Franklin County mayor makes history as first openly gay leader of St. Clair – KMOV.com
ST. CLAIR, Mo. (KMOV.com) — As Tishaura Jones became the first Black female mayor of St. Louis, another mayor made history in Franklin County. St. Clair residents elected Cozy Bailey as their new leader, making her the first openly gay mayor in the town.
A mayor is making history in Franklin County. St. Clair residents elected Cozy Bailey as their new leader. She’ll be the first openly gay mayor of the town.
Bailey said she’s proud to be part of a historic first, and praised the community for their support.
“You know, I’m not gonna deny who I am. I’m proud of who I am,” she said. “It was brought up on social media, and I have a very diverse community that stood behind me and supported me all the way and I can’t thank them enough.”
Bailey owns a landscaping company and said her goals will be developing city property and preserving the city’s history.
“This is my home town, and I love it. I feel like with three exits, we’re kind of sitting still and everyone is passing us. I would love to see us progress and grow along with everyone else,” she said. “We have a lot of city-owned properties, whether they be small or like our airport, which is now down. So we have a huge piece of property we need to develop. We need to get more rooftops in here and continue improvements for city streets and gutters.”