CAIRO- Cairo City Council met on Monday night, where Mayor Booker T. Gainor set forth a new list of desired DDA members after the Council voted to reset the DDA during the April meeting. However, he was met with pushback from District 5 Council Member, Charles Renaud, who said he did not believe it aligned with the city charter.
“It was not done correctly, and I move to table this,” Renaud told the Council.
Gainor asked Renaud for clarification on what didn’t meet the Cairo City Charter standards.
“The Board, the five members are charged with recommending and putting people on the Authority, not the Mayor,” Renaud said. “The way this is presented says the Mayor has nominated all these people and vetted all these people.”
Renaud pointed out that a similar list had recently been presented, claiming the Board approved the list of individuals and he questioned it. When asked who approved the list, Renaud said he was informed Gainor had.
“It wasn’t me,” Renaud said. “You’re ignoring my 20 percent constituency because I never asked about any of these people, and if I had been I would’ve brought up objections or my opinion about somebody else.”
Renaud explained because the list had been done improperly now, twice, he felt it should be tabled for further discussion.
Renaud brought further concerns about the DDA regarding a letter received this week.
“If we keep going down this path and spending the taxpayers money and citizens’ money, we are going to get sued,” he said. “We have been told this by our council and by their council.”
Renaud went on to say the simplest solution is often the best. He referred to the April 8, 2024 meeting where he suggested appointing people to the DDA Board, when members rolled off, as done in years prior.
“I’ve said this before and just got crickets,” he lamented. “As a person, I have no problem with anyone on this board, but as a City Councilman, I was elected to do things by this charter, and what we are doing is wrong.”
Gainor appreciated Renaud’s input but told him he was no longer adhering to the agenda and argued that Renaud was on the email with the list of potential DDA members, requesting input.
“If you go read the email word for word, it says your input is welcome,” he said. “If you remember correctly, the City Attorney made a recommendation to turn it over to me to find a resolution to the situation.”
Renaud told Gainor that the City Attorney’s recommendation still didn’t make it right.
The City Attorney, Tom Lehman, who was in attendance at the meeting then spoke out, claiming he did not say that.
“I said to refer it to a committee,” he pointed out. “You didn’t follow my recommendation.”
Hearing Lehman’s remarks, Gainor told the Council he was not going to go back and forth, as the Council had an agenda to follow.
“If you want to make a motion to table this, you have every right to do so,” Gainor told Renaud. “As far as how we got into this situation, we all have a lot of differing opinions, but the same charter you are reading is the same charter we are all going by.”
Despite not wanting to go back and forth, Gainor and Renaud exchanged words over the removal of members from the DDA due to them not taking an oath.
However, Gainor quickly regained control asking once again for a motion from Renaud to table the vote for approval of appointees to the DDA.
Renaud made the motion, with District 4’s Jimmy Douglas seconding the motion. It was approved for the discussion to be held at a later time.
District 2’s Demario Byrden then requested it be un-tabled and brought back forth in a motion. The motion passed 3-2, with Renaud and Douglas as the dissenters.
Gainor then read the six individuals he would like to appoint to the DDA
Councilwoman Annette Higdon made a motion to approve the list, with Councilman Tim Gurley seconding the motion.
Gainor asked for any further discussion, which is when Renaud said he believed there was malfeasance and requested an investigation be conducted on Gainor.
“The time for you to know your role is now, and the time for us to do our job is now,” Renaud said.
Gainor proceeded with the remainder of the meeting, asking once again for the approval of the DDA members. Douglas and Renaud voted against the approval of the list, with Gainor breaking the tie and approving the list.