Ella Jones Wins Election to Become First Black Mayor of Ferguson
Written by SOURCE on June 3, 2020
Ferguson, Missouri made history on Tuesday by electing Ella Jones, the first black person and first woman to become mayor in the city.
In a video chat filmed by Jason Rosenbaum after her victory, Jones looked ahead to the work that needed to be done in Ferguson, where Michael Brown was shot and killed by Darren Wilson back in 2014.
“The common goal is the people,” Jones said. “It’s ‘We the people.’ I tell people all the time, if you go look in the budget, the first thing you see is the organizational chart. When you look at the organizational chart in the budget, at the top of that chart it says ‘citizens.’ And then from the top, the elected officials. The elected officials appoint and hire a city manager and a city clerk. If the people are not in charge of what they’re doing, then you’re gonna have chaos. We have had enough chaos.”
Jones, per the New York Times, ultimately won with 54 percent of the vote against opponent Heather Robinett. She succeeds James Knowles III, who’s been mayor of the city since 2011.
In a separate interview with KSDK News early Wednesday, Jones spoke on the excitement of knowing that people in Ferguson were able to get to the polls and make their voices heard.
“I am going to be very transparent,” Jones, who’s lived in Ferguson for more than 40 years, said. “As a matter of fact, after my first 90 days in office, I’ve already started putting a task force together so that we can do a town hall and the people of Ferguson will know the state of their city. It’s very important that the people be informed of what’s going on. They can be a part of the government.”
