Bartlett made history Thursday, Aug. 17, by putting the first African American on the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Monique Williams was selected from a dozen hopefuls to finish the term of Bobby Simmons, who stepped down from his Alderman Position 4 post at the end of July because of ongoing health issues.

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“I honestly did not expect this. I’m really shocked,” she said after the meeting. “I just wanted my voice to be heard. I wanted them to know that we are a diverse community. All of our voices need to be heard, so that we can work as a collective and grow. I’m very proud of Bartlett today.”

Williams, known locally as “Chef Mo,” opened her Biscuits & Jams restaurant at 5806 Stage Road in Bartlett in 2021. She is also a senior consultant and principal equity partner with Unison Consulting Group, and she serves on the Bartlett Station Commission.

Over the past several years she has worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a study manager for Blood Therapeutic Systems/Pfizer and Astra Zeneca, and she logged two-plus years as regional clinical lead for Tesaro/Glaxo Smithkline.

Each of the 12 applicants was given a maximum of 15 minutes to tell the board about themselves and answer questions from the board members.

The applicants included Robert “Mitch” Arnold, Telisa Franklin, Kelly Gilmer, Samantha Hammonds, Kenneth Hayes, Paul Kaiser, James Lammey, Dennis Lyon, Lacey Marise, Joshua McNeil, Monique Williams and Warrie Williams.

Each board member nominated their top pick, which narrowed the field down to four finalists: Monique Williams, Hammonds, Kaiser and McNeil. Monique Williams and Hammonds ultimately gained the most votes to become the final two in the running.

In efforts to determine a winner, through several rounds of nominations and voting, the board was unable to reach the required four votes needed for either Hammonds or Monique Williams until aldermen Robert Griffin and Brad King (who had both nominated Hammonds) swung their votes in favor of Monique Williams, giving her five votes.

“I wanted us to go out 100% for her,” King said after the meeting. “I want our board to be united, not divided.”

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Alderman Kevin Quinn made the original nomination of Williams, which was subsequently backed by David Reaves (who had nominated McNeil) and then Jack Young (who had nominated Kaiser).

“All of these candidates are fantastic. It’s a great bunch. I just believe Mrs. (Monique) Williams brings something special to the board that we don’t currently have. She’s been a great asset for Bartlett, and I believe we can use her expertise in working with small businesses,” Quinn said.

Bartlett had until the end of this month to fill the vacancy left by Simmons’ resignation. The city’s charter required the board to fill the vacancy within 30 days from the effective date of the resignation.

The alderwoman-select will be sworn in at the next board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and her first official meeting will be Sept. 12.