By Verna Slate, Williamson County Bureau
CAMBRIA, Ill. — This small village's board of trustees is bleeding members. Two more Cambria trustees have resigned, leaving half of the six-seat board vacant, following the earlier resignation of trustee Marshall Brown this month, the Southern Illinoisan reports.
That's three empty chairs at the table in a village of this size, where every seat matters for a quorum and every decision — water rates, street repairs, the next budget — gets harder to make with half the usual voices in the room. Small-town boards like Cambria's run on volunteers who take the job for little pay and plenty of grief; when they walk away in bunches, it's worth asking why.
The Southern Illinoisan did not report the reasons behind the latest departures. What happens next — how the village fills those seats, whether by appointment or election — will determine whether Cambria's government can function through the next budget cycle. This county has seen small-town boards struggle before; a board with half its members gone is a story worth watching closely.
— Reporting by the Southern Illinoisan.
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