Planning for change

This column was written in Michigan, where I've been working on house projects. Making the four-state drive is always an eye-opener. While on the freeway, I saw a truck outfitted for spotting tornadoes. I looked but did not see any twisters, though more than one reportedly touched down in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana about 45 minutes after I blew through that area.

I also saw a car swerve suddenly and then saw the reason: a sable-colored duck leading her brood across the road. For no apparent reason, she changed her mind three-quarters of the way across and turned back, jolting two more drivers out of complacency. Change can do that. Like tornadoes, you don't always see it coming.

Seems there are three kinds of people — those surprised by change, those who adapt to unexpected changes and those who plan for change and figure out how to make the most of it.

The cities of Jackson and Cape Girardeau have both demonstrated an inclination to move into that third category by developing comprehensive plans. While Cape Girardeau has just spent more than a year developing one to guide city officials for the next 20 years, Jackson officials are looking to reinvent their 1998 plan. City administrator Jim Roach said Jackson's plan is typically updated every 10 years. Janet Sanders, Jackson's building and planning superintendent, is advertising for potential contractors. Her full request for qualifications is at www.jacksonmo.org/pdfs/comprfq.pdf. The document is a quick way to review the city's history and get a sense of what the future may hold. Roach said he expects the process of choosing a contractor and getting a new plan to take about a year.

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Speaking of plans, Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner, Gerald Jones, was quoted in this space recently as saying the county was too small at 68,000 residents to get a charter, because state law required a first-class county to reach 85,000.

But an astute reader, identified only as Just_Wondering, posted a message at www.semissourian.com noting that Article VI, Section 18(a) of the Missouri Constitution "says that counties with 85,000 people can go to charter government but then adds: '... as an alternative to the foregoing, any county which attains first class county status and maintains such status for at least two years shall be authorized to frame and adopt and amend a charter for its own government as provided by this article...'" The writer added, "If approved by voters, the Circuit Court judges would appoint a 14-member panel (seven Republicans, seven Democrats) within 60 days of the election. The panel would have no more than a year to draft the constitution (charter). We could be operating under a charter by Jan 1, 2010, if not before."

For those of you reading this online, now is your chance to post a response to Just_Wondering.

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Results of the DREAM Initiative survey of Cape Girardeau will be delivered in just a few weeks, according to Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape.

Unicom-ARC, the St. Louis-based company that conducted the survey for nine other DREAM Initiative cities, has already sent a rough draft the Cape Girardeau's survey results to Mills. She's juggling reading that with writing a proposal for a Preserve America grant as well as with finalizing plans for this year's combining of Libertyfest Air Show 2008.

Mills was also thrilled to report recently that turnout for Tunes at Twilight has been good and consistent, estimating more than 300 attending each show so far this year.

"Tunes at Twilight have been "really awesome," she said. "We have great volunteers — Larry and Jean Underberg coordinate the music side of that. We just couldn't do it without them."

Questions, suggestions or tips for Lost on Main Street? E-mail pmcnichol@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 127.