Seven months ago, Troy’s Board of Aldermen was in a state of disarray.

After rejecting several nominees to replace Kay Diekemper who resigned in October, David Norman resigned in February, leaving two vacancies on the six-member board.

The board had been frequently disagreeing over minor and major issues as personality clashes emerged.

But things started looking up in March. The board agreed to a replacement for Norman in Quentin Laws, and three new board members, Mitch Bryant, Dennis Detert and Terri Huffmon were elected in April.

And to cap it all off, a new city administrator, James Knowles was hired in April, ending a hiring saga that lasted well over a year.

With a new board and city administrator, the board seemed ideally situated to actually start working together, making progress for the city and citizens of Troy.

Now, five months later, it appears we are right back where we started: a board in disarray that’s not entirely acting in the best interest of those who elected them.

This was never more evident than at the last aldermen meeting when the city came perilously close to making a couple mistakes that would have unnecessarily led to a major drain on city finances.

Remarkably, the board split with a 3-3 vote on whether or not to repair a culvert on a private street.

Detert has been banging this drum regarding road work on Dana Avenue since well before his election. But now that he has been elected, his influence and voice is obviously much more significant.

And his motivation for this crusade is well-known: his daughter lives in one of the three houses on the street.

Detert is unapologetic in advocating for his daughter and maybe he shouldn’t be. There certainly is no law preventing him from doing so.

What’s puzzling though is why Dunard and Harold Horner agreed it would be a good idea to spend public tax dollars on a private street. Which in turn, would make the city liable for work on a couple dozen other private streets located throughout the city.

And when I say liable, I mean not only for major projects like culvert and street repairs, but routine maintenance like snow and ice removal.

Fortunately, the mayor was able to cast a tie-breaking vote to prevent this calamity.

And as he’s somehow morphed into the boogeyman, he’s been widely criticized for casting that tie-breaking vote (along with three others in the meeting) ignoring the fact public sentiment previously opposed using public dollars on a private street.

Another of the mayor’s tie-breaking votes that’s been widely panned blocked another delay of a vote on a site plan for a new subdivision.

All the eventual approval of the plan did, as Laws stated, was insulate the city from a possible million-dollar lawsuit.

The developer had not only met, but exceeded, all the requirements the city has in terms of a new development, leaving absolutely no grounds for a rejection or delay of the project.

And while both of those votes narrowly avoided potential financial disaster for the city, there’s another vote pending that will again test the aldermen.

At the beginning of the meeting, the mayor announced Bryant was resigning five months into his term as he was moving out of the area.

This creates another potential stalemate between the board and the mayor. Will they be able to agree to a replacement to fill the remaining 19 months on the term, like they did with Laws? Or will the mayor be making monthly nominations, like he did with Diekemper’s seat, only to see them rejected one after another?

Part of the board’s stated rationale for rejecting Diekemper’s replacement was the fact her seat was up for election in April anyway and there was no point in appointing someone for such a short term.

That was partially true. An unstated reason was there were several 3-3 votes the mayor broke before her resignation and without her on board, those votes would be 3-2, essentially bypassing the mayor.

Conversely, when Norman resigned, it was too late to place the vacancy on the ballot so the board agreed to appoint Laws rather than have the seat remain vacant for more than a year.

With the timing of Bryant’s resignation, just one month prior to when Diekemper left, the aldermen could use the same rationale to delay an appointment as voters could elect one themselves in April 2026.

Or, as with Norman’s resignation, they could find common ground on an appointment who would serve the entirety of the remaining term.

After the mayor broke four tie-breaking votes in September, I suspect the former is what’s going to happen. Consequently, for the next seven months, a third of Troy’s residents will be under represented.

But I would challenge the board to avoid that. As with Laws, work with, and not against, the mayor in finding a replacement everyone is satisfied with.

That’s going to require some give and take on both the board’s part and the mayor, who bristled at the last meeting and wasn’t too forthright about ongoing vacancies on the planning and zoning board and why he hasn’t made an effort to fill them.

However, at this point and time, it’s important for the board and mayor to show the citizens they represent they are able and willing to work together for what’s best for the city, not what suits their individual agenda and interests.

This is a test for Troy’s leadership. Let’s hope they pass.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager and Editor of the Lincoln County Journal, Troy Free Press and Elsberry Democrat. He can be contacted at gorear@cherryroad.com.