Candidates line up for Cape Girardeau posts

Candidates were quick out of the starting gate this week when filing for Cape Girardeau city offices opened.

First in line was mayoral hopeful Jay Knudtson, who already had drawn attention to himself Oct. 20 by passing out gum while in-line skating down the homecoming parade route. Two days later, the Bank of America executive vice president spent Monday night at outside City Hall, catching up on his reading and watching movies so he could be the first to file.

He said a college professor had told him it was important to be first on the ballot.

Walter White wasn't far behind Knudtson. The relatively unknown candidate visited City Hall without fanfare a couple hours after filing opened on Tuesday. He said he is running as "a working man and an independent." He works at a factory in Sikeston.

Melvin Gateley, a retired educator and school administrator, said he will announce his candidacy for mayor on Wednesday at L.J. Schultz School, where he was principal for a number of years. He previously served on the city council for two terms.

The addition of Gateley (and possibly others as well) will make the mayoral race a field diverse in age, race and occupation with three weeks left to register. Certainly, the more at-large mayoral candidates city voters have to pick from, the more satisfied they will be with their final representation.

In so many ways, the mayor is the face of Cape Girardeau, and voters should be thoughtful about their choice for that position. (Al Spradling III has been mayor since 1994, but he faces term limits.)

A race is shaping up in Ward 1, where outspoken Councilman Frank Stoffregen, a Realtor, will face Evelyn Boardman, a downtown businesswoman. Boardman said she will bring an "objective and positive perspective to the council."

And Charlie Herbst is running for Ward 2 councilman, where Councilman Tom Neumeyer is being forced out by term limits. Herbst is a former community service officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department and now does sales and marketing for Idea Integration and works as a reserve officer. He wants to serve the city in a different manner these days.

No doubt many more will come forward as the deadline approaches, and it is important that they do. Since residents voted in 1992 to adopt the ward system of government, the number of candidates in each ward and certainly the number of voters has dropped to all-time lows in recent memory.

If only one or two candidates in each ward are on the ballot, voters aren't getting the choices they need.

It behooves all interested in the growth and prosperity of Cape Girardeau to step forward to serve or, in some way, to become part of the process.