City of Camilla honors former Mayor

CAMILLA, Ga. (WALB) - The City of Camilla has dedicated and renamed its Executive Meeting Chamber and Main Lobby in City Hall.

On Thursday, Feb. 29 at 4:00 p.m., the current Camilla Mayor Kevin Owens presented a proclamation to former Mayor Mary Jo Haywood. Her daughter Dr. Chanta Haywood accepted on her behalf. The commissioners and meetings will now be housed in the “Honorable Mary Jo Haywood Council Chambers,” says Mayor Owens.

Mary Jo Haywood served the City of Camilla as mayor from 2008 to 2012, and not only was the first woman but the first African American to do so.

Current Camilla Mayor Kevin Owens presented a proclamation to former Mayor Jo Haywood.(Jordan Roberts)

Former Mayor Haywood said, “It means that the Plans of God are working. I am overcome with joy that I have lived long enough to see the fulfillment of so many of God’s plans for Our people.”

Mary Jo Haywood has limited examples of services including:

Mayor of Camilla, 2008-2012
Past active member and officer in PTA’s and a school advisory council
Member of the Mitchell County Board of Education
Member of the Mitchell County Board of Tax Assessors
Member of the Executive Board of the Mitchell County NAACP
Volunteer and unsolicited fund raiser for Boys and Girls Clubs
Director of the the Wilwood Foundation (that provided scholarships to several Camilla students who are now successful adults)
Ongoing contributor to the DeSoto Trail Library
Volunteer in the recovery efforts following nearly every disaster during the past 4 decades
Board member the Board of National Historic Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home Committee (Miss Bea’s)
Member of the Hall of Fame of the Southern Rural Black Women Initiative

For her service, she has received many recognitions and awards from such organizations as the Local, State, Regional NAACP; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; and the Second District United States Congress.

Haywood, now retired, worked as a paraprofessional with the Mitchell County Board of Education, Senior Paralegal with Georgia Legal Services Program and with Gary Roberts Law, LLC. She also did private paralegal work.

She was instrumental in bringing in Camilla’s first Black Law Firm (Gary Roberts and Associates, now relocated), she was persistent in leading several voter registration and voter education campaigns. Lastly, assisting in the complaint in the action that led to equity in city employment.

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