The River Campus and Jim Drury

The recent recap of the River Campus and the 10-year celebration that appeared in the Southeast Missourian was very informative and brought back many fond memories. It was truly amazing that so many community members and stakeholders came together to support this wonderful project.

That being said, I feel the need to defend the role of Jim Drury in this historic project. While the recent article identified Jim Drury as being the source of the lawsuit that "hampered the project" and even quoted me as saying "we were embroiled in a terribly toxic lawsuit," I feel it is important to understand why Jim Drury had assumed the role he had. While Jim certainly had a way of speaking his mind and even "digging in," I found his position on the River Campus to be noble and anything but self-serving. As the article indicated, I had over 30 meetings with Jim, and I can personally attest to the fact that his ultimate objective was to do nothing more than to hold the City of Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri State University accountable to the tax payers. This agreement set the stage for a spirit of cooperation, accountability and trust that would allow for great things to happen today.

Jim Drury was a champion of accountability, and I was proud to have earned it with him; Cape Girardeau is a better place because of Jim Drury.

Jay B. Knudtson, former Mayor of Cape Girardeau (2002-2010)