Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette publicly defended a memo at this week’s council meeting alleging that concerns about Councilwoman Jennifer Jasper-Lucas’ interactions with city employees had escalated into a hostile workplace, disrupted municipal operations and deteriorated staff morale.
The exchange lasted over an hour.
“We are only discussing this publicly now because she (Jasper-Lucas) refuses to take responsibility for her own actions,” Fette said during the meeting. “This is not retaliation, this is leadership.”
According to the mayor’s memo, multiple city employees raised concerns over what the administration described as excessive and repetitive requests for information, accusatory correspondence, operational inquiries directed to employees outside a council member’s authority, and repeated involvement in administrative matters typically handled by the city’s executive branch.
The memo further states that employees reported disruptions to daily operations, increasing frustration among staff and concerns about maintaining a professional workplace environment.
The four-page memo was distributed to council members on May 21. Jasper-Lucas had briefly addressed the memo and her protestations against it at the meeting on June 2, but the memo became the focus of the caucus meeting this week, where Fette spent roughly 43 minutes reading and defending the document and its supporting evidence.
During the presentation, Jasper-Lucas repeatedly objected to the mayor’s characterization of her conduct and at one point stood from her seat and said, “I am not gonna sit here and listen to this.”
Shortly thereafter, Jasper-Lucas returned to her seat to continue listening to the memo in its entirety.
Fette wrote that employees had reported concerns about “unreasonable expectations surrounding response times” and what staff described as an increasingly disrespectful tone in communications.”
The document further states that city employees had been required to divert “substantial time and resources away from their primary operational responsibilities” to respond to what the administration considered duplicative requests. According to the memo, staff members reported that the pattern had become disruptive to city operations and detrimental to employee morale.
“The situation has now reached a level where multiple employees have discussed leaving their positions because of the ongoing nature of these interactions,” the memo states. “That is unacceptable.”
In a phone call with LINK nky, Fette stated she had allowed city department heads to not come to council meetings for fear of criticism from certain council members.
“They’re all operating in fear,” Fette told LINK nky.
This particular dispute centers on a directive issued by Fette requiring Jasper-Lucas to route requests for records, operational information and administrative inquiries through the mayor, city administrator or city attorney rather than communicating directly with city staff.
Much of the discussion focused on email exchanges between Jasper-Lucas and City Administrator Mark Collier. Fette cited emails in which Collier requested that operational questions be routed through him so staff responses could be coordinated efficiently. Jasper-Lucas responded in one email that she was elected by taxpayers rather than the administration and would continue directing questions to what she considered the most appropriate department.
The mayor argued the communication protocol was necessary to protect employees and preserve an efficient workplace, while Jasper-Lucas maintained the restrictions interfere with her ability to perform legislative oversight and respond to residents’ concerns.
At the council meeting on June 2, Jasper-Lucas questioned the city’s transparency regarding passport processing services (which were recently ceased to save the city money), the amount of resources dedicated to the new Eons park project, historical park spending, infrastructure concerns on Oxford Court and other municipal issues.
On Tuesday, Fette responded to each of those questions individually while defending the city’s handling of the matters. Still, Jasper-Lucas argued that the responses came too late and should have been answered sooner and argued that many of the questions she asks originate from residents seeking information about city projects and spending decisions.
Fette said the interaction demonstrated a refusal to respect the city’s administrative structure. Jasper-Lucas countered that the emails reflected frustration over delayed responses and maintained that asking questions of city staff is part of her responsibility as an elected official.
“It is exhausting being the person that residents reach out to when they have questions,” Jasper-Lucas said. “A lot of the information I ask for isn’t anything that I wanted.”
Several council members later criticized the mayor’s handling of the issue. Councilwoman Rebecca Reckers questioned why the memo was initially distributed through City Attorney Jack Gatlin and argued that some of the information at issue should have been provided sooner. Councilwoman Diana Niceley called the meeting “embarrassing” and said council members should be treated with respect even when disagreements occur.
The dispute is also contextualized by this year’s election. Fette is running for reelection as the city’s mayor and is being challenged by Niceley, whom Jasper-Lucas supports. Jasper-Lucas is running for reelection to council.
Councilwoman Michele Fields said she was glad the issue had been “brought to light” publicly and described what she viewed as a decline in employee morale during her time on council, adding that she’d observed similar delays and communication problems in her time on council.
Jasper-Lucas later delivered a written statement to LINK nky, a transcript of which you can read here, where she says “my focus has always been on analyzing processes, improving systems and finding efficiencies for our residents—never on attacking the personnel who keep our city running.”
The dispute shifts attention toward a broader question about the division of authority in Erlanger’s mayor-council form of government, the most common municipal structure in Northern Kentucky.
In mayor-council governments, city councils function as the legislative branch, responsible for passing ordinances, setting tax policies, approving budgets and allocating funding for services such as police, fire and public works.
The mayor serves as the city’s chief executive officer and oversees administration and personnel. While some cities employ full-time city administrators to manage daily operations, those officials serve in an administrative role and do not possess legislative authority.
That distinction was at the center of Tuesday’s debate. Fette argued that Jasper-Lucas’ repeated requests and direct communications with staff crossed into operational matters that fall under the executive branch of government. Jasper-Lucas, meanwhile, maintained that asking questions, requesting records and seeking information from city departments are essential parts of legislative oversight and representing residents.
Similar questions about executive and legislative authority have surfaced elsewhere in Northern Kentucky.
In Ludlow, disagreements between Mayor Sarah Thompson and members of city council over the appointment of a city administrator sparked public debate about the powers granted to mayors under Kentucky’s mayor-council system. Thompson argued that state law gives mayors broad authority in recruiting and appointing administrative officers, while some council members questioned whether the hiring process had been conducted appropriately.
While the issues in Erlanger and Ludlow involve different circumstances, both disputes illustrate how disagreements over the boundaries between legislative and executive branches of government can become conflicts in mayor-council governments.
After the discussion, council members remained divided over whether Fette’s memo represented a necessary effort to protect employees and city operations or an inappropriate limitation on a council member’s ability to gather information and represent constituents. The meeting adjourned without formal action.
Watch the full exchange below.
Nathan Granger contributed reporting to this story.
This story has been updated.
