He says rancor in aldermanic meetings makes city look ‘hapless’

By Steve Bowman
Editor, The Brentwood Spirit
bowmansj@sbcglobal.net

Brentwood alderman Patrick Toohey recently announced in a press release that he is running for mayor. The election will be April 15.

In the Sept. 21 release he said the city needs new leadership to prevent divisive board of aldermen meetings that have made the city appear “hapless.” He also said there’s too much emphasis on which individual receives credit for the city’s progress.

Toohey, a CPA, has been the Ward 4 alderman since 2012. He stated in the press release that he wants to “rebuild a strong alliance with the residents of Brentwood” and “bring back a city with a levelheaded vision.”

Said Toohey, “The unfortunate rancorous behavior in aldermanic meetings over the last three years has harmed our city’s reputation and has rendered the city to be hapless. It handcuffed our leadership and concerns our citizens. There has been far too much finger-pointing and far too much shouting and anger. We must restore our pride.”

Toohey turns 38 this month and has lived in Brentwood for 15 years. He works as a relationship manager at S.D. Smith Financial in Clayton and as a self-employed partner at Toohey & Wray LLP.

“It [Brentwood] has always been a first-tier community and I am committed to seeing it remain as such for the next 40 years that I live here,” he said. “I want to be part of the transformation Brentwood deserves. I became involved because I believed my professional accounting background would help.”

In Toohey’s press release he listed some of Brentwood’s strengths, including its neighborhoods, retail district, school district, low property taxes and free services the city provides to residents.

“We owe that tradition to a time when elected officials, city staff, local businesses and residents all worked together for the betterment of our city,” he said. “The priority of these groups was to make the city a better place, all the while not worrying about which individual received credit for the city’s progress.”

Toohey admitted that he used to be part of the acrimony, but no longer.

“The bitter behavior during these past several years has not helped our city,” he said. “I too have been sucked into this acrimonious behavior but at the counsel of Aldermen [Lee] Wynn arrived at the conclusion that we must return the positive momentum.”

Toohey said he will be a mayor who attempts to bring differing sides together.

“No one person has the ability to sustain this great community legacy on their own,” he said. “For Brentwood to remain a first-tier community we are going to need a fresh start working together again to establish a vision for the city’s future. As mayor, I hope to bring these groups together again with civility to ensure that the city’s best days are still ahead.”

Toohey was elected to the board of aldermen in 2012, defeating Gary Bierman and incumbent Lorraine Krewson. His term expires in April 2016.

He graduated from CBC High School and the University of Missouri – St. Louis. From then until his current employment he was a staff accountant at Bryan Cave, a staff associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, an assistant controller at Ageia Technologies, a senior auditor at AT&T and a financial advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors.