VOTERS WILL DECIDE ABOUT CHANGES IN CITY'S CHARTER

Cape Girardeau voters likely will have an opportunity to amend the city charter, adopted 14 years ago, during next spring's municipal election.

A committee spent many months examining possible changes in the document before it recommended 10 amendments to the city council. However, the council rejected a proposed ethics commission and decided changes in city budgeting and finances would better be addressed through city ordinances.

Although the council is yet to take formal action to place any amendments on an election ballot, all indications are that voters will have five charter amendments to decide individually.

One change would be to impose term limits on the mayor and council members. The Charter Review Committee recommended the elected officials be prohibited from serving more than two, consecutive full terms on the city council. Rarely has a council member or mayor served more than six years, and the amendment isn't likely to have a significant impact on government. The amendment also would impose a two-year residency requirement for council posts and keep intact a four-year residency requirement for the mayor's post.

Another amendment would regulate loans from one city fund to another, which would give a clearer accounting of city finances and budgeting. In the past, shortfalls in one city department have been covered by loans from another department to conceal deficit spending by individual departments. The proposed amendment would correct that.

One proposed amendment would require disclosure of all city government debt. This would be another positive way to ensure the taxpaying public is fully aware of the city's financial condition.

Still another amendment would change the regulations for the city's utility franchises. Franchise negotiations in the past have dragged out for months, often because there aren't sufficient measures in the charter to adequately regulate franchise agreements.

Finally, another amendment would add a preamble to the charter that calls for ethical behavior on the part of city officials and employees.

The city council has taken a cautious approach to placing charter amendments on the ballot, and rightly so. It doesn't behoove a municipality to tinker with what essentially is its constitution. Those amendments that appear destined for the ballot box are reasonable adjustments that ought to make an adequate charter even better.