JENNINGS, Mo. — Several council members in Jennings are demanding a 'no confidence' vote against the city's mayor.
It comes one week after leaders in the North County city resigned, leading to a chaotic, emergency council meeting. Five council members sent the 'no confidence' letter to Jennings Mayor Gary Johnson on Thursday, Aug. 24.
They claim the mayor is abusing his power and said his actions have been 'erratic' since he took office in April.
Nadia Quinn, Jennings councilwoman of Ward 4, was one of the five who signed the letter.
"I [that] feel it's about time for me to not only stand up for myself, but stand up for everyone else in the City of Jennings that deserve representation. This is wrong," she said.
For Quinn, moving to this North County city was all about rebuilding.
"Jennings to me is second chances," she said.
But the town Quinn and others worked hard to put back on the map is recently making headlines and for all the wrong reasons.
"It's upsetting and it's embarrassing," she said.
It all started one week ago, when several city employees resigned, citing a 'hostile' and 'unethical' work environment. Those employees included the city clerk and city attorney.
The resignations happened after Mayor Gary Johnson called a close session meeting on Aug. 8 regarding hirings and firings.
According to Quinn, the votes didn't pass, but the hirings and firings continued.
"There was no discussion about any of the hirings or terminations at all. We only had four yes [votes] and it takes a majority of the council. We have eight council members - a majority would be five. We did not have five yes [votes],'" she said.
During an emergency city council meeting on Aug. 18, which Quinn said the mayor originally wanted to have, chaos unfolded.
"Why were you trying to stop the meeting that you initially said we needed to have? I just don't understand," she said.
Johnson tried to cancel the meeting and remove the city's recording device for that meeting.
In the 'no confidence' letter that Quinn and other council members signed, they also accused the mayor of assaulting a member of the council.
"This is another one of the many reasons why I have no confidence that our mayor is capable of leading this city," she said.
Allan Stichnote, Jane Brown, Terry Wilson and Jeannine Roberts also signed the 'no confidence' letter sent Thursday.
The five council members mentioned that Johnson violated Sunshine Law a number of times, attempting to hide information from the council and residents.
Something Quinn said she can attest to.
"We’ll ask questions and a lot of the times, the answers that we get are just, 'Trust me' or 'I can't tell you everything right now, but just trust me.' You can only have that kind of faith for so long until you start to want answers," she said.
That's why Quinn and others are fighting for change because they vowed to protect their city.
"This is not personal. This is business. I signed up to protect the residents of Jennings and do what is in the best interests of the City of Jennings, the residents of Jennings and the businesses in Jennings. I did not sign up to protect one person, so right now, until we get the answers that we are asking for, I do not have any confidence that we have the leader that we need," she said.
Last week, 5 On Your Side spoke with a resident who lived in Jennings for 42 years and she said she is finally seeing improvements under Johnson's leadership.
A 'no confidence' vote is expected to take place Monday, Aug. 28 at the city council meeting.
5 On Your Side reached out to Johnson for an interview or statement, but he refused to comment.