On December 7, St. Augustine City Commissioner Cynthia Garris will become the city’s first Black mayor in its 461-year history.

“Commissioner Garris is making history as the first Black mayor of St. Augustine, and with that brings a shift in the leadership landscape and direction of the city,” said outgoing Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, who opted not to run for another term. “I have high hopes that her passion for compassion will continue the important work of building unity and respect for everyone in our community.” 

For Garris, the decision to make that historic run was not immediate. Being the first former city staff member and the first Black woman ever elected to the commission was one thing; adding first Black mayor to her resume was another. 

“I was undecided about whether to run for reelection or run for mayor, but a friend suggested that, if I didn’t run, we’d never have a Black mayor,” Garris said.

Garris began her career in St. Augustine as a parking attendant at the Visitor Information Center Parking Garage and later served as a custodian for the Governor’s House Cultural Center and Museum. She went on to serve as a facilities coordinator at the St. Johns County Clerk of Courts for a decade before retiring in 2021. After two unsuccessful bids for public office in 2000 and 2002, Garris was sworn in as commissioner in 2022. 

“Cynthia comes extraordinarily prepared for office, having worked her way up over the decades from inside the city government, and knowing its workings firsthand,” said David Nolan, longtime resident, historian and co-founder of the ACCORD Civil Rights Museum and Freedom Trail.

A native St. Augustinian—who spent some of her formative years in Newport, Rhode Island—Garris has given much of herself over the years since returning in 1990. Prior to her government service, she created the Women’s Support Group and spearheaded the “Feed a Friend” food program. She is also an active board member for Home Again St. Johns and the Rotary Club of St. Augustine, and a past board member for the Betty Griffin Center. 

Two years ago, Garris was among more than 50 community residents who traveled to Tallahassee to lobby state lawmakers to select St. Augustine as the site for the state’s Black History Museum. Along the way, a blown tire on their bus reportedly caused a spark, leading to a fire. After a safe evacuation and securing other transport, she and the others completed their journey, continuing their advocacy for the museum’s future location in St. Augustine. 

As mayor, Garris has identified priorities that include expanding resources for a city-run day center, enhancing community engagement, addressing affordable housing, and improving infrastructure. But before any policy agenda begins, her swearing-in will carry significance of its own. 

In St. Augustine, the significance of a Black mayor extends well beyond City Hall—it serves as a capstone in the city’s Black representation, which had been stymied for more than 70 years after City Marshall Charles “Bossy” Benet shot Black city councilman John Papino in 1902 during a council meeting and was never held criminally responsible.

“It was not until the 1970s when Arnett Chase was elected to the City Commission that St. Augustine had its first black elected leader since Reconstruction,” said Nolan. “Appropriately, one of the things Cynthia Garis did in her first term on the City Commission was to get the city to honor Mr. Chase on the 50^th anniversary of his election.”

The nation’s oldest city has a complex racial history and played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. Against that backdrop, Garris’s rise—from city employee to commissioner to the first Black person to serve as mayor—marks a new chapter in the city’s story. 

“As the first Black mayor of the nation’s oldest city, her election carries significant historical and cultural meaning,” said Jaime D. Perkins, director of community services for St. Augustine. “Her election reflects the progress of a community that continues to honor its rich and complex history while looking toward the future.”

When she is sworn in, Garris will not only assume the city’s highest elected office; she will make history in a city where the meaning of that history is particularly profound. 

“It is appropriate that the Ancient City, named for a great North African saint, should finally have its first African American mayor long before it celebrates its 500^th anniversary,” Nolan said.