Community Development Block Grants, enterprise zones and the use of tax incentives. Those programs would be used to improve infrastructure, housing and other quality of life improvements.

"Above all we need to motivate people to help themselves to create the kind of neighborhoods in which people will want to invest their own time and energy in improving," said Spradling.