Early career Jones served as the City Administrator of
East Orange, New Jersey for seven years, where he was responsible for developing the city's $100 million operating budget. Jones also served in various positions at Public Service Electric and Gas, including Business Development Manager, Director of Workforce Diversity and Public Affairs Manager. Jones is currently a founding partner of 1868 Public Affairs a full-service government and public affairs consultancy with offices in
Trenton, New Jersey Jones served two terms on the Essex County
Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1988 to 1993. Jones served on the Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee and was Deputy Minority Leader from 1996 to 1998. Seeking to make the unavailable as a weapon by youths, Jones proposed legislation in the Assembly in 1995 that would ban the sale of
box cutters to those under 18 years old, with a fine of up to $7,000 and 18 months in jail imposed on those violating the ban. In 1998, Jones proposed legislation that would require children up to the age of 14 to wear
ski helmets and would require ski areas to make them available for use by all underage skiers.
Politics In May 1998, Jones and Senator
Shirley Turner requested Senate President
Donald DiFrancesco and Assembly Speaker
Jack Collins to impanel a bicameral legislative task force to review the issue of racial profiling. Their request was denied. Later that month, Assemblyman Jones and Senator Turner introduced legislation to create a joint legislative task force to hold public hearings to investigate racial profiling and minority employment discrimination within the
New Jersey State Police. Jones said, "If you know something is wrong... you are duty bound to challenge that procedure, particularly when you know it is wrong," he said. In August 1999, LeRoy Jones Jr. was one of fifteen Assembly members and five state senators who made up the "New Jersey Legislative Black and Latino Caucus". On April 13, 20 and 27, 1999, the Caucus held regional public hearings - in Trenton, Newark and Blackwood and in August 1999 produce a report titled, "A Report on Discriminatory Practices Within the New Jersey State Police". In preparation for the hearings, the Caucus established a toll-free telephone number to enable the public to report incidents of abuse of power by the State Police. Hundreds of telephone calls were received from persons who were either victims of, or witnesses to racial profiling. Redistricting following the
2000 United States census put both Gill and Jones in the
34th Legislative District. In 2001, Jones unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of East Orange. In the 2003 primaries for the district's seat in the
New Jersey Senate, Jones was given the party line opposing Gill. Despite outspending Gill in the heavily Democratic district, Gill won with 55% of the vote. Jones is the Democratic Chairman of both East Orange and Essex County. In 2002, Jones was elected to serve as the East Orange Democratic Municipal Committee Chairman which is a position he still holds today. In October 2013, Jones was elected as Essex County Democratic Chairman, following the death of Phil Thigpen. Jones served as the Essex County Campaign Director for Governor Jon Corzine's 2009 re-election campaign, where he helped lead Governor Corzine to one the largest Democratic vote pluralities in the history of New Jersey. He also served as Co-Campaign Chairman for Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo. In 2012, Jones was appointed by
New Jersey Assembly Speaker
Sheila Oliver as a Commissioner of the
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. He was re-elected to serve a full two-year term in January 2022.
Controversy In June 2015, Jones was charged with misdemeanor
simple assault after allegedly punching a poll worker on primary election day in June, in an incident that was recorded on video. Jones stated that he had come down to the polling place to confront the poll worker, who had been in an argument with Jones' wife, who was also there as a poll worker at that location. But Jones had an explanation. 'This man threatened my wife,' Jones said. 'This man assaulted my wife. This man charged at my wife.'" ==Personal life==