Mayor Patty Gregory’s nominee for fire chief would make Belleville history if approved

Mike Koziatek
·2 min read
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Mayor Patty Gregory, who is the city of Belleville’s first female mayor, has nominated Battalion Chief Stephanie Mills to be the city’s first female fire chief.

Gregory will ask the full city council to approve Mills’ appointment during its meeting Monday night.

“Stephanie has always been exemplary in all of her actions,” Gregory said Saturday. “She is well respected by the other firemen and women and therefore we feel like she will make an excellent chief.”

If approved, Mills would take the place of the previous chief, LLoyd Stinson, who resigned this summer after being on the job for less than a year.

Gregory said Stinson submitted his resignation about six weeks ago.

This was soon after the June 20 city council meeting when about 40 firefighters showed up because they were unhappy with the selection process for the proposed appointment of Timothy Walsh as deputy chief under Stinson.

At the beginning of the council meeting, Gregory said Walsh’s nomination had been removed from the agenda and then the council members went into executive session for 90 minutes in a meeting that included Stinson, City Attorney Garrett Hoerner and Director of Human Resources Bill Clay.

Both Stinson and Walsh have served as fire chiefs in the U.S. Air Force, including Walsh’s service as the fire chief at Scott Air Force Base.

Stinson could not be reached for comment Saturday about why he resigned.

Gregory said Mills had been a finalist for the fire chief’s job last fall when Stinson was hired.

Mills, who could not be reached for comment Saturday, joined the Belleville Fire Department in 2000 and was promoted to battalion chief in 2020.

Mills taught middle school for eight years before deciding to become a firefighter, according to a city news release about her promotion to battalion chief.

“I became very intrigued with the profession a bit later in life and changed my career path to one that was more enriching and rewarding for me,” Mills said in the news release.

Belleville News-Democrat reporter Teri Maddox contributed information for this article.