The city of Jonesboro will celebrate Mayor Joy Day on Tuesday, the last day of her role as the leader of the Clayton County community.
Residents are invited to a “farewell and good luck reception” for Day from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at the Jonesboro City Green, 108 Broad Street, in Jonesboro. The event is free and open to the public.
Day announced last week during a City Council meeting that she would step down as mayor on Aug. 16 after more than a decade in the role. Day said she was making the move to be closer to her family.
“The City of Jonesboro has been a positive force in my life,” Day said in a statement. “Thank you for the work, the opportunity, the chance to be creative and to feel a sense of accomplishment, not to mention the tears and the laughter along the way.
“Goodnight, City of Jonesboro, from your biggest fan!” she said.
The city said it has not yet decided when it will hold an election to replace Day. Day was first elected mayor of Jonesboro in 1995 and held the seat until she lost a race for reelection in 2006. She came back to the office in 2012 and has remained there until today. She was last reelected to a four-year term in 2020.
She is a native of Thomaston, Georgia, and has been in Jonesboro since 1971 when she came to the Clayton County community as a third-grade teacher at Lee Street Elementary.
