Washington City Council Member Fran Stigers has released a statement following comments that were made toward him during the December 7th council meeting.
Following the announcement of her resignation from the council effective at the end of January, Ward One Representative Danielle Pettit-Majewski expressed the disrespect that she felt from Stigers, claiming that he contacted the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and Johnson County Attorney insinuating a lack of integrity, as she has been the county’s public health director since August. When asked, Stigers gave no response during the council meeting, but he gave a written statement to KCII Thursday, stating that “The only person I had contact with, in Johnson County, was Supervisor Jon Greene via email. I asked him a very simple question. And I quote, ‘Do Johnson County employees have to reside in Johnson County?’ I never mentioned anyone’s name. I asked a simple question in general form. In Mr. Green’s response he mentioned ‘Danielle’s’ name. After beating around the bush, I asked him to just answer the question. He informed that the answer to my question was ‘No.’”
Stigers later goes on to state, “The verbal attack by Danielle towards me is one of several I have endured since her appointment. She has never liked me, nor truly communicated with me in an honest way. She stated that she was staying around to, ‘ensure that we have a strong candidate come in as an administrator.’ Thank you for the slap in the face to the council as a whole.”
Stigers also says that Pettit-Majewski’s decision to stay on the council for the last few months will directly cost the city taxpayers for special election that “really didn’t have to happen.” Washington County Auditor Dan Widmer tells KCII there are several factors that go into holding a special election, and there’s no certainty that if she had resigned in August that the city would have been able to put her seat on the November election ballot. The council has not taken action toward holding a special election filling the upcoming vacancy by appointment. The term expires December of 2023. You can read Stigers’ full statement below.
