By Jennifer Igbonoba
Texas Metro News and Garland Journal
CItizens, elected officials, family, friends and even members of his fraternity showed up as former Garland Mayor Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Jones was honored at a sign unveiling ceremony of the Main Street Municipal Building on Friday morning.
Back in September, the Garland City Council passed a resolution to rename the building as a testament to Jones’ years in public service. At the ceremony, community leaders touted the work he did as not only a public official but as a community member.
“You gave your life to this city,” Linda Griffin, president of the Garland ISD Board of Trustees said, as she described Jones as an overachiever and a man of honor, due to his integrity. Griffin also said she and Jones made a pledge to each other in June of 2017 to serve Garland well and she praised his “ tireless dedication and commitment to this city. Our city.”
Jones, who is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., began his journey in public service with the city staff in April of 1977. Throughout his career, he led multiple departments and served as assistant city manager becoming the first Black mayor of the city in 2007, where he would continue to serve three full two-year terms. Jones was also the senior pastor at the New Hope Baptist Church in Dallas, which is recognized as being the first church in the city to be entirely owned and operated by Black people.
Garland Mayor Scott LeMay talked about during the mayoral election of 2007 when he was a first-time city council candidate, he was first introduced to Jones and still remembered the words of his opening statement.
“I’m Ronald Jones and I want to be your mayor,” LeMay said, adding that “ on June 16, 2007, after a runoff election, he fulfilled that statement when he was elected Garland’s first African American mayor.”
“You can do a lot of things at City Hall,” LeMay said. “You’re gonna vote on a lot of stuff, but you have to be accessible to the people and you have to be present in the city. Don’t set yourself apart, be a part of. Those are things that I learned from Mayor Jones that honestly are harder to achieve than they sound but they are certainly worth it.”
Many of the speakers talked about their initial impressions of Jones. Former Garland City Manager Bryan Bradford said when he first started working for the city in 1994, the staff went on a first-name basis except for a “mysterious” managing director at the municipal building to whom everyone referred to as “Mr. Jones” with a certain amount of respect.
Bradford said the first time he saw Jones he caught his attention by wearing an ascot to one of the employee meetings but he didn’t know that was Jones and referred to him as “the ascot guy” before learning his identity.
“I’m from West Texas and I lived somewhat of a sheltered existence, but this guy was actually wearing an ascot, and the only place I had ever seen an ascot before was the James Bond movies,” Bradford said, adding that he got to learn more about Jones when he moved to city hall in 1999 and immediately understood why Jones had the respectability he has.
“Ron has a sense of character and conviction,” Bradford said. “He lives by a set of principles and a deep faith. It goes to the core of who he is. It wasn’t a facade. It wasn’t an act. It wasn’t a management technique. He was who he was. So even if you didn’t necessarily share the same beliefs as Ron Jones, you had to respect him because he lived by those beliefs.”
Margaret Lucht, Garland city councilwoman for District 5, said, “He was just so nice. I felt like I was his friend after having said hello. You can feel the friendship and the joy emanating from him and it’s a special thing. You don’t see that in too many people.”
After the unveiling, Jones said he prays Garland continues to be the city of choice for businesses, and for individuals to live and raise families.
“Garland, thank you for all you do,” Jones said. “City manager and council and the people above all, thank you for all you do. We love you, we love you, we love you and we remain at your service.”
Jennifer Igbonoba is a sophomore at George Washington University where she is studying economics and journalism. She was a 2021 Fellow in the Scripps Howard Program at the University of North Texas and this is her second internship with I Messenger Media (Texas Metro News, The New Garland Jo9urnal and I Messenger).
