EAST SPENCER — After upsetting long-time former Alderman John Noble III in November, George Jackson was sworn in as a member of East Spencer’s Board of Aldermen on Monday.

Jackson was sworn in alongside incumbents Mayor Barbara Mallett and Aldermen Curtis Cowan and Deloris High.

Jackson said when he was elected that he ran for office because he wanted to “continue the forward progress the town has made over the last five years to improve the infrastructure.” The Long Street corridor was one area that Jackson said he really wanted to help the town focus on, especially working to beautify the area.

After all of the members of the board were sworn in, Mallett made sure to welcome Jackson to his new role as an alderman.

“We want to welcome Rev. Jackson to the podium. It’s been a long time coming, we’ve been asking him whenever he was ready and now he’s ready and he’s now one among us,” said Mallett.

Jackson has been active in East Spencer for years as a community organizer and preacher. In 2020, Jackson worked to restore tennis courts that had fallen into disrepair in the town.

“I thought that if Black lives matter, then Black communities matter because Black people live in Black communities. I thought that this was a way to enhance the Black Lives Matter movement, not connected to the national movement, but a way to say our community is important. This dilapidated tennis court did not represent a community that was proud of its heritage and tradition, so the project began,” said Jackson at the time.

Jackson, Cowan and High will all serve four-year terms on the board while Mallett will serve a two-year term as mayor.