An Erlanger councilwoman says Mayor Jessica Fette cut off her direct line to city staff, rerouting her emails and leaving her to rely on public-records requests just to get basic answers about city business. Jennifer Jasper-Lucas says the restrictions have made it harder to do her job on council, and a former city IT worker has come forward with his own allegations about how one of her records requests was handled behind the scenes.
Jasper-Lucas told FOX19 Now that the mayor's office set up automatic forwarding so that her emails to city staff were routed straight to Fette. She said she had repeatedly sought information because she often was not getting responses, and that some of her questions were being asked on behalf of Erlanger residents. The emails she provided to the station touched on city infrastructure, fiscal responsibility and community service, she said.
The dispute traces back to a four-page memo Fette distributed to council members on May 21, according to LINK nky. That memo alleged Jasper-Lucas's interactions with city employees had created a hostile workplace and disrupted municipal operations, and it required her to route requests for records, operational information and administrative inquiries through the mayor, the city administrator or the city attorney rather than contacting staff directly.
Mayor Spent 43 Minutes Defending the Memo
At a council caucus meeting in June, Fette spent roughly 43 minutes reading and defending the memo and its supporting evidence, the outlet reported. Jasper-Lucas countered that the restrictions interfered with her ability to perform legislative oversight and respond to residents' concerns. The meeting ultimately adjourned without formal action, and council members remained divided over whether the memo protected city operations or improperly limited her information-gathering role.
Erlanger meeting records show the disagreement did not end there. Caucus minutes note that Fette later addressed a June 2 response Jasper-Lucas presented during a regular council meeting concerning the mayor's memo and her communications with staff, according to the city's own records.
Jasper-Lucas told FOX19 Now that open-records requests were sometimes the only way council members could get accurate information out of city hall — and one of those requests is now at the center of a separate allegation.
Former IT Worker Alleges Records Were Altered
Jim White, who said he served as the City of Erlanger's IT specialist responsible for pulling open-records requests for six years, told the station that his supervisor asked him to remove page numbers from pages in a particular email thread. White said that what actually happened went further: 27 pages of an open-records request were removed entirely, not just renumbered. Jasper-Lucas said she never received that request.
White said he consulted a lawyer who told him the mayor's actions were illegal, and that he then contacted the Kentucky Attorney General's office as a whistleblower to protect his job. The Attorney General's office told FOX19 Now it could neither confirm nor deny an investigation at that point, and sources said an investigation was ongoing. FOX19 Now reported that Fette had not responded to its repeated requests for comment.
Kentucky law separately addresses two threads raised by the allegations. KRS 61.102, maintained by the Kentucky General Assembly, prohibits reprisal against a public employee for disclosing violations of law, while KRS 61.872 addresses the right of Kentucky residents to inspect public records.
Eons Park Questions Add to Transparency Concerns
The staffing fight is not the only transparency question swirling around Erlanger city hall this year. Former council member Corine Pitts said a memorandum of understanding between the city and Eons Park that was supposed to come before council for a vote has not been forthcoming from the administration, as reported by NKyTribune. Council members Rebecca Reckers and Jasper-Lucas both raised the MOU as a concern as questions about transparency have grown, the outlet reported.
On the water-testing question tied to the same project, Fette said the city had not tested water in Eons Park parcels 2, 3 and 4 because construction had not yet started in that area. Whether the MOU was later brought to council, or whether water testing eventually took place, is not addressed in the available record.
Both Fette and Jasper-Lucas are seeking reelection in the coming weeks, FOX19 Now reported. LINK nky reported that Fette is facing a challenge from Diana Niceley. The city council meeting in June ended without resolving the underlying disagreement over whether Fette's restrictions were a necessary safeguard for staff or an improper limit on a sitting councilwoman's ability to do her job — a question that now carries directly into the campaign.
