Feel Good Friday: The country's youngest mayor, 18, Jaylen Smith.
KLS - Klimson Logistics Solutions
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KLS presents Feel Good Friday, 2/24/2023
18-Year-Old Mayor
For this week's #FeelgoodFriday story, we want to introduce Jaylen Smith, who was elected mayor just 21 days shy of turning 19 years old in Earle, Arkansas. He was officially sworn in last December. Earle is a town of around 1,800 people. Smith defeated Nemi Matthews Sr. who had been involved in city politics for nearly 40 years. The final tally was 218 to 139 votes.
Making History
Jaylen becomes the youngest African American Mayor in history. Smith told ABC that he envisioned himself making an impact similar to this, citing Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama as inspirations. Smith echoed the reaction, "Being the [youngest] Black/African American mayor in the nation ... it's kind of eye-catching," Smith said. "A lot of people are shocked -- like, 'this young guy can do it.'" He is absolutely right!
Mayor just the next step
He has been prepping himself as he held three presidential positions while attending high school. He believes that these three roles served as getting him acclimated with his future duties should he win the mayoral election. Jaylen isn't taking lightly how he hopes to inspire other young individuals like himself. "I'm hoping with my success, we can help not only me but help other young people, not only my community but around the nation to step out there on faith to get in those roles. Regardless of what people tell you, you still can make the difference" Smith said.
Embracing and rebuilding his community
Jaylen has made it very important that he remains part of Earle. His intention is not to use this as a stepping stone until the work is complete. Instead, he cares about his community and seeing it improve and reach its full potential. Jaylen has also begun taking online courses at Arkansas State Mid-South to balance his time and devote the majority of it to his new responsibilities. "When I won this position, when people elected me as the mayor of Earle, Arkansas, I realized people really had faith in me, and they believed that I could do the role and be successful in the role to make them successful," Smith said.
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Creating sustainable change
Jaylen is the first in his family to take a career in politics. Guiding Earle to reach the potential he believes in will be no easy task, but he will not be deterred. According to ABC, Poverty in Earle hovers at 28.9%, according to the Census Bureau data, and community concerns range from poor public transportation and lack of grocery stores to abandoned houses and sewer systems.
According to the data, the median household income in Earle is around $39,013, approximately $13,000 lower than the state's median household income. These are some of the challenges facing Jaylen. "If I have to stay, if I have to go to the White House or do whatever I got to do, I will do whatever it takes to make sure Earle, Arkansas, has reached its full potential," he told ABC News.
We want to commend Jaylen for his courage to challenge himself while helping build up those around him. This should be the goal of every politician. We are eager to see what his time in office produces for the community. We know he is eager, but also humble and committed. And thank you for being an inspiration to us all to chase our dreams!
We hope you enjoyed this week's #FeelgoodFriday story. And we want to end it with this wonderful vision Jaylen has, "If I have to stay, if I have to go to the White House or do whatever I got to do, I will do whatever it takes to make sure Earle, Arkansas, has reached its full potential," he told ABC News.