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Forest Park public comment: no-confidence letter in public works deferred as personnel matter

City of Forest Park City Council · January 5, 2026

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Summary

A public commenter said Public Works employees drafted a letter expressing 'no confidence' in the department director, but the council and city attorney ruled the topic out of order for public comment and asked the speaker to take the matter up with staff outside the meeting.

During the Jan. 5 regular meeting, resident Michael Cotton told the council that employees in the Public Works Department had composed a "letter of no confidence" in the department’s director.

City attorneys and council members responded that personnel matters are not within the scope of public comment and are addressed through the city's administrative procedures. The mayor and legal staff declined to allow Cotton to read the letter during the public-comment period and asked him to meet with staff afterward to follow up.

Council members acknowledged Cotton’s concern about low morale in Public Works but emphasized the procedural limit: public comments must concern items within the governing body's jurisdiction and not pending personnel matters. No formal action, investigation, or vote on the allegation occurred during the meeting.