City Councilor-at-Large Tom Jones thought he had a pretty good handle on the process of city government so he ran for City Council four years ago.
At least that’s what he thought when he was on the receiving end of city government.
Now he knows that being on City Council requires great mental agility and that the experience tunes up, or should tune up, one’s ability to listen to people. Often, he added, that requires identifying a person’s underlying concern and walking that balance between what people expect from government and what government needs from the people.
“City government is so real and immediate,” Jones said. But he not only asks people to understand the limits of government, he also asks government to understand the needs of the people.
Tom Jones the “everyman” has lived in Newburyport all his life; the Jones family has lived here and owned land here for generations. “My mother’s side has only been here since 1896,” he said with a chuckle.
Jones lives on Bashaw family land on Low Street and shares what’s left of the land with his wife Terry Berns; his mother, Gertrude (Bashaw) Jones “who lives in what was once the barn on her family’s farm – and Wallace Bashaw Jr. Way” the newest and most direct way to get from Low Street to Anna Jaques Hospital and the new Newburyport Cancer Center.
The street was named for his mother’s cousin, who died in World War II.His father was City Marshal, his grandfather was a captain in the Newburyport Fire Department and his great grandfather worked the life saving boats on Plum Island in addition to his regular job.
While in college, Jones was a reserve police officer in Newburyport andHampton, NH. These days, he said, he’s a carpenter.
“Ten-to-one Jones”, he jokes. Often votes in the council fall that way, with Tom Jones being the “one”.
He shrugs all that off with a big smile and a gleam in his eye. He’s a “Townie” and he’s here for the duration.
