Cairo City Council to hold special meeting today

Cairo, Ill. -- The city council will have a special meeting today but it's unlikely that enough members will attend to conduct business.

Two of the four members who last month announced a boycott of council meetings said they will not attend today's meeting, called by Mayor Paul Farris to consider a grant to repair sewer lines.

Instead, Councilman Bobby Whitaker said, the council has called a special meeting for Friday that will consider the grant, approval of the city payroll and an ordinance banning the city from filing lawsuits without council approval.

"We are meeting Friday primarily so the workers over here doing their job and doing a fine job are getting paid," Whitaker said.

The four council members joining the boycott -- Whitaker, Elbert Purchase, Linda Jackson and Sandra Tarver -- want Farris to resign. They claim he has spent city money without authorization and blocked implementation of council directives.

Accepting the grant would be a good idea, Whitaker said, but it would be difficult if not impossible for the city to provide matching funds.