ST. LOUIS — Under the new Proposition D voting system, Tishaura Jones has a shorter transition period than her predecessors in a city that previously, unofficially picked its mayors during the March primaries.
Just hours after securing the win on April 6, the mayor-elect named the transition team that will help staff key positions.
The transition committee includes:
- Les Bond: chief executive officer of Attucks Asset Management, LLC
- Jared Boyd: chief of staff and counsel of the St. Louis City Treasurer’s Office
- Rodney Boyd: partner with Nexus Group
- Patrick R. Brown: former chief of staff in St. Louis Mayor’s Office and community development executive with Ameren Missouri
- Nancy E. Cross: former vice-president of SEIU Local 1
- Nahuel Fefer: Justice Catalyst Fellow at ArchCity Defenders and former senior advisor in St. Louis Mayor’s Office
- Bob Fox: retired business owner
- Sandra M. Moore: managing director and chief impact officer with Advantage Capital
- Rosetta Okohson-Reb: managing partner and chief executive officer of MO Political Consulting
- Kayla M. Reed: executive director of Action St. Louis
- Blake Strode: executive director of ArchCity Defenders
- Mike Talboy: former Missouri state representative and director of governmental affairs of Burns & McDonnell
"I think the invitation is an affirmation," transition team member Kayla Reed said.
Reed's work on social justice and criminal justice reform fits into Jones' platform, and she said she's looking for administration staff that can do the same.
"I want to get to work because truly the transition is about setting up this administration to do the good work right. We are all just players in making St. Louis a better place," she said.
In a city with a majority of Democratic voters, the March primary typically predicted who would occupy City Hall's Room 200. Proposition D — in which the top two vote-getters advances from the primary's nonpartisan ballots — made way for two Democrats to make it to the general election.
"I think what Mayor-Elect Jones has going for her is that she has experience," Democratic consultant Ed Rhode said. "She's been around Government for a long time, she knows what she needs to hit the ground running, and I anticipate that she will have some key members of her team in place."
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell was in the crowd for Jones' victory speech and knows the quick turnaround she has ahead of her.
"I'm sure there are a lot of things going through her mind and one of them is we've got a big job in front of us," Bell said.
Bell said he's kept close to Jones during the election and expects Mayor Lyda Krewson and her office will help with the transition, though he adds "at the end of the day, two weeks is two weeks."