Tough times call for innovative options

With two years of a sluggish economy and the nation at war, there probably isn't a city in the United States whose leaders could stand up and give a completely positive assessment of community progress.

But leaders in Cape Girardeau came darn close.

It happened last week at a meeting of Leadership Cape alumni. These are people who went through months of classes to inform themselves about how every segment of Cape Girardeau works, including city government, medical services, schools, industry and the media, among other topics.

Last week's meeting was sort of a refresher course. Chief Steve Strong of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Mayor Jay Knudtson, Southeast Missouri State University President Ken Dobbins, Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association executive director Mitch Robinson and Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Mark Bowles shared the stage to give brief updates on the areas of our community that each oversees.

The news is good -- really good, considering the circumstances. Due to city and state revenue coming in under projections, cutbacks have been swift and drastic, leaving government-funded agencies struggling to figure out how to make ends meet.

But Cape Girardeau people are a thrifty and creative bunch, and it seems our leaders have found a way to provide services and make ends meet.

Thus, despite the crunch, Cape Girardeau is looking forward to a remodeled Marquette Hotel. The 74-year-old building long has been a concern to the city council and residents alike. Abandoned, it was a blight on downtown. Now it is slated to be state offices and a welcome addition to a neighborhood where storefronts have been difficult to fill.

The mayor also pointed out that Cape Girardeau will be home to a new federal building and a new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River, opening the way for additional growth. And the university River Campus, a university and city project that has endured years of lawsuits, actually may be a reality at some point.

Bowles pointed to vast growth in the school district's buildings: a new high school, a renovated junior high this year and major changes to eight other buildings in the last 10 years.

Strong talked about doing more with less at the police department, working four officers short of the department's recommended size and with comparably low salaries but still reducing violent crimes by 37 percent and increasing drug arrests by 40 percent.

Dobbins is struggling with $5 million in state funding cuts, but still university enrollment increased to a record number.

And finally, Robinson discussed attracting a small airplane manufacturer and getting potable water to the industrial park on Nash Road.

Everyone hopes that the economy will turn around soon and end the struggle to do more with less. Until then, it raises residents' confidence to know that city leaders are making accomplishments despite hardship.