Biography

Political Experience:

Educational Information:

• Graduate of Bastrop High School
• Graduate of University of Louisiana at Monroe (NLU) with degree in Business Administration

Personal Information:

• Mayor Mayo has over 20 years of business experience working with companies such as State Farm Insurance, Allstate Insurance and Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp.
• Married to the former Angela Washington. They have two children - Jared and Ashley, both Graduates of Grambling State University.

Fiscal Management:

• Under the Mayo administration, the City of Monroe is enjoying its best fiscal position in history. Despite the national recession, Monroe now has a nearly $12 million dollar fund balance (surplus)
• Monroe has had an official fiscal year budget surplus for eight out of the past nine years (six consecutive years from FY 2004-2005 thru FY 2009-2010)

Economic Development:

• Monroe is a five-time winner of the Louisiana Municipal Association Community Achievement Award. The past three have been in the category for Economic Development (2006, 2007, and 2008).
• Recent completed and ongoing local major economic development projects in which the Mayo administration has been instrumentally involved include the following: V-Vehicle Company (1400 jobs); Gardner-Denver Thomas (301 jobs); Computer Programs and Systems Inc. Call Center (100 jobs); ACCENT Call Center (500 jobs).
• Monroe is the headquarters for Fortune 500 company CenturyLink (formerly CenturyTel), which just completed two multi-billion dollar acquisition to become the 3rd largest telecommunications company in the United States.
• Louisiana economic development experts predict the Monroe Metropolitan area will have the largest percentage of job growth in the state of Louisiana during the next two years.

Major Local Projects:

• Ongoing and recently completed major local projects in which the Mayor administration has been instrumentally involved include the following: New Comprehensive Plan; New Monroe Regional Airport Terminal; Monroe Fire-Police Public Safety Center; and the Ouachita Port Facility;

Partnerships in Education:

• Mayor Mayo believes that education is the key to success for all residents of our city, parish, and region. Even though his administration has no direct authority over our local school system, he believes that government and education should work together to benefit students at all educational levels.
• For that reason, the Mayor administration has formed many productive "Partnerships in Education", which include the following: Creation of the Entergy-City of Monroe Community Service Scholarship - YTD 97 scholarships valued at a total of $47,000 have been awarded to deserving graduating high school seniors who have excelled in the classroom and in the field of community service.
• The City's Community Development division coordinates after-school tutoring and GED programs in local community centers.
• The City also sponsors multiple summer job/intern programs for high school and college students.

Notable Awards and Recognitions:

• National Conference of Black Mayor's Valiant Award for outstanding service in the aftermath of Hurricane's Katrina and Rita
• Who's Who Among Business Leaders
• Rupert F. Richardson Legacy Award
• Louisiana Chapter of American Planning Association Award for Distinguished Leadership
• Louisiana Transit "Extra Mile" Award for leadership in Public Transportation
• Louisiana Head Start Association Award of Excellence
• Martin Luther King Trailblazer Award from the Ouachita Parish Martin Luther King Foundation
• City of Monroe-Monroe Metro Region Top Rankings
  
  • Top 10 for Economic Development among metro areas with populations of 200,000 or less (Site Selection Magazine: 2010)
  • Top 51 Best Old House Neighborhoods - Monroe's Garden District (This Old House Magazine: 2010)
  • 3rd best market in the nation for maintaining housing prices (Kiplinger's Personal Finance: 2009)
  • Top 10 Tourist Attractions for Ouachita Parish - City of Monroe operated Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo (#1) and Masur Museum of Art (#7) listed among top sites. (Delta Business Magazine: 2010)

Personal Affiliations:

• Member of New Light Baptist Church, Rev. James B. Johnson, Pastor
• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (Rayville Alumni Chapter)
• Prince Hall Masonic Lodge Composite #120
• Monroe Rotary Club

Current and Past Board Affiliations:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Local Government Advisory Board; Black Bayou National Wildlife Refuge; The Salvation Army; The Ouachita Enterprise Corporation; Ouachita Council of Governments; Chairman of the Board for The Opportunities Industrialization Center; Advisory Board for ULM College of Business; Letterman Club Board of ULM; Monroe-West Monroe Public Trust Financing Authority; Bancorp South Advisory Council; President's Advisory Board for LAMP, Inc.; Past President of the Louisiana Chapter National Conference of Black Mayors; Past President for the Louisiana Conference of Mayors; Board of Directors for the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc.; Advisory Board for Master of Public Administration Program of Grambling State University; Louisiana Retirement Development Commission; Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Council.