An ongoing beef between a former candidate for Joplin city council and a long-time sitting member and former Mayor continued Monday night at the council’s bi-weekly meeting.

In April, Joplin school teacher Brian Evans lost a bid for Joplin city council by just 13-votes. Evans requested a recount which didn’t change the 13-vote tally. Regardless he’s continued to attend council meetings paying particular attention to the city’s budget.

One of Evans’s claims is that because the city has used the same auditing firm for a handful of years, there could be a heightened possibility of impropriety. Evans and Council member Phil Stinnett continued their verbal barbs Monday night.

Evans “I promise you I watch everything. It doesn’t change the fact that there was an error.” Stinnett “Mr. Evans, I’m not going to respond publicly. I will ask, and I’m continuing to ask for information about every email that’s been sent, and when I have all the information, I will be glad to share it all with you.” Evans “Did you not say that 99.9% of the stuff that I put out was misinformation.?” Stinnett “I probably did say that.”

The Joplin city council will meet again tonight for another work session to concerning the 2023 budget. The meeting gets underway tonight at 5:45.