Kennedy, left, and Young

ST. LOUIS — Like most legislative bodies, seniority is the superceding currency at the Board of Aldermen.

So when the board’s ranking member wants to chair another committee, there is really only one thing to do: Step aside.

Soulard’s Phyllis Young — who secured her seventh four-year term last month — is replacing another veteran alderman, Terry Kennedy, as chair of the Public Safety Committee.

Kennedy, in turn, will assume Young’s previous post at the helm of the Transportation Committee, which exercises key influence over airport contracts.

Under Kennedy, the Public Safety Committee took some heat for attempting to award money for Prop. S. — a public safety tax approved by voters last year — to organizations with political ties.

There is no indication that was the reason for the switch. Rather, it seems Young requested the change.

While committee members are assigned by Board President Lewis Reed, committee chairs are decided by the board’s “Democratic Caucus” — which is the entire board save Fred Heitert, the city’s only GOP alderman.

Because Young — who replaced Sorkis J. Webbe Jr in 1985 - has the most time under her belt, she also has the most caucus pull.

There are no other major shifts on the committee roster, which can be found at Reed’s website, St. Louis Core.