2 New Orleans Council Members Skip Meeting

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two New Orleans City Council members are staying away from the latest council meeting — effectively blocking the council from conducting business.

Jon Johnson and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell had walked out of a council meeting earlier this month. With one council vacancy unfilled, the council had too few members present to conduct business.

The two stayed away from a special called meeting Wednesday.

At issue has been a proposed change in the way voters fill city-wide council posts. The change could increase the chances of electing more blacks to the council. The city is majority black but Johnson and Hedge-Morrell currently the only two African-American's on the seven-member council.