Key Facts
Background
Jones is a US Army Veteran, and he attended boot camp outside St. Louis. He was a Promotions Manager/NIE Coordinator at Danville Register & Bee from 1981-1999, and he was Director of Facilities for Averett University from 1999-2016. He is former Director of Maintenance and Operations for Danville Public Schools [2, 3, 4, 7, 8].
Jones was appointed by the City Council to the school board in 2004 before Danville made the change to an elected school board. In 2006, Jones was drawn out of a lottery to give up his seat and sought election in the first school board vote, retaining his seat, and continued to serve on the school board until 2010 [2, 3, 11].
Jones has served on the City Council since 2010. He served as Vice Mayor from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he was elected by the CIty Council to serve as Mayor and was re-elected as Mayor in 2020 [2, 3].
Jones is Founder and President of One Accord Unlimited, Inc., owner of JKLIPPERZ Barbershop, a Commissioner for Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, on the Board of Directors for Smart Beginnings and College Bonanza, a Royal Mason at Danville Royal Lodge #104, a member of American Legion Post 29, and a former member of the BB&T Advisory Board. In February 2022, he received the Humanitarian Award from the Danville chapter of the NAACP [3].
Key Issues
Education
According to Jones, education is a top priority of the City Council. Jones believes that since the City Council does not have direct control over educational decisions, more communication is necessary, and that the City Council should work with the School Board to improve test scores and boost teacher morale [6, 11].
COVID-19
Jones is pro-vaccine and urged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine [13].
Infrastructure
In 2018, Jones announced a project partnership to redevelop the White Mill building on Memorial Drive into a multi-use project that will feature commercial space and apartments, which is projected to be completed in 2023 [5].
Endorsements
Sources
1 ABC 13 News
2 WBTM Danville
3 Danville Virginia – Mayor Alonzo Jones
4 Linkedln
5 Danville Virginia – City Announces Deal
6 Star Tribune – City Council
7 Star Tribune – Danville Mayor
8 Danville Register & Bee – Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones
9 Virginia Department of Elections
10 WSLS 10 news
11 Danville Register & Bee – Danville Council Members
12 Danville Virginia – City Council Transfers
13 Danville Register & Bee – Danville City Council