Scott Meyer prepares for shift from SEMO to city

When Scott Meyer wraps up his four-year tenure as the director of facilities management at Southeast Missouri State University, he will leave a campus that has an increased presence along Broadway. Where the city meets the university along Broadway, Southeast is putting in parking lots and landscaping.

"It really has reached the city, which is where it should have been all along," he said.

Meyer, who oversaw similar campus construction projects in the past, will move to his new position as city manager in two weeks.

Meyer came to the university in May 2005 after the university had drawn up plans for Southeast's River Campus. He was charged with seeing the project, which cost more than $50 million, through to the end.

The university also constructed the Aquatic Center, renovated First Baptist Church on Broadway and made improvements to the university's main entrance at Henderson Avenue during his time at Southeast.

After four years as director of facilities at Southeast Missouri State University, Scott Meyer will begin his new job as Cape Girardeau city manager July 1. (Elizabeth Dodd)

Meyer will take the city job at a time when budget concerns are at the forefront. The Cape Girardeau City Council finalized its $54.1 million spending plan Monday. Maintaining the flexibility to make adjustments if the economy continues its downturn will be a key issue awaiting him, he said.

"Of course we have to look at what if it gets better, too," he said.

As the city meets with Commander Premier Aircraft about past due rent at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Meyer said he is researching and forming background knowledge on aircraft manufacturing.

"That's the very beginning of an understanding that's as big as a glacier," he said. It is also important to look at other options for the facility, he said.

Meyer said he wants to be open about city decisions and explain them in terms people are going to connect with.

"I want to get most people to the point, 'Yeah, I know why you're doing that and it's responsible,'" he said.

To aid the transition, he said, he is contacting former city managers and other people he met throughout his experience as an engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation, where he worked before coming to the university.

He said he worked in five districts, including 10 years in Sikeston, where he was the Southeast District engineer. He said he gained management experience while directing employees throughout the 14-county district.

"My career was really about leading people," he said.

Meyer said his experience with the university mirrors city operations. The facilities department manages maintenance, water, sewage, trash pickup, construction and repairs.

His position with the city will bring him "closer to the customer," where he said he is most comfortable.

"In our day and age, people are going to look at government and assume the worst," he said. "And for the most part, it's not true."

Meyer is also leaving the university at a critical time when construction and repairs are in full swing.

"Summer is always our time of year because buildings are empty," said Kathy Mangels, the university's vice president of finance and administration.

Angela Meyer, no relation, one of three associate directors of facilities management, will take over for Meyer on an interim basis. Mangels said the university will look at hiring a permanent replacement in the fall.

She said Scott Meyer understands how to make the chain of command work efficiently through his work with personnel and large project budgets.

"We're very glad that we kept him in the city, and we'll continue to work with him as partner," she said.

Former city manager Doug Leslie left his position in February after working for the city for 19 years. He said Meyer will be working directly with a governing body, a change from his former position, and will have to develop a sense of city operations and priorities.

"Just being a good listener is the strongest recommendation I could give to anyone coming into that position," Leslie said.

With a tough budget year ahead, it will be more difficult to restructure or reorganize operations, Leslie said, but it's also an opportunity to look for ways to streamline operations.

Despite Meyer's lack of city experience, Leslie said, his work with highway and capital construction projects will help balance interests within city government. The city is embarking on a major construction program this year to build a Family Aquatic Center, a new community center at the Shawnee Sports Complex and other big-ticket parks projects.

"It's always helpful to have the city background, but there are other strong characteristics there that are going to be beneficial," he said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

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