Patty Gregory takes office as Belleville’s first female mayor
Mayor-elect Patty Gregory took center stage in the Belleville City Council chambers on Friday afternoon to take the oath of office to be the city’s first female mayor.
Although her swearing-in ceremony took place on Friday, Gregory officially started her four-year term at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
The founder of Art on Square won the April 6 election against longtime incumbent Mark Eckert and write-in candidate Jeffrey “J.D.” Dixon.
Gregory, 67, spoke to about 50 family members and friends and thanked them for their support.
As she told them how much she had “a love” for living in Belleville, her voice began to break.
“It’s been a part of my life for so long as all of you have been part of my life for so long,” she said. “I just want you to know how much I care for all of you and I’m grateful for your support, your helpfulness and how we are going to be working together in the future.”
Gregory acknowledged the history she was making as the first woman to lead the 207-year-old city.
“You know, as the first female mayor of Belleville, it’s exciting to see women in more official capacities,” she said. “We’re very fortunate that we have several new women on the City Council and several women as elected officials and we can do great things together.”
To highlight the theme of women in government, the oath was administered by retired 20th Judicial Circuit Judge Annette Eckert, who was elected in 2002 as the first woman judge in the 20th Circuit, which includes St. Clair County.
Judge Eckert said she was flattered to be chosen by Gregory to administer the oath.
“I think there’s some significance to the two of us doing this together, and I was really proud to be able to do this job for her as she embarks on becoming our first woman mayor. It’s a real honor for me to do that,” Judge Eckert said.
When Gregory convenes her first City Council meeting on Monday night, there will be five women on the 16-member board, and women also will hold the citywide offices of city clerk and treasurer.
City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer ran unopposed in her re-election bid, and Sarah Biermann defeated incumbent Treasurer Dean Hardt to win the treasurer’s race.
Gregory said she expects other elected officials to be sworn into office Saturday morning.
In an interview after the swearing-in ceremony, Gregory praised Mark Eckert for his 16 years of service as the mayor of Belleville. She also said she plans to give aldermen information on Saturday about the persons she wants to serve as department heads.
Here are the eight City Council members who were elected on April 6:
Ward 1: Bryan Whitaker
Ward 2: Jamie Eros
Ward 3: Kent Randle
Ward 4: Johnnie Anthony
Ward 5: Michelle “Shelly” Schaefer
Ward 6: Mary Stiehl
Ward 7: Dennis Weygandt
Ward 8: Nora Sullivan
They join the following aldermen whose terms expire in 2023: Joe Hazel, Ward 1; Carmen Duco, Ward 2; Scott Ferguson, Ward 3; Raffi Ovian, Ward 4; Ed Dintelman, Ward 5; Chris Rothweiler, Ward 6; Phil Elmore, Ward 7; and Roger Wigginton, Ward 8.
Ken Kinsella of Ward 1, David Pusa of Ward 2 and Roger Barfield of Ward 8 did not run for re-election this year.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 6:47 PM.
