Judge reinstates Cairo City Council candidate

CAIRO, Ill. -- Associate Judge Rodney Clutts said a city board overstepped its authority when it removed a convicted felon from the Feb. 27 city primary ballot without requiring the candidate's accuser to present evidence. Clutts issued an order Wednesday reinstating Charles Koen's candidacy for city council.

Koen, who is seeking the Ward 3 council seat, called the ruling a victory for civil rights. "I am thankful the judge made this ruling," he said Thursday. "Now we can bring some tranquility to the situation."

A city election board consisting of Mayor Paul Farris, city clerk Erica Wells and Councilman Elbert "Bo" Purchase voted 2-1 Jan. 5 to remove Koen from the ballot. The board acted on a complaint from Lorenzo Nelson, another candidate in Ward 3, who failed to appear at the hearing.

Farris and Wells voted to remove Koen; Purchase voted to allow him to pursue his candidacy.

In his ruling, Clutts noted the absence of Nelson and said the record of the hearing doesn't prove Nelson wanted to pursue his objection. The board presented the evidence against Koen to itself, then made the decision, Clutts wrote in a three-page opinion.

"It seems clear to this court that the Election Board, as comprised and sitting, cannot pursue and prosecute a case on its own," Clutts wrote. "That, indeed, the Board is merely a nonpartisan group to hear objections and to make a nonpartisan ruling."

Running for office is a fundamental right, Clutts wrote, and "the board should be neutral and not prosecute cases before it."

A second candidate with a felony conviction, Phillip Matthews, has also challenged his removal from the ballot. That case is before Judge William Thurston, who is expected to rule today, Alexander County Clerk Kent Thomas said.

In Matthews' case, the person who objected to his qualifications, candidate Thomas Simpson, did appear and provide testimony to the board.

The city can't appeal Clutts' ruling, the city clerk said. Wells said the mayor was not available for comment on the ruling.

The handling of the objection is typical of Farris' methods running Cairo, Koen said. Farris is seeking to block free expression and win a council that he can manipulate, Koen said. "Under the mayor's administration, the clock has been turned back, and I am very concerned about it," Koen said. "I am trying to bring about awareness in the community, and only with that can we move forward."

Absentee voting has already begun in Cairo for the primary, but only a handful of voters from Ward 3 have cast ballots, Thomas said. The ballots will be reprinted with Koen's name, but the Alexander County clerk said he is waiting for the ruling on Matthews' case before placing the order.

"We will contact those people" who have already voted "and have them come in and recast their ballots if they want to," Thomas said.

The new ballots will be available within a week's time. Thomas said, at a cost of about $135 if both candidates are reinstated.

"We will try to get this taken care of as soon as humanly possible," he said.

Koen was convicted in 1991 on federal charges of theft of government funds, false statements, aiding and abetting arson and aiding and abetting fraud. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay back taxes for 1982 to 1984.

Koen, Nelson and two others are challenging incumbent Sandra Tarver for her seat on the council. They are among 35 candidates currently qualified for seats on the six-member council. The fields will be pared to two candidates in each ward in the primary, with the final election set for April 17.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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