Council President / South Ward Council2022-11-22T12:46:05-05:00

Jamillah Z. Beasley

Jamillah Z. Beasley, Council President / South Ward Council

Municipal Building
1 Civic Square Irvington, NJ 07111
Phone: 862-400-1790
Email: councilwomanjzb@gmail.com

JAMILLAH Z. BEASLEY, COUNCIL PRESIDENT
SOUTH WARD COUNCILWOMAN

Council President Jamillah Z. Beasley is the South Ward Councilwoman and long-time resident of the Township of Irvington.

She is a product of the Irvington Public School system and a graduate of Irvington’s Frank H. Morrell High School.

Understanding the importance of education, Council President Beasley continued her studies at Katherine Gibbs Business School and Essex County College where she majored in Criminal Justice and is currently matriculating at Strayer University as a Business Administration Major with a concentration in Management.

The proud daughter of the Late Great Civic Leader, D Bilal Beasley, and Chairwoman A. Baseemah Beasley, Council President Beasley understood the importance of civic duty and civic responsibility at an early age.

From a young woman she worked in the Irvington Public Safety Department where she helped to maintain the integrity of the Records Management Division’s vital function and mission of safeguarding and protecting citizens’ expectation of privacy in records entrusted to the Irvington Police Division.

After decades of service in the Division, Council President Beasley came to work at the Irvington Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (I.N.I.C) and the Department of Neighborhood Preservation to help provide Social Services to individuals and families in the community which included utility and food assistance as well as transitional housing for the homeless.

The Council President’s work at the Department of Neighborhood Preservation was so impactful, she was tapped in by the Mayor to manage the Department until she departed. She currently works at the Department of Policy, Planning, and Redevelopment in East Orange, New Jersey.

On June 3, 2008, the Council President’s political career began when she was elected to serve as District Leader to represent the West Ward’s 2nd District. In that position, she worked tirelessly to create change and help resolve the concerns of residents throughout the district.

In 2015, Council President Beasley was appointed to serve on the Irvington School Board. In 2017, she was elected to fill the position’s unexpired term and on April 17, 2018, Council President Beasley was elected to serve in the position full term.

On April 22, 2019, Council President Beasley was unanimously appointed by the Irvington Municipal Council to serve as South Ward Councilwoman to fill the vacant office of the late Sandra R. Jones.
It was an honor and privilege for her to have been voted by the Council to serve as the South Ward Councilwoman. The seat has a special place in the Council President’s heart. It is the seat once held by her father, D. Bilal Beasley.

Council President Beasley has been serving the office of South Ward Council with such distinction, that in September 2022, the Irvington Municipal Council unanimously voted to appoint her President of the Irvington Municipal Council.

Embodying the community care, taking the doctrine of civic leaders, and neighbors taking care of neighbors to uplift whole communities, Council President Beasley walks the community, talks to residents in the community, knocks on doors, and holds Community Meetings with all the stakeholders at local churches and community centers to directly listen to, address, and provide sustainable solutions to the issues and concerns affecting South Ward residents and the Irvington community.

Since her tenure as South Ward Councilwoman, Council President Beasley has served on the Housing and Redevelopment, Recreation, Sanitation/Quality of Life, Grants Review, Finance, Legal, ABC, Human Resources and Towing Committees.

Council President Beasley has a passion for Laborers which led her to become a proud member of I.U.O.E Local 68 and later a Shop Stewart where she advocated and fought for Union members’ rights and entitlements under Contract and Law.

Currently, Council President Beasley sits on the Board of the Northwest Essex Community Healthcare Network, Belleville, N.J. and the Board of the Essex County Homelessness Trust Taskforce which tackles the local housing crisis in Essex County.

A mother of four and a grandmother of six beautiful grandchildren, Council President Beasley remains passionate about the well being of children and believe that children should receive quality care, a quality education, and safe spaces to not only learn, but also play and flourish.

To further put her beliefs into action, Council President Beasley founded the Jamillah Z. Beasley Civic Association and hosts events that include her annual: “End of the School Year Cookout” at Green Terrace Park where South Ward residents are able to come and enjoy good food, music, and each other; Movie night at Green Terrace Park where families are able to enjoy refreshments and a movie in a safe space with other community members and leaders; the South Ward/West Ward Annual End of the Summer Cookout & Book Bag Give Away at Chancellor Avenue Park where the Council President along with Councilman Cox and grassroots organizations have given out hundreds of book bags and school supplies to hundreds of school age children from grades 1 through 12; the Annual Christmas Party with prize giveaways at 624 Nye Avenue for Seniors: “Clean-up Saturdays” where Council President Beasley partnered with local businesses to clean-up the neighborhood; the Jamillah Z. Beasley Civic Association Small Ball League was started last year in partnership with Discipline Basketball and it teaches developmental basketball to our boys and girls ages 7 – 11; the COVID-19 Pandemic initiative where at the height of the pandemic, Council President Beasley supplied South Ward residents with PPE to keep them healthy and safe which included masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, food boxes and breakfast, lunch and dinner meals so they didn’t have to leave their homes.

Council President Beasley personally drove to local supermarkets, shopped and dropped off food to elderly South Ward residents. And for months, with the assistance of her oldest granddaughter, Ma’Liyah and South Ward District Leader Vincent Taylor, she was also able to provide meals three times a day to Seniors at 624 Nye Avenue.

Council President Beasley’s sense of civic duty and responsibility goes beyond that. She has been a member of the Shahid F. Bilal Beasley Memorial Scholarship Committee which has given scholarships to 12th graders and Barnes and Nobles Book Gift Cards to 8th graders for over twenty years.

Council President Beasley and her family have cooked and served meals to the Irvington High School Football Team to highlight how important their well being is to the fabric of Irvington.

As a Board Member of the Friends of Irvington Park she helps to organize annual community events at Irvington Park that draws hundreds of families.

Council President Beasley enjoys planning, organizing, reading and spending time with family and friends. Above all, Council President Beasley is a proud mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend whose main goal in life is to continue to help provide South Ward residents, and the Township of Irvington as a whole, a better quality of life.