Belleville mayor plans to run for re-election in the spring
Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory said Tuesday she plans to run for re-election in the April municipal elections and expects to announce a slate of candidates later this month.
She will have at least one challenger: City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer said last week she intends to run for mayor.
Gregory, 70, became Belleville’s first female mayor by defeating former Mayor Mark Eckert in April 2021. Eckert died in June 2023.
When asked about facing another City Hall official in the election, Gregory said, “Everybody has the prerogative to run, and Jenny and I get along, and you know, that’s how we do a democracy.”
Gregory said she is running again “because I think I’ve accomplished a lot.”
Gregory said under her watch the city was able to get TIF 3 extended for 12 years to 2033; purchase the former Lindenwood University Belleville and convert it into the Southwestern Illinois Justice & Workforce Development Campus; and land new contracts for police officers and firefighters.
“So we have been moving on and on, and that’s just some of the things that were done in the first six months,” Gregory said in an interview after the Belleville City Council meeting Tuesday night. “I want to continue that growth for Belleville. I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward, and that’s my intention, to do that when I’m in the second term as mayor.”
Before running for mayor, Gregory was the founder and executive director of Art on the Square festival in downtown Belleville and she was a teacher.
The municipal election is set for April 1, 2025. Candidates were allowed to begin collecting petitions on Aug. 20.
This story was originally published September 4, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
