ZONE BACKERS LIST FUNDS

Cape Girardeau businessman James Drury was the major contributor to the Elect A Neighbor Committee, which supported a general-election ballot proposal that Cape Girardeau City Council members be elected by zones instead of at-large.

A campaign report filed Monday with the Cape Girardeau county clerk's office at Jackson for the period 30 days after the election showed that Drury contributed $2,100 to the committee on Oct. 30. In all, the campaign disclosure report shows the committee raised and spent $3,448.

A form was also filed with the county clerk's office dissolving the Elect A Neighbor Committee.

The election-by-zones proposal was by voters.

The report shows that Joe Mirgeaux made a $110 in-kind contribution to the committee on Oct. 9, and that Thomas M. Meyer made monetary and in-kind contributions totaling $108 to the effort between Oct. 9 and Nov. 2.

Campaign disclosure laws require that names of individuals contributing more than $100 be listed.

The report also shows that $950 was raised from individuals donating $100 or less and $180 worth of in-kind donations in smaller amounts were made.

The largest expenditure listed in the report is $1,590 to Red Letter Communications on Oct. 26 for placing radio advertisements. On Oct. 30, $630 was paid to Heartland Sign Co. for yard signs; on Oct. 30, $396 was paid to Bell Marketing for newspaper ads; and on Oct. 2, $133.61 was paid to Marcon Promotional Advertising for imprinted labels.

On Nov. 17 Holiday Inn was paid $330.39 for a committee meeting.

The report filed Monday was the only one filed on time by the committee.

On Nov. 2, one day before the general election, the committee filed late reports that were due seven days and 40 days before the election. Both reports were statements of limited activity, which meant the committee had not spent or raised more than $1,000 or received a contribution greater than $250 from any individual.

The statement of committee organization was not filed until Oct. 30. The committee treasurer was Miki Gurdermuth, and the address for the committee was listed as 1732 Rampart, the home of Larry Godfrey, who was also active in the campaign.

Organizers of the petition drive to have the zone representation placed on the ballot were criticized for not filing proper and timely reports in compliance with the campaign finance disclosure laws of the state.

On Oct. 28, Curtis Smith, who served on the city council from 1982-87, filed a formal complaint with the secretary of state's office in Jefferson City.

In a letter to Gayla Thomas, campaign reporting division director, Smith complained that the Elect A Neighbor Committee had not filed a committee organization report, had spent money in excess of the $1,000 threshold requiring reports, had not filed other reports, and did not have a disclaimer on printed materials telling who paid for the advertising.