For the first time in 20 years, Crystal City will have a new mayor.
Longtime Mayor Tom Schilly lost his bid for re-election on April 5 to challenger Mike Osher, a Crystal City Ward 4 councilman.
Osher received 461 votes (58.28 percent) to Schilly’s 330 votes (41.72 percent).
Schilly, 70, was elected Crystal City mayor for the first time in 2002 when he defeated Terry Yesberg. Prior to that, Schilly had been a councilman for 16 years.
Ever since Schilly’s first mayoral race, he ran unopposed, except in 2010, when he defeated Jack Ginnever, a current Ward 1 councilman.
According to the financial report Schilly submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission for this election, he spent $2,168.90 on the race.
Osher, 41, said he spent less than $1,000 on the campaign, which meant he didn’t have to file a financial disclosure report with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
He attributes his victory to his leg work.
“I knocked on a lot of doors and talked to a lot of people and found out what their concerns were,” he said. “I also found out what we are doing right, which we do a lot.”
Schilly said he is taking a philosophical approach to his defeat.
“The people spoke,” Schilly said. “It is what it is. I’ve been doing this 36 years.”
He said his purpose in running for re-election was to see some ongoing projects progress.
“I ran again because we have a lot of good things going on,” he said. “That’s OK. I’m sure they’ll still go through.
“Among the current projects is seeing the R.L. Jones property – the old Kmart mall – continue to get developed, add businesses. We’ve been working diligently bringing businesses into town.”
Schilly said he has not yet considered if he will run for elected office again, but for now he is looking forward to some free time.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll sit down and maybe relax. It (being mayor) is a lot of work. I was in the office (at City Hall) every day.”
Schilly said he always made an effort to respond to his constituents.
“I know you’re not going to make people happy all the time,” he said. “You’ve got to listen to people. I tell people I’ll listen and get back to them.”
Schilly said some of his most gratifying accomplishments during his tenure as mayor were improvements to Crystal City’s infrastructure through federal surface transportation grants.
“We did a lot of STP grants, which are 80-20 grants. That’s where we pay 20 (percent) and they (federal funds) pay 80 (percent),” he said. “We’ve improved Missouri Avenue, Mississippi Avenue, Bailey Road and Virginia Avenue. We also replaced both bridges in town that go over the railroad. One was through an STP grant and the other wasn’t.
“We’ve done a lot in my 20 years as mayor. Not me – us. It was with the City Council and the support of the citizens.”
Schilly said one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job was presenting council proclamations honoring residents who turned 100.
“I’ve done as old as 102. The last one I did was for Ruthie Bins. Her husband was Mayor Clifford Bins, who was mayor here from 1986 to 1994. I was on the City Council while he was mayor.”
Osher said his top priority when he takes over as mayor will be learning what he can do to enhance Crystal City’s business community.
“My immediate goals are talking to business owners and asking what we can do for them,” he said.
Osher said another of his concerns is re-establishing a Darrell “Hickey” White Memorial Park in Ward 1. The original Hickey White Park on Crystal Avenue was officially closed in 2015, although the city stopped maintaining it prior to that.
City leaders are working to establish a new site for the park on 2.22 acres along Little League Drive, south of the Twin City Little League fields.
“I was on the Park Board and we were able to get quite a bit of stuff done on the Park Board,” Osher said. “Hickey White Park is moving forward. Working together – that’s how we’ll make Hickey White Park a reality. That’s one thing I want to focus on.”
Osher said he is grateful to the voters for electing him.
“I’d just like to thank the citizens that came out to vote,” he said. “They should see positive things happening.”