Patch Names The 2012 Creve Coeur Newsmaker of the Year

Lots of news happened in Creve Coeur in 2012. There were big business openings, political events impacting the state and national stage, jaw dropping allegations in both civil and criminal courts.

But when I really sat down and thought about it, it wasn't hard for me to decide that if we're really talking about 2012 in the hyperlocal sense, the choice for Creve Coeur Newsmaker of the Year should be Mayor Barry Glantz.

Editor's Note: The following should not be construed as an endorsement. It is merely a set of observations gleaned over the past year.

Glantz won a contentious race against Laura Bryant to succeed longtime Mayor Harold Dielmann. The campaign, which by itself took more than a year to play out, featured two people who cared deeply about the city's future. There were ethics complaints filed, first by Glantz, and later by Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades, a Bryant supporter.

Glantz ended up with a decisive margin of victory (56.25 percent to 43.60 percent), and was forced to vote to break a tie in just his second city council meeting in office, voting to elect Bob Hoffman as Council President after significant discussion about the need for someone who was impartial in the Mayor's race to hold the post. Hoffman had supported Glantz's campaign, while Scott Saunders, who succeeded Bryant on the council, had remained neutral.

But since then, Mayor Glantz appears to have successfully navigated his own course in 2012, avoiding being pinned down by perceptions which might have lingered in the long shadow cast by Harold Dielmann, who for much of the last 40 years, was the city's Mayor.

In his Breakfast with the Mayor series of Thursday morning gatherings at the Creve Coeur Government Center at the beginning of each month, he has facilitated questions residents have about services, complaints and concerns, largely without sharing his own opinions. He has presided over Council meetings in much the same fashion.

That may be more difficult in 2013, and quickly, as the city council faces a final decision on what to do about the Delmar Gardens proposal for Ladue Road. The Mayor has himself said that maintaining a balance of commercial and residential development is a vision he has in years to come. We're also curious to see if his potential interest in a Creve Coeur library gains traction in the new year. 

Other Noteworthy Newsmakers of 2012:

Dr. Marsha Chappelow: The now-former superintendent of the Ladue School District surprised many when she announced that she would take early retirement and leave at the end of the academic year in June. The district's decision to grant a request for a leave of absence for the remainder of her contractual term, announced on a Friday evening in late November, was a stunner.

Ruth Ahlemeier: Ahlemeir is the Olivette mother who went public in September with her complaints over the an obscene "tradition" at Ladue Horton Watkins High School. She has now filed a formal U.S. Civil Rights complaint over the form of bullying, which students and parents say has gone on for years, where girls' personal and sexual habits are written for display.

U.S. Representative Todd Akin: The Wildwood Republican's much-talked-about bid for the U.S. Senate officially began in Creve Coeur.

Chaminade Head Football Coach Doug Taylor: The longtime coach at Chaminade announced he was stepping down after 16 years on the sidelines. We'll have more to say about this on Saturday as we review the top sports stories of 2012.

Terri Griege: The Creve Coeur woman who had her fight against cancer highlighted while she participated in the Ironman Championship in 2011 just kept going in 2012. She had a day in her honor courtesy of the City of St. Louis in January, and competed in the Berlin Marathon in September. Next spring, she plans on running the last of the five major marathon events, in London.