Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for October 13, 2005 "LAUGHING STOCK"

Still not getting along. From today's Southern Illinoisan...

Cairo council discusses ways to cut expenses

BY FRED KELLER
FOR THE SOUTHERN

CAIRO - Cairo Mayor Paul Farris desperately wants to sell Riverlore Mansion. He told council members Tuesday the historic home, now a tourist attraction, is very costly for the city to maintain.

City Attorney Michael O'Shea said the city has recently been able to pay only the $17,000 per year interest and no principal on bonds that will begin maturing this year, and quickly amount to a $270,000 debt.

Council member Carolyn Ponting agreed, "We've got to move Riverlore. We can't afford it."

But Councilman Joey Thurston balked at the thought. He told Farris "to you, tourism is a joke, but it's all we have to hang our hats on."

Thurston said if the city sells Riverlore, the city might as well also sell nearby St. Mary's park.

Ponting shot back, "Why are you so hell-bent to keep Riverlore?"

Councilman Bobby Whitaker said the council hasn't agreed to sell it yet. He said a few hundred thousand dollars from sale of the mansion would be gone from city coffers very quickly.

Councilman Elbert Purchase said the many legal fees the city has paid recently would have easily covered the cost of maintaining Riverlore.

Weddings and special events are sometimes held at Riverlore. Farris offered no net gain or cost figures on the property. It sits across Washington Avenue from Magnolia Manor, which is regularly open to the public, and is more self-sufficient. Magnolia Manor is not owned or controlled by the city.

Last week the council approved having Farris ask Southern Illinois University Carbondale for help. Farris reported the SIUC officials felt they had their hands full working to improve Fort Defiance Park at the rivers' confluence.

Farris received council approval Tuesday to contact professional real estate agents about selling Riverlore.

As they discussed finances, Thurston told the mayor, "This has been your show for two years, and you've sunk the ship."

Budget cuts

Last week Farris asked the council to suggest budget cuts. Thurston Tuesday proposed a hiring freeze and layoff of all part-time and temporary workers. He also proposed a complete pay cut for the mayor and council, to save $56,000 a year, and a complete insurance cut for the council, mayor and city attorney, to save another $41,000, and lesser reductions involving department heads, for a total savings of $117,000 a year.

O'Shea said cutting salary or benefits of an elected official is probably not possible without their consent, and perhaps not even with consent. Thurston suggested to The Southern if their pay cannot be changed until the end of their terms, council members could voluntarily return part or all of their pay. The council did not discuss Thurston's proposal.

Thurston's memo blasted Farris, saying, "From day one as finance commissioner, I have told the mayor there has to be cuts. Each time it seemed like that meant hire more and spend more.

"It seems we have been under a dictatorship for the last two years. I blame this on the courts for allowing the mayor to do what and how he wants."

Donations

Farris said he wants to know why the former head of the Cairo Drug Task Force received a $3,500 city check from the task force's own fund with a notation "Donation to Riverlore."

The check to Bobby Simmons was written in November 2000, along with another to the Riverlore Society for $1,000, from the Drug Task Force fund, also noted as a donation.

Former Mayor James Wilson told The Southern Illinoisan that when the task force confiscated a large sum of money, the money was donated to the schools and at least 20 different charities. Wilson insisted there was absolutely nothing improper about the checks, and called Farris' comments an effort to get the attention off the city's large pile of current lawsuits and unpaid bills.

Farris distributed copies of the checks, telling council members tersely that "there will be an investigation," with no further explanation.

Councilwoman Linda Jackson said the city's audit firm is asking approval of the 2003 audit, so it can begin the 2004 audit. Jackson says the firm wants a disclaimer on the approval that Mayor Farris chose not to disclose what they asked regarding allegations against him.

Labor talks

Negotiations have continued with the union representing Cairo police. Tuesday Farris said a proposal was ready, and without elaboration asked for a vote "up or down." The council postponed a decision until the next meeting.

Farris said paying for health care, especially for employees' families, is a problem of "epidemic proportions."

Councilman Elbert "Bo" Purchase asked why "we just hired five street employees if there's a hiring freeze."

When Whitaker and O'Shea's voices became loud during a procedural question, Thurston left, saying, "Holler when you want to save some money."

O'Shea's secretary is paid to take and type minutes of council meetings, a job that typically would be done by the city clerk. Farris told the council, "You all act like $67 to get the minutes in order is a big thing, when we should be more concerned with many thousands of dollars."

Ponting noted Cairo's spate of bad media attention lately "makes us the laughing stock of the area."

Farris said he was well aware of the problem. He said media stories are generally 50 percent true. He spent four hours on the phone with a reporter who called him recently on a Sunday afternoon.

"People used to believe the Sabbath was a day of rest," he said of the call. "Others just have no respect."

Farris distributed, without comment, copies of a three-page personal letter from Louise Ogg of the Custom House Museum, saying "You and your administration have done more to hurt the town of Cairo than any other administration I have ever known. I will do everything in my power to not let you close the museum."

Farris had issued orders to utility companies to disconnect phone, water and power to both Riverlore and the Custom House Museum. The power company and the water company (which provides water to the museum for free) declined to shut off utilities without the full council's consent.

The phone company disconnected the Custom House phone last week. Since then calls to the old number give a recording that the line is being checked for trouble. Ogg has installed a new line for the Custom House, but was unable to regain control of the old number, which is listed in thousands of both local and state tourism guides. Meanwhile, the current number for the Custom House is (618) 734-9632.

Several federal and state tourism grants have recently helped with Custom House improvements.

In a final piece of bad news, the Greyhound Bus Co. notified the council buses will no longer stop in Cairo after October. Greyhound offered no reason, but mentioned city subsidies might keep the bus stop open. Subsidies were not discussed.