Cape Girardeau City Council: Meg Davis-Proffer

Name: Meg Davis-Proffer

Date of birth: 1978

Place of birth: Cape Girardeau

Spouse, children's names: Matthew Proffer

Occupation: Sales & Marketing

Employer: Max Media LLC

Businesses owned, all or part: None

Previous offices held or sought: None

1. Ward 2 includes the areas targeted by the DREAM Initiative. The plan has big ideas, like a downtown aquarium, and proposals for improvement, like Broadway beautification. What are the top DREAM Initiative items for the coming four years? Find creative ways to recruit and retain businesses in the downtown area, work with city leadership to be more business friendly/open for business. Creating a positive development experience (working on processes of development as well as incentives). Broadway Enhancements -- Street, facade and maintenance improvements -- leading to improved business activity. Fountain St. extension -- housing with some mixed use. Branding, marketing and district development to better attract consumers, visitors, workers and residents

2. City employees have not received a raise for two years. In the same period, the city's unrestricted reserves have dwindled to almost nothing. If the next city budget can either give raises or rebuild the reserve fund, which will you choose and why? The reserve fund is important to help prevent the budget situation we had last year. Since we rely on sales tax as a major funding source, we will naturally have good years and bad years depending on the economy. Sales tax is one of the most volatile funding sources since people's spending habits can really change during economic decline and growth. By having the reserve fund, it allows a city to weather the downturn by not having to cut services too drastically. Unfortunately, the city had several years where revenue was essentially flat combined with growing costs and therefore, dwindling down the reserve. It is a financially sound practice.

In my company as well as others, people value their worth to an organization through merit and cost of living raises. Providing raises is important not only for employee morale, but also to remain competitive with the market. Financially, it is also important to not let salaries get too far behind because it is usually impossible to catch them up.

3. What are the most important improvements in city services needed in Ward 2? We must continue the progress that has been made and work collaboratively to improve upon areas still needing attention.