How Patty Gregory is preparing to establish her administration as mayor of Belleville
When the Belleville City Council convenes on May 3, council members will see a new face leading the meeting for the first time in 16 years.
Mayor-elect Patty Gregory, the founder and executive director of Art on the Square, defeated longtime incumbent Mayor Mark Eckert and write-in candidate Jeffrey “J.D.” Dixon in Tuesday’s mayoral election and she is now preparing for her new assignment.
Gregory, 67, said her top priorities as mayor include economic development, housing, infrastructure and public safety.
Gregory said she will draw on her experience as a veteran teacher and her work in leading Art on the Square, the annual art show that takes over the Public Square in downtown Belleville.
“We should always be in the improvement business, which teachers are,” Gregory said. “We should always be monitoring our results with grading basically like a teacher does every day, setting goals and objectives.
“We need to be thinking long term and we need to be using our money wisely. This is all part of moving a city forward. I’ve always thought long term on every project and what is it going to be in 10 years.”
As far as her goals to improve the city’s economy, Gregory said she wants to create an economic development committee that would include area business owners, bankers and community leaders.
“We do not want to lose more businesses and these people are here willing to help,” she said. “Let’s take their help. Let’s take their expertise. They know what they’re doing.”
Art on the Square
Gregory’s name has been synonymous with Art on the Square, which she founded and has served as executive director since 2002. This year’s show is scheduled for Oct. 22-24.
Gregory said that since she won the mayor’s election, the Art on the Square committee will handle operations for this year’s show and expects to name a new executive director after the October event.
For her part, Gregory said she will probably be the “honorary” director of the 20th anniversary edition of the show on the Public Square in downtown Belleville. Last year’s show was canceled because of the pandemic. This year’s show was rescheduled for October instead of May when the show usually is held.
“I will not be doing the things that I’ve done before,” she said of running the art show.
Q&A with a new mayor
Gregory, who will be the first female mayor in the city’s history, is scheduled to be sworn into office on May 1 and preside over her first City Council meeting on May 3. She received 2,757 (55%) votes to defeat Eckert, who had 2,086 (42%) votes. Dixon had 33 write-in votes, according to unofficial election results from Tuesday.
The final vote totals will be certified later this month after St. Clair County counts mail-in and provisional ballots that were not counted on Tuesday night.
In an interview with the BND, Gregory addressed questions regarding the establishment of her administration and city issues before she takes office:
You said during the campaign that you would like to see an audit of TIF 3 funding before working to extend the district for 12 more years as proposed by the city. Will you ask the council to pay for an audit?
Gregory said she wants an audit of the TIF 3 fund and added that “Economically, we will probably have to extend it.”
In a TIF district, property values in the district are frozen for a time period and any additional revenue generated by a rise in property values is channeled into a special fund earmarked for infrastructure improvements and economic incentives in the district.
She said if the business climate in the city improves, then the city could look for ways to “wean” itself off of TIF districts. TIF 3 was created in 1986 and covers most of the city.
Do you have plans to change department heads?
Gregory did not say whether she would immediately change and of the city’s 16 department heads but said wants to talk to all of them.
“I plan to listen to their ideas on how we could function better,” she said.
As part of her campaign, Gregory said she wanted more police patrols on the streets. What changes would you want the police department to make and why?
“Well, first of all, I think my … first conversation with the police department is going to be, ‘What do you see that is happening right now that you would like to change, and how can we help working together to facilitate that change?’” Gregory said.
“’Tell me what you need. Tell me how we can improve community policing. You are the people out on the streets every day.’ So I think it’s really important, not only just with public safety, but to listen to, to all departments, they’re the people that have been doing the jobs.”
What is your message to the aldermen who did not support you in your mayoral election?
“I am willing to work with them,” Gregory said.
Gregory said she hopes that when she meets with the aldermen she can find common ground with them.
“A city cannot stand if it eats itself within and that is why I’m hoping for great cooperation. I am willing to meet people in the middle. I am willing to listen,” she said.
“I am not a person that if you disagreed with me five years ago, I’m never going to talk to you again. That’s not how you move things. I am very excited to be working with all the aldermen and I hope that they have that same opinion of me. Obstruction does not move a city.”
Do you plan to make changes to the aldermen assigned to committees?
“I would say it’s a little early for me to make final decisions but I do expect some changes,” she said.
The voter turnout for Tuesday’s mayoral election was 15%. The turnout in mayoral elections in recent years has ranged from 12% to 24%. Do you have any ideas to improve voter turnout?
Gregory called the voter turnout percentages “sad.”
“If you are a citizen of this community, and you want to see change, ... you need to make your voices heard,” Gregory said. “You cannot sit back and just say, ‘Oh, somebody else can make the decision.’”
Gregory said she has met teenagers who just voted for the first time and she hopes to tap into their enthusiasm in a youth task force she wants to establish.
“We need to grab people at a young age, give them the emotional buy in to come back after college and do good things for their community,” Gregory said. “Give our young people a chance to believe in Belleville and to stay here and be part of this community for many years to come.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "How Patty Gregory is preparing to establish her administration as mayor of Belleville."
