ST. JOHNS, Mich. — On April 24, former St. Johns Mayor Roberta Cocco resigned from her position with claims that she was experiencing resistance, hostility and transparency issues from city officials.
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Now, the St. Johns City Commission has responded to her claims.
First, the commission's statement said that Cocco stated interim City Manager Kristina Kinde should be reprimanded for allegedly using profane language during a city meeting. The city says they reviewed the video and found that no profane language was used.
The city also responded to allegations that Kinde "gave herself an uncontested 5% raise."
The city said Cocco was at a meeting where it was discussed and no objections were raised.
I got a chance to talk with Cocco about some of those allegations, including the pay raise.
"I definitely was asking a lot of questions, and there wasn't a lot of temperature to ask questions around it," Cocco said.
Cocco claimed she received hostility and resistance from her colleagues when asking for financial information and records.
On Wednesday, she said she was upset that the city was making this about her instead of the community.
"I don't want to be divisive. St. Johns is a wonderful place full of fantastic people," said Cocco. "Our community is becoming more engaged, which is awesome, and asking for clarity and asking for transparency isn't creating conflict, or it shouldn't be."
The City Commission says they stand in support of the Kinde and will not attempt to address each one of Cocco's grievances based on the "accusatory manner."
I reached out to the city and Kinde for more information, but I have not heard back at this time.
You can read the full statement from the city here:
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