COUNCIL SAYS NO TO ZONES; VOTES 4-3 TO FAVOR AT-LARGE COUNCILMEN

A split Cape Girardeau City Council Monday voted 4-3 to oppose an election ballot initiative that would scrap at-large council elections in lieu of zone representation.

The council in September unanimously voted to place the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot after a citywide petition secured sufficient signatures to put the matter before the voters.

More than 1,700 registered city voters signed the petition, which would require an amendment to the City Charter that was adopted in 1981.

If the council members' vote Monday is any indication, the issue will generate a close vote next month.

Councilman Al Spradling III made the motion in opposition to the charter change. His motion was supported by council members David Limbaugh, Mary Wulfers and Melvin Kasten. Mayor Gene Rhodes and council members Doug Richards and Melvin Gateley voted against Spradling's motion.

In other business, the council voted 4-2 with Rhodes and Richards dissenting to authorize City Manager J. Ronald Fischer to ask the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department to consider realigning Highway 177 with Sprigg Street through the city.

The vote on zone representation came after extended discussion, in which Rhodes, Gateley and Richards said the issue should be left entirely up to the voters to decide.

"I think it's a total conflict of interest for the council to tell the voters how to choose," said Rhodes. "We should totally leave it up to the citizens to decide."

But Limbaugh said it's important for community leaders to take a stance on issues that could ultimately alter the city's form of government.

"I don't think it's a conflict at all," he said. "I believe it's a very important issue that goes to the heart of the issue of our city government.

"If we remain silent we might find our very form of government go downhill."

But Rhodes contended the ballot measure has little to do with changing the form of government. "This doesn't affect the form of government, only the way we're elected," he said."

Gateley also said he thought it was a conflict of interest for the council to take a position on a matter that ultimately will be left to the voters to decide.

Limbaugh asked Gateley whether the council would be justified if it voted to support a transportation tax to fund needed street improvements or similar measures the city might propose for future ballots.

"As a community leader, do you feel you have an obligation to take a stand if you feel an issue is counterproductive to the very form of government?" he said. "You should let the voters know how you feel."

Richards said that although he didn't believe the issue amounted to a conflict of interest, he thought it should be left up to voters to decide.

"That's not to say I favor zone elections," he said. "The way the zones are set up, I'm one of four other councilmen in the same zone.

"If I was to run, I'd probably end up fourth," Richards added. "But it's our obligation to let the citizens decide and then to do that as their elected representatives."

Wulfers said Spradling's motion won't change the fact that voters still will decide the issue.

"As I understand (the) motion, it would in no way usurp the piece that's going to be on the ballot," she said. "All we'll be doing is taking a stand on the issue one way or the other."

City Attorney Warren Wells said legislative bodies always have the authority to take positions on any issue such as the ballot initiative.

With regard to realignment of Highway 177, Fischer asked the council for authorization to ask the state highway department to link the route with a proposed northern extension of Sprigg Street near its intersection with Lexington.

He said Freeman McCullah, District 10 engineer for the Highway and Transportation Department, has indicated he would ask the highway commission to approve the plan.

Fischer said Sprigg an almost straight route between Lexington and a new Mississippi River bridge route would not have to be improved to carry Highway 177 traffic. Highway 177 now follows Big Bend Road and includes six "right-angle turns" through the city's north side.

But Rhodes said he would prefer the route be aligned with West End Boulevard to the west of Sprigg.

The mayor said either Sprigg or West End would be an improvement over the existing Highway 177, but that West End would be a preferable route, better suited to long-range plans to connect the Procter and Gamble plant, north of the city, to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority in Scott City.

But Spradling said that as a dedicated boulevard, there likely are restrictions prohibiting truck traffic on West End.

Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink added that the Sprigg Street route is included in the city's major street plan.

In other business, the council tabled action that might affect whether Kent Street is extended to Lexington. The action was taken at the request of P. David Gerlach, the developer in the subdivision where the street's situated.

Gerlach last week submitted two record plats one showing the extension and one without the route to the council, but has since asked for additional time so that he can submit a single plat.

The issue has been a point of contention between the council, which has said if favors the through street, and the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, which has sided with Gerlach's contention that the extension would be too expensive.