CAIRO, Ga. (WCTV) - A Cairo councilman is raising concerns after Cairo’s Mayor Booker T. Gainor IV announced his resignation on Friday to accept a position as interim city manager.

In a 3-2 split, the Cairo City Council voted last week to appoint Gainor as the interim city manager.

The vote came after Councilman Charles Renaud made a motion to appoint the city clerk as interim city manager. That motion ultimately failed.

Renaud said appointing Gainor to the interim position will force the city to pay $15,000 to hold a special election for his replacement as mayor. That’s because Gainor had more than six months left in his term.

“Not having to do a special election, we can pay a stipend to the clerk, which will save us a lot of money up until the time we hire somebody,” Renaud said.

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On the other hand, Gainor said he looks forward to serving in the role, but he understands Renaud’s point.

“It’s a valid concern,” he said.

Gainor said he’s looking for ways to offset the price of a special election.

“Find cost-savings within the city manager’s budget, that’s already been voted on and approved,” Gainor said. “So, we’re going to go in and carve out those funds to pay for the special election.”

Questioning the vote, Renaud announced during last week’s meeting he plans to file public records requests for council members.

“I will, formally, ask for any communication - emails and texts - between any councilman that was made prior to this meeting,” Renaud said.

Councilwoman Annette Higdon made the initial motion to appoint Gainor. She said she is open to a public records request.

“I have nothing to hide,” Higdon said. “Because everything we do and everything we say is open. It’s open to the public.”

Gainor said he is open to a public records request, citing transparency for the community.

Last week’s 3-2 vote also included hiring a third-party company to lead the search for a permanent city manager.

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