Tom Villa, a pillar of south St. Louis politics, dies at 77

Tom Villa, a Democratic stalwart who made an indelible mark on south St. Louis politics, has died.

Earlier than retiring from public service in 2017, Villa had been elected to a number of influential state and native places of work — together with consultant within the Missouri Home and president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen — and offered counsel to outstanding political figures in south metropolis. He died Friday night.

“Tom was a realist,” stated St. Louis Collector of Income Gregory F.X. Daly. “And he understood the artwork of politics — and what he was in a position to do and get carried out.”

Born in 1945, Villa was the son of Alderman Albert “Pink” Villa — who served on the Board of Aldermen for 37 years. Villa started his profession as a highschool counselor and trainer, however the political bug bit him at an early age, he stated during a 2015 episode of Politically Speaking.

“I grew up with pattern ballots on the eating room desk,” Villa stated. “I grew up going to Union Station going to rallies for Harry Truman. And it was simply one thing that I genuinely loved.”

Villa’s first foray into politics was within the 70s and 80s, when he was elected to the Missouri Home. There, he rose by way of the ranks of Home Democratic management to grow to be the chamber’s flooring chief from 1980 to 1984.

“I’d have served within the Missouri Common Meeting for nothing,” Villa stated in 2016. “It is like a circus, solely the tent will not be tender. It is a exhausting roof on the Capitol constructing. However I genuinely loved it. I made a whole lot of expensive buddies there and the variety of the state of Missouri in itself I discovered to be utterly fascinating.”

He ran for state treasurer in 1984, dropping narrowly to Republican Wendell Bailey. However he made his first of a number of political comebacks three years later when he was elected to the highly effective place of St. Louis Board of Aldermen president.

After successful re-election to that submit in 1991, Villa launched into an unsuccessful marketing campaign to be St. Louis mayor — falling to Freeman Bosley, Jr. — and Villa selected to not search one other time period as board president in 1995.

Daly stated that Villa didn’t harbor bitterness over dropping elections, as he noticed the outcomes as a mirrored image of the folks’s will.

“He had an excellent outlook on life,” Daly stated. “And regardless of the outcomes have been going to be, he was going to provide it his greatest shot and hopefully he was going to achieve success — and he was very profitable on plenty of issues.”

Villa continued his profession in electoral politics into the twenty first Century when he once more received a bid to serve within the Missouri Home in 2000. Almost a decade later, he returned to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 2011 when he was elected alderman within the eleventh Ward.

Throughout his final stint in elected workplace, Villa grew to become identified for his independence. He typically voted towards then-St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s large agenda objects, together with an bold plan to revamp parts of north St. Louis and a failed effort to construct a riverfront soccer stadium.

Jake Hummel succeeded Villa within the Missouri Home, and was his subsequent door neighbor. He stated Villa was principled when it got here to coverage and politics.

“Tom wasn’t in any explicit membership or clique,” Hummel stated. “If he thought it was the unsuitable factor for the unsuitable causes, you weren’t going to alter his thoughts.”

Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann

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St. Louis Public Radio

Hummel additionally stated Villa was very captivated with serving his constituents, and made it some extent to get again to folks once they had an issue that required his consideration.

“Tom was not only a politician. He was a statesman,” Hummel stated. “Tom would spend his nights in Jefferson Metropolis calling again those that had contacted him. Whether or not they wrote a letter or they emailed him, Tom would attain out to anyone that talked to him.”

Along with his political success, Daly famous that Villa had an excellent humorousness that allowed him to attach with folks. He bought numerous colourful sportcoats, and would quip that he was in a position to outshine his colleagues when it got here to trend due to “lack of competitors.”

Villa is survived by his spouse, Karen. He was 77.