JENNINGS, Mo. – The mayor of Jennings heard from supporters during a public hearing despite not having enough city councilmen to hold an official city council meeting.
The majority of the council expressed confusion over the multiple different meeting agendas that had been posted in the hours prior.
Councilwoman Nadia Quinn (Ward 4) said the meeting agenda was posted 24 hours in advance, in compliance with Missouri’s Sunshine Law. However, there were multiple changes being made, and no one knew which agenda to follow.
Quinn was one of five council members to boycott the meeting and did not attend because of the confusion.
In the latest published agenda, it did not recognize a prior emergency meeting that was held on Aug. 18, where the council tried to reverse terminations and offer people their jobs back.
Quinn said the majority of the council wanted to confirm Aug. 18’s meeting minutes and make everything official.
“We’re so tied up in trying to figure out how to hold a meeting and what’s going to be on that meeting, and what kind of games will we have to weed through to do what needs to be done,” Quinn said.
While Quinn and the others refused to attend, supporters of Mayor Gary Johnson showed up and packed Jennings City Hall to show their support.
“I thought I was going to get a chance to address the council of Jennings, but since they’re not here, I would like to give you a vote of confidence from me personally,” a resident told the mayor.
The support comes after Quinn and four other city council members sent a No Confidence letter to the mayor last week.
Quinn said she had planned to read the letter and ask the mayor to resign but did not show up in protest.
“They can stay in the news, but they can’t face members of the public,” Johnson said.
Johnson has denied any wrongdoing and blames a highly contested mayoral election for the city’s tension.
The city’s business was not dealt with on Monday night because there were not enough council members present. It’s unclear if the meeting will be rescheduled.