JENNINGS 鈥 A city councilwoman here is suing the city for ignoring multiple Sunshine Law requests for public records the mayor allegedly refused to share with his opponents on the council.
Councilwoman Nadia Quinn filed six public records requests between August and December for records including city contracts, expenses, emails and property records, but did not receive any formal response, according to a lawsuit filed this month in 狐狸视频 County.
Quinn said in an interview that she requested records concerning decisions Mayor Gary Johnson refused to inform the council about, including hiring a public relations firm and granting funds to residents and private contractors to trim trees.
鈥淚 should not even have to be filing Sunshine requests,鈥 Quinn said. 鈥淎s an elected official I should be able to request the documents I need to vote on the things I鈥檓 being asked to vote on.鈥
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Johnson would not respond to the allegations. But he said the lawsuit was meant to distract from 鈥減ositive鈥 developments in the city, including the tree-trimming grants, entrepreneurship grants for small businesses and redevelopment of vacant buildings.
鈥淚 have no comment on anything negative in the city of Jennings,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e providing resources for our residents and cleaning up our community.鈥
The lawsuit is at least the second time Jennings officials have sued one another amid infighting between Johnson and council members in the city of about 13,000 residents.
It is also the latest complaint that leaders in a north 狐狸视频 County municipality aren鈥檛 sharing information with other elected officials. Four Pine Lawn aldermen sued several city officials last month for not making city records of public spending available to them. In Bellerive Acres, an alderwoman has alleged the mayor told a business not to provide her information about invoices regarding work it did for the city.
The rift in Jennings emerged after Johnson narrowly defeated Mayor Yolanda Austin in the April 2023 election, during which Johnson had accused Austin of misspending.
Since then, Johnson has feuded with the council majority, which includes Quinn and Councilman Terry Wilson, Austin鈥檚 son. They have fought over a range of personnel decisions and city spending, including an $11 million contract for a new city hall and community center. At times, they have held separate meetings without including the other group.
This summer, Johnson directed the city to sue the council majority over a contentious August meeting that prompted a shoving match between the mayor and a council member. Johnson alleged the council violated Missouri public meeting laws by holding the Aug. 18 emergency council meeting to reinstate several city employees. In November, a county judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that suits for violations of the state鈥檚 open meeting law can be brought by Missouri taxpayers and citizens, the Missouri attorney general or a prosecutor, but not a local government.
The law requires public access to government records, with limited exceptions, and requires governments acknowledge formal records requests within three days or give a detailed explanation why the government can鈥檛 fulfill the request in a timely manner and provide an estimated time and date when the records will be released.
In her lawsuit, Quinn said Jennings never acknowledged the requests nor responded to follow-up emails.
The lawsuit alleges the city withheld records to conceal 鈥渋llegal and unethical acts鈥 by Johnson, two of his council allies and the city attorney, who represented the city when it sued Quinn and other council members. The lawsuit did not provide more details.
Quinn, in an interview, did not provide more details about the allegation.
Quinn filed the first of the requests August 22, seeking public records including government communications, contracts, meeting minutes, recordings of virtual meetings, emails, citations, occupancy permits, and property auction and financial records, according to the suit.
She filed two similar requests Sept. 5, and a fourth, for occupancy permits for various properties, at an unspecified date. During a Sept. 28 public meeting, Johnson asked Quinn why she requested the documents and told her he had no intention of honoring the request, the lawsuit said.
On Dec. 18, Quinn requested security camera footage and documents about a ward meeting at city hall that occurred two days earlier. She sent another request Jan. 4 for records including financial reports, city expenses and documents about vacant properties in the city.
Her suit also names city clerks Teresa Hauser and Keshia Hicks as defendants.
Hauser declined comment. Hicks could not immediately be reached.