At the core of the debate in Cape Girardeau over a property maintenance code is a classic philosophical conflict: Are free-market forces alone sufficient to ensure free and fair economic transactions, or does government play a role in doing what individuals can't or won't accomplish on their own?

With regard to housing issues, the free market dictates that most rental properties will be well maintained for the simple reason that few people are willing to rent or buy substandard housing.

But in any city a segment of the population requires low-cost housing, which often is substandard. A housing market, unfettered by government, will be comprised partly of dilapidated buildings that aren't likely to be rehabilitated.

Those types of buildings in Cape Girardeau have inspired city planners to propose property codes to ensure the safety and welfare of citizens living in such conditions.

The proposal now is before the Cape Girardeau City Council, which is expected to act on the property maintenance code next month.

Opponents of the code here have said it's not needed because most property owners willingly, out of self interest if not altruism, impose even higher standards upon themselves.

They also contend that government efforts aimed at landlords with substandard housing won't accomplish what's hoped.

Those opponents have concurring allies in Columbia.

Columbia requires all landlords to acquire a permit, renewable every three years, for each rental unit they manage.

Fred Cooper owns about 500 rental units in Columbia. He said the property code is based on good intentions, but in practical application is just part of a growing burden imposed by government on the private sector.

"I have mixed emotions about it," Cooper said. "In some respects it's a good idea; then in other respects it unfortunately takes on all the bad things about big government."

Cooper said the city's inspection department has grown over the years, from a single inspector to three, as has the cost of complying with the code.

"It's just another bureaucratic thing that just keeps on growing and growing," he said. "The idea of minimum property standards is not a bad idea, but I'd rather just not bother with this code.

"It's real easy for bleeding hearts to point to a few properties that are reprehensible, and they're right," Cooper said. "But probably 90 percent of the properties are well kept.

"If there is substandard housing, people can choose not to live in those conditions."

Elinor Arendt owns Action Realty in Columbia and Total Management Co., a property management firm.

Like Cooper, Arendt agrees that the intent of the property maintenance law in Columbia is good.

But she doesn't agree with the premise that landlords aren't concerned with the health and welfare of renters.

Arendt also believes enforcement of the code in Columbia is discriminatory focusing on landlords while owner-occupied properties essentially are ignored.

Like Cooper, she also objects to the growing bureaucracy associated with enforcement of the code, and the fact that inspection fees have risen.

"All it does is add more people in city government, add more cost to the owners and more cost to the renters," Arendt said. "I'm one of those people that believes in letting the market take care of itself and keep the government out of it."

Arendt said the property code results in higher housing costs for the low-income renters it's designed to help.

"If you accept substandard housing and pay $100 a month for it, what happens now is the city comes in and tells the owner that he must fix up the property," she said. "But then that unit's no longer going to be available for $100. We're saying we can't make those choices anymore."

But not all property managers oppose the maintenance code in Columbia. Diane Groshong, who owns Hawthorne Real Estate Services Inc. and is president of the Columbia Board of Realtors, said she supports the measure.

"We try to keep the properties we manage in good condition, but occasionally you have a property owner who doesn't want to spend the money to keep his property up, and I think this calls them out and makes them accountable," Groshong said.

The Boone County Tenant's Association, situated on the campus of the University of Missouri, also favors property maintenance codes.

The association works to improve relations between tenants and landlords. Through an orientation session each semester, the association informs new students of their rights and responsibilities as tenants in addition to serving as a clearinghouse for housing information.

Maureen Gerrity Wheeler, coordinating attorney for student legal services at the university, handles many students' housing disputes. A full third of her cases this year have involved housing disputes.

"It's prominent in the work we do," Wheeler said. "I see the contrast in having a code and not having a code all the time.

"When people live in the county, which is not covered by the Columbia city code, they have no real recourse in bringing an unlivable place up to par."

Wheeler said it's important to have a code and lauded the city's recent efforts to "beef up enforcement."

She said enforcement of the code is flexible in Columbia, particularly when it's applied to low-rent properties.

"There has to be a give and take," Wheeler said. "It might not be a great house, but you're not paying great rent either."

Both Arendt and Wheeler agreed that a small number of landlords "parasites," as Wheeler referred to them give all landlords a bad name.

But where Wheeler believes enforcement of the property maintenance code is an effective way to regulate the bad landlords, Arendt thinks the government should leave it up to market forces.

"I'm probably overly idealistic, but why do we make rules based on the 1 percent and apply it to 100 percent?" she said. "We're taking a fly and using a scoop shovel to kill it."