JENNINGS, Mo. — Confusion ruled the proceedings of an emergency city council meeting Friday in Jennings.
Mayor Gary Johnson, former city employees, city council members and residents were divided after a chain of accusations, resignations and a controversial August 9 council meeting where Johnson allegedly attempted to terminate city attorney Sam Alton.
This is how Friday's emergency city council meeting began:
"They won't even open the door for us," a Jennings resident said.
Signs posted on the door said that the meeting was canceled.
Moments later, Johnson was seen with St. Louis County police officers with this message for community members: "I just said there is no meeting because we do not have a secretary to take notes. This is a blatant attempt by the old mayor to bombard our meeting. That's all that is. I did not give proper notice of the meeting."
But eventually, Jennings residents made their way inside.
Once seated, council members let it be known there was no recorder for the meeting.
"The recording device that was in the recorder has been taken out by the mayor," one Jennings council member said.
The emergency meeting was reportedly called in order to declare the previous August 9 meeting as "unlawful and ineffective."
"We had a motion and in a second we're going to do a role for the votes," Councilmember Nadia Quinn said.
Councilmembers voted and passed the motion saying the resignations are a personnel issue and would be discussed at a closed meeting. But residents have their own thoughts about what happened Friday.
"Some of these people get checks, and they should know they work for us. Evidently, they forgot it. They called off the meeting, and we're sitting here. I didn't even know he called off the meeting," Jennings resident Judith Moore said.
Justin Herron, a Jennings resident felt differently.
"The council has to come together. The mayor has to come together with the council, and the people in the city have to come together because what is being shown for our right now is totally unacceptable," Herron said.