Mia Love: First Black Female Mayor of Utah

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, " Love will become the 12-year-old city's third mayor, after having served six years on the City Council." Mia Love will serve as the First Black Female Mayor in Utah's Saratoga Springs.

Wow! That's Awesome!

Mia Love is the first black woman to be lected mayor in any Utah city. She won elected last Tuesday in Saratago Springs, where she and her neighbors say residents are color-blind to race. (AL HARTMANN / The Salt Lake Tribune )

"[The reporter] asked, 'What do you think of Mia's race?' " recalled Love, who is also a city councilwoman. "She looked confused. She didn't understand the question."

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, "That response was typical in the northern Utah County city where Love defeated challenger Jeff Francom by a vote of 861 to 594."

While taxes, growth and quality of life were issues in the campaign, Love's race was not a factor, she said. Nor is it with her.

"It is a physical feature," Love said, sitting in the dining room of her home in the Sunrise Meadows neighborhood. "I am proud to be a member of this community."

According to the 2000 U.S. Census report, blacks make up just 0.6 percent of Saratoga Springs' population.

"I do think it is unusual, and it speaks to the way Utah is changing," Monson said.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, "Monson also wouldn't have expected race to become an issue in the campaign. He said in today's political climate, playing the race card is more likely to backfire than to help. He said Love's experience on the council likely gave her a record to run on in an issues-oriented campaign. "

Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Love's win was "remarkable" and a testament to the work others have done for a century in breaking down prejudice.

"[Love] had prepared herself to take advantage of the doors that had been opened," Williams said.

The 33-year-old mayor-elect said she's never experienced racism while living in Utah, first in Salt Lake County, then in American Fork before moving to Saratoga Springs in 2001.

"I don't have that victim attitude," said Love, a Connecticut native. "If someone doesn't like me, I think it is because of something I did."

Parker said Love's success comes from her caring passionately about people. If someone brings a concern to her, she presents it before the council.

Love said she has a simple guiding principle for governing: What is in the best interests of the city? While she is willing to give an ear to a resident's concerns, she balances it against the city's best interests.

"It is interesting in all the years that I have worked with [Love], people haven't mentioned the fact that she is black," Parker said.
"I never thought of [Parker] as a Caucasian man," Love joked.

My Thoughts...

It is always great to see change and success in small towns, especially with those of history's of being racially intolerant of people of color. It shows you that our country is changing for the best, it may take time, but is coming!

To read more about Utah's first black mayor,click here.