WARD 3 TO STAY VACANT: VOTERS TO CHOOSE RICKARD SUCCESSOR IN APRIL

The vacancy created by Cape Girardeau Councilman Jack Rickard's resignation Monday night will be filled in the April municipal election.

Council members voted Monday night to accept Rickard's resignation and approved Mayor Al Spradling III's suggestion that the Ward 3 seat be added to the ballot.

Spradling said the resignation was reluctantly accepted.

Seats in Wards 1, 2 and 6 -- now held by J.J. Williamson, Tom Neumeyer and Richard Eggiman, respectively -- and the mayor's post will be up for election. Each is for a four-year term.

The Ward 3 seat will carry a two-year unexpired term.

Council members also set the filing dates for the April election. Nominating petitions will be accepted from 8 a.m. Nov. 5 to 5 p.m. Nov. 25.

Rickard would not comment on why he resigned. He told council members he had enjoyed his tenure and was "very grateful to have been a representative of Ward 3."

"Sometimes I'll sit up in the back and make noises at you," he joked Monday night.

Rickard was elected to the City Council in August 1994, filling a two-year unexpired term vacated when Spradling was elected mayor. He defeated Mike Ballou in that election.

He was re-elected in April 1996, defeating Jay Purcell for the office.

Rickard, a longtime Cape Girardeau resident and self-employed brick contractor, was known as an opponent to minimum building codes and specifications in the city.

His experience gave him and his colleagues on the council valuable perspective, said Spradling.

"While I think he voiced some concerns, I think he also opened up some eyes to some inspection practices that had happened in the past that aren't happening now," Spradling said. "He brought an invaluable amount of experience to the council, and I think we all learned from it."

Ward 5 Councilman Melvin Gateley, a longtime friend of Rickard's, agreed. "He made some good contributions to the city," Gateley said. "It was good to have a person of that experience on the council."