He will serve final 11 months of Slusser’s term

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

The Brentwood Board of Aldermen unanimously approved the appointment of Brandon Wegge to serve the remaining year of Keith Slusser’s two-year term as a Ward 2 alderman.

In a special meeting on June 6 the board met to consider Mayor Chris Thornton’s appointment of Wegge to replace Slusser. On May 16 Slusser publicly announced he was purchasing a home in Ward 1 and would resign from the board as of June 3. An alderman must live in the ward he or she represents.

On June 2 Thornton announced he was appointing Wegge to serve the remaining 11 months of the term, which expires in April 2017. Wegge had run for Ward 2 alderman in 2011 and lost to Lee Wynn by four votes.

The appointment required no discussion at the June 6 meeting, which lasted only several minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve Wegge and he was voted aboard 7-0 and immediately sworn in by City Clerk Octavia Pittman.

Wegge, 41, lives on Douglas Court with his wife Cari and two children ages 3 and 4. He grew up in St. Louis, majored in engineering at Princeton University and 19 years ago joined Boeing, where he works as a senior engineering manager. He moved to Brentwood about 15 years ago.

“It’s a job I’ve always wanted to do but my life has changed in the six years since I ran,” Wegge said. “I’ve had two kids and a lot of career things going on, so I wasn’t sure I’d have the time, but Chris and I talked through it so we’re going to give it a try.”

Wegge learned about the Ward 2 opening from Slusser.

“I had just completed a second-story pop-up on my house and he [Slusser] was going down that path so I had him over to show him what I’d done,” said Wegge. “When he found a different way to go, he called me and gave me a heads up that Chris would be appointing somebody. My concern is am I going to have enough time to do this with kids and career. Chris and I talked through that and it’s 10 months to try it and if I don’t feel I’m doing the job justice then I will try again later.”

One of Wegge’s concerns is that he sometimes must travel for Boeing.

“At times we might have to try me attending virtually and voting that way,” he said. “They’re willing to try some Skype type of technology. That will alleviate some of that concern.”

Concerns: Manchester Road and unity

One of Wegge’s biggest concerns for the city is flooding on Manchester Road.

“I don’t know what the solution is but I think if we prioritize it and focus on it that would be a good thing,” he said. “We’ve got the flooding issue and the lack of businesses that can operate down there. We are very thankful for the businesses we do have that are able to make it because it is a tough place to operate.”

Unity is another concern of his.

“One focus is to just bring us back together as a community,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot in the past six years and I’ve watched it very closely. I think now as we head into our 100th anniversary it’s going to be a good time to come back and coalesce as a community.”