Improving city services

Cape Girardeau is expected to hire a new city engineer within a few days. Mayor Jay Knudtson has promised the new engineer will be someone who will run a department that emphasizes customer service.

The city has been without a city engineer since Mark Lester resigned Feb. 18. Lester and two engineers from his former staff have started their own engineering company.

The city's engineering department currently is staffed by only one civil engineer, Adbul Alkadry. Public works director Tim Gramlin, a licensed engineer, is temporarily running the department.

Every city department ought to be responsive to the public. The mayor and the city council have shown they are serious about responding to the public's needs.

In recent years, other personnel changes have been made with the ultimate goal of offering city services that are efficient and responsive to the community's needs.

Not all of the glitches have been eliminated, but it's good to see the city's leadership is willing to take steps to improve customer relations at city hall.