ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on Friday said the controversial release this week of months of private text messages to and from some of her confidants was an accident. She also acknowledged she had some harsh words for some people in the texts, and pledged to reach out to them to smooth things over.
The texts — between Jones, her father Virvus Jones, and political consultant Richard Callow — offered a rare unfiltered look at the mayor’s private conversations and prompted a minor social media sensation upon their release Thursday in response an open records request.
In the texts, the mayor makes jokes, celebrates victories, shares news and sounds out political strategy. She also insults her rivals, sometimes using colorful language.
She mocks Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who she beat to become mayor, saying she doesn’t know what she’s doing in budget meetings.
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She laughs at a negative news story about Jane Dueker, the lobbyist for the city’s main police union.
She also expresses her hope that Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, who regularly gives lengthy speeches criticizing the mayor and her allies at board meetings, will “blow a gasket and pass out.”
Jones made similar comments with similar candor in other text message logs recently released to the public. But the mayor’s office said the thread between the mayor, her father, and Callow was beyond the scope of open records requests for conversations about former Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner.
Jones also acknowledged the outcry that followed the release. “Sometimes my words can be terse, and my text messages speak for themselves,” she said. “I understand the impact of some of my comments, and will contact the relevant parties to ensure productive dialogue moving forward.”
