John Bailey, 77, has been appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Crystal City Council.
Crystal City Mayor Mike Osher selected Bailey to fill the vacancy, and the council members voted 4-2 Sept. 23 to confirm his appointment. Jack Ginnever of Ward 1, Karry Friedmeyer of Ward 2, and Jeff Kempfer and John Winkelman, both of Ward 4, voted in favor of appointing Bailey, while Rick Fischer of Ward 2 and Kenney Bradley of Ward 3 voted against the appointment. Ward 3 council member Taylor Massa was absent from the meeting.
Fischer said his vote against the appointment had nothing to do with Bailey’s qualifications, adding that he voted no because he had wanted to meet all those who applied to fill the seat before selecting one.
“We were interested in possibly having the candidates come by and getting more specific information,” Fischer said. “Mr. Bailey is a fine gentleman. He’s very bright, and I’m looking forward to working with him. My vote had nothing to do with him personally, only that there were other options I wanted to find out about.
“I’m perfectly happy he got it (the appointment). Once he was nominated, I got up and shook his hand. I’m sure we’ll be fast friends.”
Osher said he received applications for the vacant seat from three qualified candidates, but he felt Bailey was the right choice.
He is filling a seat that had been vacant since August when Mary Schaumburg stepped down because her family was moving to Festus.
Bailey’s appointment took effect immediately after the council vote, and he assumed most of Schaumburg’s council duties, including serving as the council’s Park Board liaison and the Police Board council liaison. Council committee duties were assigned in June and will not be reassigned again until June 2025.
Bailey will serve until April 2025, when the remaining one year of Schaumburg’s seat will be up for election.
Council members are paid $100 per month.
Bailey graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia with majors in science and math and went through the ROTC program. He enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam. During his service, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation medal and others. He ended his service as a captain at Fort Bliss, Texas, as a battery commander.
He then worked for Hercules Inc. for eight years as a production supervisor and was then promoted to human resources manager for the Louisiana, Mo., plant. He retired as the director of labor relations for the entire corporation.
Osher said Bailey will bring a lot of leadership experience to the council due to his time in the military and his private sector work, adding that Bailey has a lot of knowledge of labor relations and has worked with different unions to secure labor contracts.
Osher also said he believes Bailey has valuable insight.
“He moved to Crystal City after living in several different places and just the experience outside the town, seeing what other places do and how they run and coming back here, I think he has a lot to offer.”
Bailey said he believes his experience will be an asset to the council.
“I understand how to make a deal and I understand what can and can’t be done,” Bailey said. “A lot of it comes down to dealing with people. And I think I’m pretty skilled at that.”
Bailey and his wife, Carol (Bunta) Bailey, have two sons, John and Daniel, and two grandchildren, Zoey and Zach.
Bailey was originally from Eolia, but in 2010 moved to Crystal City, where Carol grew up, to be near her sister. Although Bailey is retired, he often works as a substitute teacher for the Crystal City School District.
Bailey said he became interested in serving on the City Council after seeing recent improvements.
“I’ve seen improvement over the last couple of years and I want to see if I can help improve things in that direction,” Bailey said. “I feel obligated to do what I can for the city.”
Osher said he looks forward to working with Bailey.
“He’s a leader. He has a personality that is great that I can learn from. I think he’ll teach me things on the board,” said Osher. “He’s a good guy. He’s retired and still volunteers at the school. He’s invested in the community and its history. I think he’ll be a good fit for the council.”