UPDATED at 11 a.m. Friday with information on council approval

O'FALLON, Mo. • Michael Snowden, training coordinator for St. Charles County's dispatch and alarm department, has been picked by Mayor Bill Hennessy to fill a City Council vacancy.

Snowden, who was approved by the council Thursday night, replaces the 5th Ward's Mark Perkins. Perkins resigned effective Dec. 31.

Snowden, 44, also is in charge of quality assurance for the dispatch agency. He chairs the legislative committee of the state chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials.

Hennessy said Snowden represented residents of the Hampton Woods subdivision at various meetings of the council last year.

Before moving to O'Fallon, Snowden was on the Hazelwood Planning and Zoning Commission from 2003 to 2005.

Snowden will fill the final 15 months in Perkins' term. Perkins had been a councilman since 2008 and previously served on the city's old Board of Aldermen from 1998 to 2004.

Hennessy named Snowden after he, Council Chairman Jeff Schwentker and the other 5th Ward councilman, Mike Pheney, conducted interviews with applicants.