VOTERS TO PICK BOARD MEMBERS

JACKSON -- Larry Wade, chief of detectives for the Jackson Police Department, isn't used to campaigning.

The Cape Girardeau County Health Board president was appointed to his position by the county commission in 1986 and hasn't had to campaign ever since. He is the only charter member left on the board.

The last time anyone on the board ran opposed was in 1989, when five people filed for three open positions. Patty Schlosser, election supervisor, said when the number of filers is equal to the number of open positions on a county health board, the race doesn't make the ballot.

It's on the April 4 ballot this year. Wade and Diane Howard are running for re-election against newcomer David Rosener.

The board is responsible for a $1 million annual budget and 28 employees. It oversees the county health department's programs and personnel and is responsible for the inspection of the county's restaurants, bars and nightclubs. These facilities don't get business licenses until they get approved by the health board.

Wade, a former surgical technician in St. Louis, said he wants to continue serving on the board to see the implementation of programs conceived during his last four terms. Contractors just completed an expansion of the health department's pediatric primary care facility, and Wade wants to attend its open house April 2.

He also would like to see programs implemented there.

"Coming in with a new member who doesn't understand the system would be kind of a problem right now," Wade said. "Some of the programs we're trying to get into are vital for this area. We're trying to salvage some of the areas the federal government wants to cut."

He said he would do some campaigning to remain on the board, but finances wouldn't permit much. Wade isn't compensated for his term on the health board or for his terms on the Southeast Missouri Regional planning board and the 32nd Judicial Circuit Review Board.

Candidate Howard, a Cape Girardeau attorney who represents Cape Girardeau public schools, is also a part of several other organizations but said the time she spends working on health issues is some of her favorite. She and her husband live in Cape Girardeau with their two children.

As a mother, Howard said, pre-natal and pediatric issues interest her the most. The health department provides temporary Medicaid assistance, WIC vouchers for healthy food and care for the child once it is born.

Now the board is working to help older people, who often have trouble finding physicians interested in accepting Medicare.

The partnership between public and private health care is changing tremendously, and the county health department is in the middle of all the changes, Howard said. "This is an exciting time to be involved in the delivery of health services."

Newcomer Rosener, who has received much publicity from representing Regina's House of Dolls through the nightclub's battle with the city, said he thought his opponents and the rest of the health board were doing a good job handling a $1 million budget.

However, Rosener said he wanted to see the health department in the forefront of drug abuse prevention and sex education.

"I've made a commitment to Cape Girardeau, and I'm making my life here," he said. "I plan to do as much as I can to help the community."