Cape Girardeau City Council members appointed Ryan Essex to the vacant Ward 5 seat Monday, Oct. 7, at City Hall.

The council seat was vacated after former Councilman Rhett Pierce was arrested on one count of drug trafficking and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm Sept. 27. Pierce resigned from the council effective Sept. 28, and was federally indicted Oct. 1.

Essex, chief operating officer with Gibson Recovery Center, told the Southeast Missourian that after recent events that he felt called to serve the council again.

"As far as what my plans are, it's to do whatever I need to do for the citizens of Ward 5, work with the city staff, the rest of the council, some who I served with before, some who I'm just getting to know for the first time," he said.

This is not the first time Essex has joined the City Council on behalf of Ward 5. He was appointed to fill the vacancy when Bob Fox became the city's mayor in 2018.

Essex said he'll spend the next few weeks getting familiar with the issues the current council is facing such as the water treatment system and the Transportation Trust Fund 7 vote coming in April. He said it was nice to be recognized by the council for his experience and what he can "bring to the table".

Ward 4 Councilman David Cantrell said as a friend of Pierce, he doesn't condone what he did, going on to say it created "quite a bit of anger" in him in his announcements at the meeting. He said methamphetamine doesn't take prisoners, and it doesn't discriminate.

"I can tell you that Rhett is a good guy," Cantrell said in the meeting. "Rhett fell prey to one of Satan's greatest tools, and as the Rev. (Geneva) Allen-Patterson described, 'We are not here to judge', and Rhett needs our prayers more than our condemnation and judgment."

Allen-Patterson gave the invocation at the beginning of the meeting.

Essex will serve until April as the council scheduled a special election for the Ward 5 council seat April 8.

Other business

There was also a public hearing held for the consideration of a special-use permit request for constructing, maintaining and operating a drive-thru restaurant at 716 and 718 Broadway. The business coming to the location will be Roni's Mac Bar.