Cairo council members balk on veto override attempt to avoid admitting mayor holds power to veto

CAIRO, Ill. -- The Cairo City Council refused on principle Tuesday to attempt to override a veto by Mayor Paul Farris, even when enacting a resolution over his objections could have dislodged paychecks he withheld for most of last year.

Four Cairo council members haven't been paid since January 2006. Farris ordered their paychecks stopped after the four announced in December 2005 they would no longer attend regular council meetings because of Farris's "dictatorial" style of running the city.

At the Jan. 9 meeting, the council voted 5-0 in favor of a resolution directing Farris to issue the paychecks. A vote against Farris' veto -- which would have needed four votes -- would have been an acknowledgment that he has a legitimate veto power, council members said after the meeting.

And Farris, who is seeking re-election in a crowded 10-person primary, said he would have accepted an override. "I would have instructed the payroll clerk to issue the paychecks," he said.

The salary for council members is $800 a month. Two council members -- Carolyn Ponting, who is running for mayor and attends every meeting, and Joey Thurston, councilman at large who has missed numerous recent meetings -- have received their pay. Bobby Whitaker, who is also challenging Farris, along with Elbert "Bo" Purchase, Linda Jackson and Sandra Tarver, have not been paid. Each is owed approximately $9,600.

Farris is paid $1,000 a month as mayor.

The four unpaid council members reversed course after missing one regular council meeting and have attended most scheduled meetings during the past year although little city business has been conducted.

Court settlement

Cairo operates under a federal court settlement of a civil rights dispute. Written in 1980, the settlement, known as a consent decree, reorganized the city into a council elected by wards and added two members to the governing body. Under Illinois law, cities change their form of government by holding an election. No such election was held in Cairo.

At the time of the decree, Cairo operated under a commission form of government, which gives council members nearly equal power to the mayor and doesn't allow for veto power. City ordinances also refer to council members as commissioners.

But in September, a state court ruled that the city actually operates under an aldermanic form of government, which does provide for a mayoral veto.

The vetoes on the agenda Tuesday night were the first since the state court decision. During the meeting and afterward, council members denied the legitimacy of the state court ruling, instead questioning Farris about whether the consent decree provides for a veto and maintaining that only a federal court ruling could alter their view.

"The consent decree doesn't say nothing about veto power," Purchase said.

Council members and Farris did bury their antagonism long enough to pass an ordinance abandoning a section of road near the site of a proposed biodiesel plant and a resolution issuing a permit for construction of a sewer line north of the city.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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