BANKER BECOMES THIRD TO FILE IN CITY'S WARD 6

Jay B. Knudtson, 1126 Cyprus Court, on Monday became the third candidate to file for election to Cape Girardeau's Ward 6 city council seat.

Knudtson, 30, is assistant vice president at Boatmen's National Bank. A native of Minnesota, he has lived in Cape Girardeau for the past five years.

Other Ward 6 candidates are Dennis Dobson, 157 Pebble Lane, and Jess Hopple, 2700 Bloomfield Road.

It's uncertain whether Dobson, a resident of the recently annexed Twin Lakes subdivision, and Hopple, who's lived in the city only three years, will meet the four-year residency requirement for council candidates.

Knudtson said Monday that until several people encouraged him to run for city council he hadn't considered the idea. But he said he's excited about the opportunity to serve the community that's become his home.

"Several different groups that I have a tremendous amount of respect for have come to me and encouraged me to file for Ward 6," Knudtson said. "An individual that I have always held in the highest regard always says, `If you don't get involved in a cause or belief, then you don't have a right to degrade or complain about the results.'"

Knudtson and his wife, Cindy, a lifelong Cape Girardeau resident, are expecting their first child in the next few weeks.

"Cape Girardeau has become my home, and with our first baby due any day it becomes imperative for me to get involved," he said.

Knudtson said that too often the city seems led by individuals who put their personal interests ahead of the interests of the citizens. He said that as a city councilman he would work to be an "extension and voice of the people."

"I believe the citizens of Cape are very frustrated and feel as though they are not being heard," he said. "It will be my goal to be available and involved in as many community events as possible, to do my best to implement the wishes of the citizens of Cape Girardeau."

Knudtson attended the University of Minnesota where he majored in business, law and marketing, before he spent two years as a professional hockey referee.

He continues to officiate hockey part time and is active with the Cape Girardeau Youth Hockey program as a board member and coaching coordinator.

Knudtson also is a member of the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and serves on the Parks Development Foundation Board.

He is a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the Colonial Cape Foundation, Southeast Missouri Homebuilders Association, the American Cancer Society and the Cape Girardeau Lions Club, and is a Cape Girardeau Board of Realtors affiliate member.

Knudtson said he considers himself fortunate to be able to live and work in Cape Girardeau.

"Ending up in Cape Girardeau, and being blessed to find my beautiful wife and start a family here, is the best thing that has happened to me," he said. "And becoming part of this great city in the capacity of a city council member would be the icing on the cake."