Stephen Gregali, alderman of Ward 14, is expected to resign imminently to take a job in the office of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.

Gregali could not be reached for comment. The mayor's office said it has no new information to release.

Gregali, however, filed paperwork earlier this month to terminate his campaign committee, Neighbors for Stephen Gregali. And he has long had an amiable relationship with the Mayor and his staffers.

Moreover, the mayor's office has gone without filling a few open positions in recent months, including the Director of Operations slot, which cleared when Ron Smith retired this spring, and Tim Embree's job as special assistant to the mayor, which mostly handled transportation projects.

The mayor's office has said earlier this summer that it hasn't yet made room in its budget to the fill the operations post.

But Gregali, who has a background as a union organizer, has recently spoken out on transportation issues, most notably in the final days of this summer's aldermanic sessions, when some leaders were working to force Metro to clean up dirty bus stops.

The city's Democrat and Republican central committees will have an opportunity to pick nominees to fill Gregali's slot, whenever the news is made official. And the city will have to hold a special election.