ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – There was wild applause at the end of Mayor Tishaura Jones's inauguration speech at City Hall on Tuesday.
"My name is Tishaura Jones and I'm ready to serve you," she said to end her speech.
The winner of this month's mayoral race, she hit on themes of wanting to do more for people and not wealthy developers and wants to help the city's public schools system.
She asked for grace as she takes office, saying problems that were decades in the making won't be fixed overnight.
Among those in the crowd were East St. Louis Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks and St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page.
You can watch the full ceremony on Facebook live, here:
Jones, 49, is a former state representative who has been treasurer since 2013. She has said to tackle the crime issues in St. Louis the “arrest and incarcerate” model of criminal justice has been a failure. She would bring in more social workers, mental health counselors and substance abuse counselors, rather than adding more uniformed officers.
Incumbent Mayor Lyda Krewson announced in November she would not seek a second term. Krewson, 67, was the city’s first woman mayor.
The city has previously had two Black mayors: Freeman Bosley Jr. (1993 to 1997) and Clarence Harmon (1997 to 2001).
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