Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for December 27, 2005 CAIRO CITY COUNCIL...

...demands Mayor's resignation.

Four members issue press release, indicating that they will not attend future meetings until the federal and state governments intervene.

Read the Press Release at cairogate.com

Cairo council: Mayor must resign; Four members say they will not attend meetings until action is taken BY BECKY MALKOVICH
THE SOUTHERN

CAIRO - Four members of the Cairo City Council called for the immediate voluntary resignation of Mayor Paul Farris Tuesday, a request Farris said he will respectfully decline.

A press release issued Tuesday morning by the four council members - Bobby Whitaker, Linda Jackson, Elbert Purchase and Sandra Tarver - accused the mayor of thwarting their efforts to act as elected represen-tatives for the citizens of Cairo.

In addition, the four said they will stop attending council meetings effective with Tuesday night's scheduled meeting "until such time as the U.S Justice Department, the Illinois Attorney General's Office, the American Civil Liberties Union and the state of Illinois takes some sort of action to stop this dictatorship reign of Mayor Paul Farris. We are therefore asking state agencies to intervene and protect the rights of the Cairo citizens and the elected representatives."

Whitaker said he didn't expect the mayor to grant the resignation request; however, he said he hopes the request does get the attention of any agency that could help calm the controversy that has plagued the city since Farris was elected in 2003.

"We were elected to do a job and he's not allowing us to do that job. For instance, I'm the police commissioner and I'm not allowed to go to the police department," Whitaker said. "There is not another community in the country going through what we are going through under this dictatorship. This is very, very serious. We need help."

The four council members are asking for an audit of all city finances since Farris took office.

The press release issued by the four council members accuses Farris of continuing to "spawn chaos and turmoil, lie to employees and the public, threaten employees with termination if they speak to council members ... He hires, fires and spends unauthorized non-approved funds, misappropriates tax money, provides raises without council approval and enters into lawsuits without council approval."

The four also accuse the mayor of violating constitutional and civil rights by ignoring a 1980 Federal Consent Decree that "allowed minority representation to the Cairo City Council."

Farris, on the other hand, blames the four council members for going against the decree. He cited numerous instances when he tried to appoint minority citizens to various city boards, such as the Cairo Public Library board.

"I have many times tried to bring more minority representation to our boards, but the minority representation on the council always voted them down. They have refused each and every name I submitted and instead allowed unqualified people to sit on those boards," Farris said. "I have attempted more than once to get fair and equal representation, but some on this city council get unruly or walk out of the meetings."

Farris said he doesn't believe the council members "understand the form of government the city of Cairo operates under. It's sad because some of these people have been on the council long-term, but they apparently do not understand their duties."

He said an audit is being completed and is expected to be presented to council members within the next month. He also questioned the actions of the four who said they would no longer attend meetings.

"Do they expect to continue to get paid? They receive an enormous amount of money every month, receive health coverage and a retirement fund and they're not going to show? Hopefully, the upcoming election in 2007 will bring a resolution to this problem. I feel bad for the citizens of Cairo who are subject to the tyranny of the people on the board."

Jackson said the issue of council member pay is "a smokescreen. He dictates and that's a fact. Minority voices are still stifled. We've got to take a stand. We've asked for help and we need it desperately. It's time to stop his reign," she said.

Follow-up report in the December 29th Southeast Missourian...

RUDI KELLER ~ Southeast Missourian

A deepening schism between Cairo, Ill., Mayor Paul Farris and the city council erupted this week into open political warfare.

While the council and Farris have been fighting since he took office in 2003, council members said they have generally been willing to fulfill their duties -- sometimes, they said, in spite of Farris.

No more. Beginning with Tuesday's regular meeting, four of the six council members announced a boycott of city meetings. They won't return, they said, until "the dictatorship reign of Mayor Paul Farris" is ended by the Illinois attorney general's office or the U.S. Justice Department.

The four refusing to attend meetings include long-time council members Bobby Whitaker, Linda Jackson and Elbert Purchase as well as Sandra Tarver, who was elected to office along with Farris in 2003.

Farris, on the other hand, believes the council wants to thwart efforts to bring a professional attitude to city business. "It is an absolute insult to everyone's intelligence to have these kind of grammar-school tactics."

If nothing breaks the impasse, voters will decide who wins the battle in the April 2007 elections.

The list of grievances begins from the day Farris took office in May 2003 -- he fired every top city administrator that day -- and extend to a recent council meeting where he announced he had hired five assistants for the city animal control officer.

In between, Farris has put city money in new bank accounts, hired a city attorney at six times the previously approved salary and been sued by numerous former employees and other government entities.

"It is a tragic story at a critical time in the history of this small town," said Preston Ewing, former city treasurer and one of the few fired by Farris who has not sued.

Cairo was once a booming river town. But it has fallen on hard times, losing population and jobs. Farris won election in April 2003 by promising change, defeating 12-year incumbent James Wilson.

Since then, council members said, Farris has operated the city without heeding council restrictions or directives. "It has gotten to the point where he will not acknowledge us as elected officials," Whitaker said. "He wants to focus on past administrations, what they did and didn't do. We are not here for that. We are here to take care of business."

At one fall meeting, Whitaker said, Farris talked for more than an hour about the deficiencies of the past administration. When he would not stop, the council walked out, he said.

But for Farris, an airing of past problems is the key to change. "If I want to spend an hour disclosing information, I will," Farris said. "Anything that goes back to records and mathematics and accuracy, they don't want to hear."

The most heated arguments cover issues of control over city money and jobs. Farris believes large amounts of city money were misspent prior to his tenure; the council accuses him of failing to follow legal restrictions on spending city money.

Farris won a major battle for control of city finances in July when a Williamson County judge threw out felony forgery and official misconduct charges. The allegations stemmed from his decision to open new accounts for the city without council approval.

"That told him he was above the law," Whitaker said. "And that is exactly how he has been acting since that day."

The council won't give Farris' choice for city clerk the authority to write city checks. Former clerk Lorrie Hesselrode believes she is still legally able to write city checks because the council hasn't acted.

Hesselrode is suing Farris over the way he fired her. "The man could have had a smooth transition had he chosen to do that. But he treated people terribly, and none of us had ever done anything to him."

Statements Farris makes about past administrations aren't accurate, Hesselrode said. All the bills were paid and there was money in the bank, she said.

Farris is the one who isn't being professional, she said. Some bills are paid without council authorization while some payments authorized by the council are not made, she said.

"And meanwhile, what little we have left in Cairo is going down the drain," she said.

City jobs are important in a town that is one of the poorest in the state. Whitaker said Farris bullies employees, hiring and firing on whims.

That isn't true, Farris said. Every employee is treated fairly, he said.

And the war will continue because Farris won't surrender.

"I can endure," he said. "Maybe they need to resign."

Follow-up report on the December 29th KFVS Channel 12 Website...

Cairo City Council Members Decide to Boycott

By: Ryan Tate

Cairo, IL - Four Cairo City Council members announced their plans to discontinue attending regularly scheduled meetings effective December 27th. Bobby Whitaker, Linda Jackson, Sandra Tarver and Elbert "Bo" Purchase believe Mayor Paul Farris "lacks leadership" and is "solely responsible for [Cairo's] financial nightmare." They believe the United States Justice Department and the Illinois Attorney General's Office needs to investigate their town.

Cairo has a six member city council. According to one Southern Illinois City Attorney contacted by Heartland News, without those members, it will be difficult to continue city business. According to Whitaker and Jackson, they believe Mayor Farris will continue business without them.

Heartland News tried to contact Mayor Farris for comment on this story, but he did not return calls.

According to one Cairo city employee, he believes the four council members should not be paid for their jobs. Whitaker says they get $600 a month.

"They need to get together instead of bickering and fighting, and try to pitch in together. It doesn't make any sense," Shelly Mallory of Cairo said.

"We're all in this together. There are some people who have not had that vision yet. We can all survive this thing together, or die together," Flora Chambliss said.