CAT Tracks for January 11, 2006

Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 11, 2006

THREAT? NOPE...FACT!

From the blurb on the WSIL Channel 3 website, it doesn't appear that relations between the Mayor and the now-returned Cairo City Council members has improved...

Cairo City Council Grumblings

Tuesday night's Cairo city council meeting was an emotional one. The war of words between mayor Paul Farris and council members continued. "You better worry about expiring," warned council member Bobby Whitaker. Farris responded, "Is that a threat?" To which Whitaker said, "That's a fact."

Whitaker and three other council members have been vocal about their displeasure for the way Farris is running the city. Last week, the group refused to attend a meeting the mayor had called.

It was also mentioned Tuesday evening that the four council members have not received their $600 monthly pay check for being on the council. "Do you want to pay people that don't come?", mayor Farris asked. Whitaker said, "He's our boss, so he has taken our paycheck and put it on hold."

Despite the outbursts, council members say they plan to come to the next regular meeting.

Another perspective from the Southern Illinoisan...

Quiet Cairo City Council meeting takes turn near end
by andrea hahn
the southern
CAIRO - Attendance was complete at Tuesday night's Cairo City Council meeting - all council members, including the four who previously said they would boycott future council meetings, were present.
In addition, interested community members filled every available seat and spilled out into the hallway.
The meeting itself was almost uneventful and lasted not quite one hour.
However, as the meeting was nearing conclusion, a disagreement arose about adding comments from the community to the agenda. A practice Mayor Paul Farris said was long-standing, requiring community members to fill out a form before the meeting to have their comments added to the agenda, was called into question and apparently discarded by roll-call vote of 5-1 with one council member abstaining.
A number of those in the audience reacted loudly during the discussion, prompting Farris to order the two police officers stationed nearby during the meeting "to remove anyone who is not participating according to the rules."
As the meeting began to degenerate into raised voices, Councilwoman Carolyn Ponting interjected to call for fair play.
"I'm an old woman and I've always tried to do the right thing for the people I've known all my life," she said, indicating the assembly in the council chambers. "Do you not know that with all the news media here, this city is the laughingstock of the tri-state area? This is no way for any of us to conduct business. I'm sorry."
Ponting was referring to the fact that members of at least three print media and three broadcast media were present at the council meeting.
A community member addressed the council in the lull after Ponting's comments to ask about the status of the three Cairo police officers and two dispatchers suspended after the Dec. 14 death of Demetrius Flowers, a Cairo man, at the Cairo Police Department.
Farris said the suspension status had not changed, and that the officers had been ordered to bring in all their gear.
After the meeting was officially adjourned, a dispute erupted as Councilman Elbert "Bo" Purchase remarked that he, too, had been suspended without pay.
Purchase, along with council members Bobby Whitaker, Linda Jackson and Sandra Tarver, had announced their intention of boycotting council meetings until Farris voluntarily submitted his resignation. In turn, Farris apparently suspended the pay the council members receive.
Farris and Whitaker exchanged barbs after the meeting while still in the council chambers. Whitaker questioned Farris' right to suspend the council members and Farris questioned Whitaker's regard for laws in general.
"I took it that (the four city council members who boycotted a meeting) abandoned their office," Farris said when asked the same question by a member of the media.
While he described Tuesday's meeting as "pitiful," Farris said he remains optimistic that the city can emerge from the strife that has plagued it.
"It's going to take a community to make change," he said. "There will be a day when this community will be sought after."
Purchase, lingering with a small group of people outside the city hall after the meeting, did not share Farris' hope. He said there would be no coming together of community until Farris was out of office.

And then there is the Southeast Missourian...

Cairo City Councilwoman Carolyn Ponting apologized for the recent behavior of her fellow council members to those attending Tuesday's city council meeting. (Don Frazier)

Meeting fails to clear air in Cairo
RUDI KELLER ~ Southeast Missourian
CAIRO, Ill. -- A corrosive atmosphere choked off any chance of a working relationship between the Cairo City Council and Mayor Paul Farris during a meeting Tuesday that included threats to have police remove residents supporting council members.
Farris and the council members kept their anger with each other under control for most of the regular session. But when a resident sought recognition to speak to the council, Farris argued that the meeting must end because the agenda included no provision for public comment.
Approximately 50 people packed the small council chamber. Another 20 stood in the hallway outside. Four police officers -- two in uniform, two in street clothes -- stood by in case of disorder. Some of Farris' supporters attended, but most were on the side of his opponents.
When Melinda Flowers, sister of a man who died in Cairo police custody, stood to speak when the business agenda was complete, Farris sought to end the meeting.
His opponents on the council raised objections. The agenda was flexible enough to allow public comment even though it was not specifically listed, they said.
"In other words, you just do whatever you want to do," Farris said.
The crowd responded with catcalls and rumblings, and Farris ordered them to be quiet or he would have police act to restore order.
"What is the big difference over having the taxpayers you say you represent speak?" Councilman Bobby Whitaker asked.
When allowed to speak, Flowers said she was pleased to see the council working together and noted that when public comments come after adjournment, they do not have to be included in the council's official record.
After another sharp exchange followed, and Farris again warned the assembled residents: "There are not going to be any more outbursts from the crowd. If I have to call you down one more time, you'll have to leave."
He then ordered police to watch the crowd and remove anyone disobeying his order to remain silent.
The comment was spark enough to start a round of arguing, with council members hammering at Farris' leadership style and Farris fighting back with attacks on council members' ethics. The spectacle moved two council members who so far had stayed out of the fray to outbursts of their own decrying the damage the feud is doing to their town.
"This bickering and jawing and gnawing at each other has to stop," Councilwoman Carolyn Ponting said. "This town is the laughingstock of the whole tri-state area."
Ponting and Councilman Joseph Thurston haven't taken sides in the dispute. Four council members are in open rebellion against Farris -- Bobby Whitaker, Linda Jackson, Sandra Tarver and Elbert "Bo" Purchase.
The insurgents on Dec. 27 announced they would not attend any regular council meetings until Farris quit. He refused. In retaliation, Farris is withholding his opponents' paychecks and plans a court challenge of their right to their seats.
Questioned by reporters about his legal authority to deny the council members their pay, Farris could not cite a city ordinance or state law governing a situation where members boycott the council. That's immaterial, he said, because the four have no right to not attend council meetings as a protest to his policies.
"Where does this money come from?" Farris said. "Do you want to pay people who don't come to work? This is a primary example of where you have the majority holding the city hostage."
After listening to Farris, Whitaker shot back that the mayor has acted illegally. "You are not our boss. You don't dictate who gets paid and who doesn't."
For a half-hour, council members, Farris and city officers discussed city business in civil tones. They learned that an audit of the city books for 2003 will take several more weeks to complete and that the city hopes to win dsmissal of a lawsuit by the town library seeking library tax money.
Both issues cover tension between Farris and the council -- Farris believes the audit will uncover past corruption and his opponents believe he provoked the lawsuit by withholding library funds.
Council members also learned that the city is barely staying afloat financially, operating from month to month. There is no account book or computer database of past-due bills and no sure way of knowing how extensive the city's debts are, clerk Debran Sudduth said.
"I want to know what we haven't paid," Jackson said.
A list of overdue bills was compiled during 2005, Sudduth said, but it is out of date. "It changes every day," he said. "We don't have time to do it."

Finally, KFVS Channel 12 wades in...complete with video if you go to their website!
As a "tease", here are some clips:

Cairo Meeting Ends With Fireworks
By: Ryan Tate
CAIRO, IL --The regularly scheduled Cairo City Council meeting began with a gavel falling, but that was the only thing normal about the meeting.
Four council members: Bobby Whitaker, Sandra Tarver, Linda Jackson, and Elbert "Bo" Purchase attended Tuesday night's meeting. This came two weeks after the four sent a letter stating they would not attend other regularly scheduled meetings until Mayor Paul Farris steps down.
City leaders followed the agenda set forth by the four council members. But as the meeting came to an end, the fireworks began. Council members and Farris could not decide if citizens were allowed to address the council. Then, as council members began leaving, the shouting began between Farris and some council leaders.
According council member Joey Thurston, the meeting did not accomplish much. The four council members who attended the meeting sent a letter to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich asking to be "held free from any responsibility for numerous violations of state and federal laws."
The next council meeting is set for January 25th.