Sunset Hills mayor 

Mayor Pat Fribis is challenged by Ward 2 Alderman Christine Lieber, a small business owner and insurance agent who has served as alderman since April 2021. 

The Call welcomes Lieber’s energy and her aspirations for the city, and her background in insurance offers a unique approach to finances and other city business. However, we are wary of an alderman already seeking higher office after not even being in their current position a full year and having never previously served in public office before. On top of that, much of her first year as alderman has been conducted outside of city hall, since the Board of Aldermen had been meeting via videochat for the majority of 2021 and the start of 2022. 

The Call is also concerned with Lieber’s calls for transparency and upholding the Sunshine Law when some of her actions as an alderman in the past have been less than. In her questionnaire, Lieber said that as mayor she would have an attorney hold Sunshine Law training for the board. However, at a May 2021 meeting called to educate the then newly-elected aldermen on how to conduct city business in accordance with the Sunshine Law, Lieber said the meeting was unnecessary and could have been avoided with a phone call. This discrepancy between her campaign tenets and her past actions give us pause. 

As a newspaper, understanding the complexities of the Sunshine Law is something more important than what can just be covered on a phone call, and for that reason, The Call endorses Fribis. That isn’t to say that we don’t hope to see more unity between city administration and aldermen moving forward. While it is good that the board is not always lockstep with the recommendations of the administration or staff, some level of unity needs to be rebuilt to continue moving Sunset Hills forward productively. We hope that with the return of in-person meetings some of that unity can be achieved. 

Green Park Ward 2 alderman

Incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Ronald Slattery faces a challenge from Donald Lattray. Lattray did not return The Call’s questionnaire, making him ineligible for endorsement. The Call endorses Slattery. 

Editor’s note: This endorsement has been updated with the correct date of the Sunset Hills meeting last year.