Members of the Duval Legislative Delegation chose Rep. Mia Jones (D-Jacksonville) to be their new chair Monday.
The delegation also voted to use gender-neutral titles like "chair" and "chairperson" instead of “chairman.”
Jones will serve as chair of the Duval Legislative Delegation during her last term in office, which ends next year. She’s philosophically different from her predecessor, Rep. Janet Adkins (R-Fernandina Beach), but her election continues the delegation’s gender-balanced trend.
Jacksonville has never had a female mayor and, as the Florida Times-Union reported last April, women hold less than 10 percent of board seats at the city’s publicly traded companies.
But of the eight state lawmakers who make up the Duval Delegation, three are women. They voted unanimously to change the rules Monday, dropping the “man” in titles like chairman and vice chairman.
A new chairperson will be elected next year, when Jones is term limited.
