Tjajuan Boswell still has the legal pad from her first meeting with Columbus Mayor Robert Smith.
Smith was Ward 1 councilman at the time, she said, but he listened as she itemized two pages worth of beautification projects she wanted to see completed in the city.
Years later, she said those projects have all been checked off and replaced with new ones.
“He has fulfilled everything on those two pages,” Boswell said of Smith at the Columbus City Council meeting Tuesday night. “It’s taken some time, but we’ve done it.”
Quick as Boswell was to shift credit to Smith’s leadership, it was actually the longtime beautification volunteer being honored Tuesday among three other city residents for their service. The council also recognized pastors Steve M. Jamison, Joe L. Peoples and James A. Boyd during the ceremony at the Municipal Complex — all of whom were credited as being the longest serving ministers in Columbus.
“These four citizens have been assets and pillars to this community,” Smith told The Dispatch. “These pastors, who have served their churches for a combined 131 years, have to be outstanding leaders to have that kind of longevity. All three are also very involved in the community beyond their church work.
“And Ms. Boswell, she’s out there helping in 100-degree weather,” he added. “If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she worked for the city.”
Smith said Boswell had spent years planting flowers and trees all over the city, spearheading cleanup efforts and helping decorate for several annual events. The city will plant a 12-foot little gem magnolia in her honor in the median between City Hall and the downtown Post Office on Main Street.
Jamison, who has pastored Maranatha Faith Center Church for 36 years, is a former construction worker who Smith said was instrumental in bringing the federal Environmental Protection Agency to Columbus to help clean up the old Kerr-McGee plant site, for which the city will receive $68,000 from a federal lawsuit settlement. The city will dedicate the street from Seventh Avenue North and Waterworks Road to 14th Avenue North as “Reverend Steven M. Jamison Way.”
Peoples has pastored Stephen Chapel Missionary Baptist Church for 44 years. The city dedicated 20th Street North to Sixth Avenue North and 21st Street North to Seventh Avenue North as “Rev. J.L. Peoples Loop.”
Boyd has pastored 51 years at Zion Gate Missionary Baptist Church. The city dedicated Fifth Street South, from Fourth to 15th Avenue, as “James A. Boyd Lane.”
All three pastors honored said they were humbled by the recognition.
“It’s rare to be honored like this before you die,” Jamison said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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