What’s happening with the Mayor? Cottleville didn’t elect Stephen to run a permanent brainstorming session. In fact his own words were: “I am a candidate because our community deserves innovative ideas…” He insisted the previous administration lacked vision and claimed he was the one leader prepared to fix it.

But now that he’s in office, that grand “vision” has shrunk into something embarrassingly small: asking the public what he should do.

It’s a stunning reversal. The man who campaigned as a visionary is governing like someone who walked into City Hall and immediately realized he didn’t bring any vision with him. Instead of unveiling the solutions he claimed to have ready, he’s crowdsourcing them from the same residents he once told he already knew how to serve better.

This disconnect isn’t just awkward  it’s revealing. Stephen’s campaign confidence now reads like empty salesmanship.

He promised direction and he’s offered indecision. He promised innovation and we end up with a suggestion box. He promised a plan but here we are learning  he never had one.

A mayor with genuine vision doesn’t scramble to invent one after the election.

Stephen created this leadership vacuum. The same man who loudly criticized others for lacking a plan is now standing at the front of the room asking, “So… what should we do next year?” That’s not collaboration or  engagement. It’s a leader signaling he came unprepared for the job he wanted so badly.

Shady Stephen has become little more than a polished logo, a few vague talking points, and a relentless focus on optics. He remains evasive about who he is, inconsistent about what he stands for, and so fixated on appearing relevant that he is drifting into ineffectiveness.

He is a leader concerned more with managing his image than managing his city.