It’s probably no secret to regular readers that one of the most frequent subjects of this space in the last few years has been Crestwood Mayor Gregg Roby — now former Crestwood Mayor Gregg Roby.

That’s the first time we’ve referred to him with that “former,” and despite the many times this newspaper disagreed with his decisions, we are sad to see him leave office before his term is up. 

Roby resigned June 8 for health reasons, and we wish him all the best. 

But that doesn’t change the fact that during his tenure, he and other Crestwood officials have made decisions in regard to transparency and access to information that left us scratching our heads. In our most recent column on Crestwood government, we attributed those decisions primarily to City Attorney Lisa Stump, who remains as city attorney. 

That doesn’t bode well for things changing, but we can dream.

What types of public information is the city holding back? To this day, the city has kept the public in the dark as to some of the most fundamental workings of city government, such as who on the Board of Aldermen voted for the city to sue the Affton Fire Protection District — a lawsuit in which Roby is also a plaintiff. We don’t understand the logic of keeping information secret that should clearly be public record. It is the public’s right to know which aldermen supported spending potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to try and change state law.    

The county, Sunset Hills and our local school districts release such information as a routine matter of public business.

We hope that under acting Mayor Tony Kennedy, the city will become more transparent. Or at least as transparent as neighboring cities.

Roby has been synonymous with Crestwood city government for the last four years, which makes his untimely departure from office even more jarring. The city certainly won’t be the same without him at the helm. 

He led the city through several milestones: the demolition of the former Crestwood Plaza mall, the passage of the tax-rate increase Proposition C and the current redevelopment efforts of UrbanStreet Group for the mall.

We certainly held Mayor Roby’s feet to the fire when we thought it was necessary. 

But we wish former Mayor Roby all the best, and we hope to see him around town soon just the same as we always have.