Cape Girardeau ward meetings completed

The city has completed a round of six public meetings seeking input from residents. Each meeting was held in each of the wards, so people from all parts of the city could voice their concerns and thoughts about moving the city forward. City officials held the meetings as a way to adjust its 5-year-old strategic plan.

This was a good process. And even though crowds were sparse -- ranging from just six to 23 people -- those who did attend gave valuable feedback. The topics varied widely from handicap accessibility to retail development, but one common theme was infrastructure, particularly the conditions of the city's streets.

The city, for the past 20 or so years has invested scores of millions of dollars in new roads and streets, but the city has fallen behind on upkeep. The latest transportation trust fund tax, passed in 2015, will put a new focus on repairing existing streets, but it will take some time for the plan to work its way through. About 45 percent of the tax collected from TTF5 is set to go toward general repairs, including asphalt overlay and concrete repair, according to previous reporting in the Southeast Missourian.

The strategic planning meetings were a good process. That they were held in different parts of the city allowed access to different people. And even though the sample size is too small to form an overall plan for a city of nearly 40,000 people, the input is still valuable and the transparency of the process helps establish trust between residents and representatives.

We appreciate the city making the effort to reach out to all its wards and open doors and dialogue.