Retired Crystal City street supervisor Karry “Dink” Friedmeyer has been appointed to the Crystal City Council.
He replaces longtime Ward 2 council member Tony Becker, who resigned his seat in July because his family moved to Webster Groves.
Mayor Mike Osher selected Friedmeyer for the appointment, and the council voted 6-0 Aug. 28 to appoint him to the board. Council member Mary Schaumbrrg was absent from the meeting.
Friedmeyer, 67, worked a total of 26 years for the street department, 24 of them as the supervisor.
He also has been a volunteer with the Crystal City Fire Department for the past 25 years. His son, Patrick, is a captain with the Fire Department.
Osher said Friedmeyer would need to abstain from voting on any issues related to the Fire Department.
Friedmeyer ran against Becker in the April election and lost by 12 votes.
Osher said he received applications from two qualified candidates for the vacant seat on the council and either one would have been a good fit. However, since Friedmeyer recently had run for the seat and has a lot of experience with the city, both as an employee and a resident, it put him ahead of the other candidate.
Osher also said it would be good to have someone with technical knowledge of street and road construction and maintenance on the council, especially with the James Hardie industrial development project underway, as well as the plans for road improvements to be funded with revenue from the use tax collected on internet sales.
“I’m looking for improved alleys, roadways, sidewalks, and things like that, and he has an extensive knowledge,” Osher said.
After council approval, Friedmeyer’s appointment began immediately and he assumed most of Becker’s council duties, including serving as the council’s Planning and Zoning liaison and the finance committee chairperson. Council committee duties were assigned in June and will not be reassigned again until June 2024.
While Friedmeyer said he doesn’t have the same financial skills Becker brought to the council, he believes he still will be able to fulfill those duties well.
“I’ll do my best and I’m good with numbers. Until we had a city administrator, for 15 years, I did my budget every year. So I had to work with numbers all the time and also in the National Guard I worked with numbers all the time, so I feel confident in that respect,” Friedmeyer said.
Becker also served as the mayor pro-tem, but that duty did not pass to Friedmeyer. The council nominated council member Ken Bradley as the new mayor pro-tem.
Friedmeyer will complete Becker’s unexpired term, which ends April 2024.
Council members earn $100 per month.
Osher said he became mayor after Friedmeyer retired from his street department job, so they’ve never worked together.
“I’m excited to get to work with Mr. Friedmeyer. Everything I hear about him has been nothing but good, and I had multiple citizens come up and recommend him.”
Osher said Friedmeyer, a first sergeant in the National Guard, will bring a lot of leadership experience with him to the council.
“I was over 160 people when we served a year in Iraq. We brought everybody home. Not very many companies can say that, but there was a lot of luck involved in that too,” Friedmeyer said.
Friedmeyer said he brings a willingness to learn, a desire for fairness and an ability to work with anyone to the council.
“I want to do what’s best for this city and the citizens,” he said. “I’m willing to work with anybody and my phone number will be on the city’s website, and they can call me. I’m also on the Fire Department still, so I get calls in the middle of the night anyway. I’m willing to help whoever I can.”
Friedmeyer has lived in the Twin Cities his entire life.
“I’m pretty well known. I’ve got 10 brothers, so Friedmeyers, we got a lot of fame. We had 11 boys and a girl in our family. One girl. They still say Mom picked up the wrong one at the hospital.”
Friedmeyer said although a lot of things have changed in the area since he was a child growing up in a house on South Mill Street before Hwy. A was built, he is excited to be around for new changes coming to the city, such as the upcoming James Hardie Project.
“I think it’ll be real interesting just to watch it get built and move forward. And to help the citizens as best I can.”
Friedmeyer has two children and four grandchildren. While he’s been officially retired since April 2021, he said he fills some of his time working small plumbing and carpentry jobs with his son.
