The Crestwood Board of Aldermen certified the April 8 election results at its April 22 meeting, accepting Megan Gadallah – the city’s first millennial alderperson – as its new Ward 4 Alderwoman.
Though before Gadallah took her oath of office, the board, as per tradition, honored outgoing Ward 4 Alderman Tony Kennedy with a resolution and a few parting words.
“The resolution understates, I think, Alderman Kennedy’s contributions to the city. As a rookie Alderman in 2016, he won a four-way race where he obtained 40% of the vote, winning in dominating fashion,” Ward 3 Alderman Grant Mabie said. “In your nine years of service, the city has gone from one which was losing businesses and residents and running deficits, to a city that is growing both in population and businesses.”
Mabie then briefly went through Kennedy’s time on the board, from his multiple terms of serving as board president and even acting mayor at one point, to being an integral role in the redevelopment of the Crestwood Mall to his excellent golfing in the annual Sunset Hills versus Crestwood golf tournament.
“Centuries past, U.S. Senator Henry Clay was known as the Great Compromiser. Alderman Kennedy is the reincarnation and his modern equivalent, and sets the example of what Aldermen should aspire to. I appreciate your friendship and your service to Crestwood. I wish you nothing but the best,” Mabie concluded.
Inspired by the poem Kennedy wrote when former Ward 2 Alderman Justin Charboneau was term limited, Mayor Scott Shipley penned and read his own poem for Kennedy titled “The Work of Years.”
“Not all who lead do so with fanfare. Some do it with the quiet turning of pages, the steady hand in a room of raised voices, the pause before a vote. Tony Kennedy walked that line. Not for show, not for self, but for the shape of a city he believed could always be better,” Shipley said. “Nine years is not a moment. It’s meetings and motions, residents with worries, resolutions with weight, and yes, the occasional nudge to finally repaint those fire engines. Now, as that chapter closes, we mark not the leaving, but the legacy of a city steadied, shaped and served.”
Kennedy then spoke, thanking staff and elected officials before reminiscing over how much has changed not only in the city and in the world, but in his own life over the past nine years.
The April 8 election results were then certified, prompting incumbents Jim Zavist of Ward 1, Michael Balles of Ward 2 and Greg Hall of Ward 3, as well as newcomer Gadallah of Ward 4, to take the oath of office.
“I appreciate the warm welcome,” Gadallah said. “I did not expect to be emotional. It was an exhausting few months. I really did want to be sitting up here with all of you, and I want you all to know that it’s not for any specific reason, but for a multitude of things that I think could be improved in the city, and voices that I could lift up. I’m honored to be here with all of you, and appreciate the hard fought race from my opponent.”