2019 saw some milestones in the West St. Paul city council. Townsquare TV took notice:

https://www.facebook.com/townsquare.tv/videos/2241999752794718/

For the first time in West St. Paul’s history, two women are serving on city council at the same time. We’ve got a very short list of women who have ever served on city council:

• Devona Weatherhead, 1967-1968 (ward 1)
• Sandra Shirley, 1991-1994 (ward 1)
• Vivian Hart, 1999-2002 (ward 1)
• Darlene Lewis, 2005-2012 (ward 3)
• Jenny Halverson, 2013-2016 (ward 2)
• Wendy Berry, 2019- (ward 3)
• Lisa Eng-Sarne, 2019 – (ward 3)

So for comparison, something like 158 men have served on city council and only 7 women. More people named John have served on council (17) than women (and we elected a new John this year too).

More Milestones:

Let’s take a look at some more milestones in West St. Paul history, listed chronologically:

• First woman elected to West St. Paul city council: Devona Weather head (1967)
• First Latino appointed to West St. Paul city council: Nicholas Juarez (2005)
• First woman elected to West St. Paul mayor: Jenny Halverson (2017)
• First Latino elected to West St. Paul city council: Anthony Fernandez (2017)
• First openly LGBTQ person elected to West St. Paul city council: Wendy Berry (2019)
• First woman appointed to West St. Paul city council: Lisa Eng-Sarne (2019)

I’d love to share some more milestones, such as youngest and oldest person to serve on city council, but confirming race and gender are hard enough to confirm.