The mayor, who accused the Cool Valley mayor of abusing his city car and failing to perform his duties, sent an email shortly before impeachment hearings were due to begin Wednesday saying he had “retired from politics.”
A committee of city councilors and their attorneys determined that Mayor Jayson Stewart’s emails did not constitute a formal resignation. The impeachment hearings have continued without him.
Stewart made international headlines when he campaigned in 2020 promising to give each Cool Valley resident $1,000 in bitcoin, failed to create two city budgets for the council of councillors, and refused to return his city car when asked to do so and gas cards, the city councilor said, among other failures.
Stewart returned the vehicle, a high-mileage ex-cop car, on Tuesday night, according to Cool Valley clerks.
The Missouri Comptroller confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating Cool Valley based on a whistleblower complaint.
