VOTERS IN WARDS 2, 6 GO TO PRIMARY POLLS TUESDAY: WARD 2

One of the top concerns of east-side residents in Cape Girardeau's Ward 2 is the city solid waste service say candidates for Tuesday's primary election in the Ward.

Below are the three candidates' views on trash service and four other city issues: riverboat gambling, building code enforcement and public housing, economic development, and crime.

Tom Neumeyer, 44, of 25 S. Lorimier was the first to file in Ward 2. He is a professional photographer and owns and operates Neumeyer Bed and Breakfast.

Neumeyer is involved with local historic preservation efforts, and is a member of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association.

Joseph Sampson, 31, of 210 S. Frederick was the second candidate to file. He's the administrator of Community Service Management, a private organization that administers community service and probation programs for the state courts.

Sampson is the past president of the Criminal Justice Association at Southeast Missouri State University, and he's active in the Cape Girardeau Evening Optimists. He attends St. Mary's Cathedral.

Brenda Dohogne, 44, of 319 N. Main is a homemaker and civic volunteer.

She attends Lynwood Baptist Church, and is an active volunteer at Washington School, where she's been president of the PTA and serves on the school's executive council.

Dohogne was appointed in the summer to the Cape Girardeau Housing Assistance Task Force, a group established by the council to consider low-income housing needs in the city.

Solid Waste Service

Neumeyer said this is his neighbors' highest priority. He supports the city seeking bids on trash service.

"What we need to do is look at the short-term and long-term concerns, and make sure we have a long-term commitment from whatever trash hauler would be chosen," Neumeyer said.

Sampson said he favors letting voters decide whether to accept a private trash hauler's bid.

"I want to look at the different options we have, and especially look at what we already have," Sampson said.

Dohogne has made trash service a key part of her campaign as well. She has appeared before the city council three times with suggestions regarding volume-based trash billing.

"It's important whenever we receive bids that they also be allowed to offer us alternative bids with different services than we're currently receiving," Dohogne said.

Riverboat Gambling

Sampson said he thinks the riverboat can be a catalyst for economic development in his ward.

"I think we should take our time and look at both proposals from the Boyd Group and Lady Luck," he said. "I like what I've heard about the Lady Luck proposal in that it would give a rebirth to the southern part of the city and help the downtown at the same time."

Sampson said he'd like to see the city's share of riverboat gaming revenue earmarked for efforts to fight crime and for capital improvements.

Dohogne said she thought the city staff did a good job of drafting a request for proposals document that was sent to potential riverboat operators.

"We need to see which of the two can offer the most in revenues, both short-term and long-term, to city of cape," she said. "We need to pay close attention so that everything is handled in writing and nothing is taken for granted."

Dohogne favors using local gambling revenue to clean up areas in southeast Cape, and to further boost tourism by helping improve city parks and recreation.

Neumeyer said riverboat gambling can bring many advantages to the city, particularly by creating hundreds of jobs.

"I view it as an opportunity for real economic growth," he said.

Housing Issues

Dohogne served on the city's Public Housing Task Force, which recommended the city pursue efforts to appoint a housing authority to seek public housing assistance.

"There's a need for some additional low- to moderate-income housing in Cape," Dohogne said. "It would be nice to handle it without going through public housing, but it's been difficult to get private developers to take that risk."

She said the city needs to come up with a "workable compromise" with regard to a minimum property maintenance code.

"There are some aspects of the (Building Officials and Code Administrators) version of the code that seem a little extreme or invasive," she added.

Neumeyer has been a staunch supporter of the BOCA version of a minimum property maintenance code.

"It's designed to protect the citizens of Cape Girardeau," he said. "This code would help prevent neighborhood deterioration."

Neumeyer said he agrees that some public housing likely is needed in Cape Girardeau, but he said it's important that the city first get sufficient information to "learn from the success and avoid the mistakes of other cities."

Sampson said he believes the city should take a "hard look" at the property maintenance code, because it likely will hurt low-income property owners unable to afford property upgrades.

Economic Development

Neumeyer said the city should re-examine whether more tax incentives, such as are available in the city's enterprise zone, are needed to help attract new business into the city.

"I think we need to work hard to retain our existing businesses, while supplying the best transportation and infrastructure possible for new business to come here," he said.

"Tourism is the second largest industry in Missouri, and we need to capitalize on our potential for attracting even more visitors to our area."

Sampson said getting a riverboat casino operating in Cape Girardeau is a "step in the right direction" for economic development.

"The riverboat's going to bring a lot of new jobs into the area," he said.

Dohogne said she's troubled that most graduates of Southeast Missouri State University have to leave the city upon graduation to find a job.

"Perhaps there are things the city can do to foster that better through tax breaks and other economic incentives," she said.

Crime

Sampson works with law offenders for a living. He said effective crime control takes a combined effort of law enforcement, social services and citizens.

"I talked to a lot of people in this ward, and crime was number one on their minds with the shootings, assaults and drug problem we have in some areas of this ward," Sampson said. "I would like to see a few more foot patrols of police officers in high-crime areas of the city."

Dohogne called crime a growing problem the city needs to keep in check.

She said she'd like to see increased police patrols, and was pleased with the recent addition of five new officers to the police department.

But Neumeyer said simply adding more police officers is a "far too simplistic" approach.

"I support community-oriented policing, where police officers work in partnerships with neighborhood associations, schools and churches," he said. "The ultimate goal of the partnership is to prevent crime, not to arrest more people."

He said crime also will be reduced by continued economic growth and the greater availability of jobs.