The City Council on Tuesday celebrated the swearing in of Ald. Larry Werries, formally filling a vacancy that had existed on the seven-member board for more than four months.
The council welcomed Werries, 57, the former director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture and an agricultural consultant and restaurateur. His swearing in not only filled the long-standing opening but marked an end to a rancorous squabble over it between Mayor William Kallas and political opponents on the council.
A resident of the Versailles apartment complex, Werries was confirmed by aldermen after they rejected three previous nominations by Kallas to replace former Ald. Jim Luebker, who had moved out of town.
Also Tuesday, Kallas announced the addition of about 160 new residents, according to a recent special census, which brought the city’s population to about 2,570.
