St. Francis Hospital physical therapist Nate Thomas has been selected to fill the Ward 3 vacancy on the Cape Girardeau city council.
Six council members were split in a tie Monday evening about who would fill their seventh seat. It was a toss-up between hopefuls Thomas and Christina Mershon of Southeast Missouri State University, much to the surprise of Mayor Bob Fox, who said he never thought they would be in such a position.
Ultimately, a motion was made to choose Thomas by Robbie Guard of Ward 4.
“I like that Mr. Thomas had a background working with different legislative bodies,” Guard said. He added Thomas had worked with both local legislators and elected officials in Washington, D.C.
Guard said the appointment of Mershon could’ve potentially caused problems for the city council if matters arose regarding Southeast Missouri State University, resulting in two members having to recuse themselves.
Ward 1’s Dan Presson, director of career services at Southeast, was the only opposing vote in the appointment. He said it could be the same situation if there were multiple employees of St. Francis Hospital or SoutheastHEALTH on the council.