Sikeston heads down new governing path

It's easiest to walk in the path that's already been broken.

But on Tuesday, Sikeston voters said they want to take the path that's best for them, even if it means chopping through the underbrush.

For decades, the city has operated under a somewhat patriarchal system of an all-white, all-male council with very few exceptions. And all of these city fathers hailed from the same wealthy neighborhood on the north side of town. The five council members appointed one of their own to be mayor each year.

The vast majority of them served with pure hearts and concern for the community as a whole. The budget reveals that as much money was allocated for roads and improvements in one neighborhood as another. The councilmen thoughtfully and seriously attempted to make the city grow and keep residents satisfied.

But what they couldn't overcome was a mistrust by the community in general. With every council decision, residents wondered: "Is this what's really best for all of us? What do these people know about our lives?"

Even worse was the apathy, the utter failure of some residents who complained about leadership and the city's problems to attend even a single council meeting on the subject. The defeatist attitude was inconceivable.

Meanwhile, between 1990 and 2000, the town's total population dropped by nearly 4 percent while Scott County's grew by 2.7 percent. A long-standing drug and violence problem in the city's most depressed neighborhood showed no signs of disappearing.

With that as a backdrop, a small group began quietly circulating a petition two years ago. "Shall Sikeston have ward representation instead of at-large representation?" it asked.

That sparked an election of a charter commission charged with writing the city's future. They did. It included a council composed of four members elected from wards, two elected at large and a mayor elected at large.

And even though many in Sikeston's power structure railed against the proposed charter -- the current mayor included -- the voters understood what the change could mean. They voted 1,314 to 781 for the charter and 1,239 to 892 for the at-large mayor.

The first ward elections will be in April 2003.

It would appear that Sikeston has discovered the best of both worlds: representation from all parts of the city and plenty of opportunity for anyone from any ward to serve.

Now the question becomes: What will residents make of that opportunity?

They would be foolish to come this far without fully supporting the new government through participation in meetings and elections.