TROY – The Troy Board of Aldermen filled a vacancy Monday night with a unanimous vote, appointing a longtime resident to serve the remainder of Mitch Bryant’s term.

By a 5-0 vote, the board approved Mayor Ron Sconce’s nomination of Jim Wallis to replace Bryant, who resigned at the September meeting.

Wallis will serve the remainder of Bryant’s term, which expires in April 2026 after his election earlier this year.

Wallis moved to Troy in 1993 and built a house on Jaunita Drive with his wife. After raising five children there, Wallis still lives in that home.

Born and raised in St. Charles County, Wallis earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in criminology and a master’s at Lindenwood University in counseling.

He moved to Troy in 1993 to go to work as a juvenile officer and now works in business development for not-for-profit organizations dealing with mental health.

And while this is Wallis’ first time serving in any elected office, he doesn’t consider himself a political novice.

“I sometimes spend more time than I want to at the Capitol. I do a lot of advocacy work when it comes to mental health and substance use,” he said. “I no our elected officials, Sen. Fitzwater and Representative Justus very well.”

As for working on the council, Wallis stressed the importance of properly planning for a community rapidly growing in numbers.

“So I think when I moved here, we were under 4,000 residents. And now, I think city population 16-17,000…so that’s great,” he said. “We got a lot of planning and working together and working cooperatively to do. Because we’re not going to slow down in terms of growth anytime soon.”

Wallis also said he communicated his qualifications to the board members prior to the vote, which he said “pleasantly surprised” him.

“I feel that 5-0 vote puts pressure on me to now walk my talk and be a good, contributing team member,” he said.

After several disagreements on the board and resulting tie votes in the last year, Wallis hopes Monday night represents the beginning of a new era for the Troy Board of Aldermen.

“I’ve seen some of the back and forth and the voting,” he said. “This is an opportunity to move that forward and get some stuff done, so I’m excited. But I know it takes a team. It’s not Jim Wallis, it’s a team. Of people making that happen.