By Liz Oakes
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ELMWOOD PLACE - Jerry Jones, 59, drives limousines at Lunken Airport by day.

By night, Jones has a second job - as the village's third mayor in less than a year.

Jones, former vice mayor, became the village's top elected official Wednesday night after Barney Philpot stepped down from the post at a special council meeting, saying he had received a death threat.

Thursday, Jones was busy moving into his new office at Town Hall.

On council since October, he had been appointed to fill the seat of a councilman who moved out of town.

But Jones isn't new to the village.

A resident since 1957, he spent 15 years as an Elmwood Place firefighter - the last two as fire chief.

He also was an auxiliary police officer in 1981-1982.

The village's money woes worry him, Jones says.

"Let's face it - trying to run a government on $174,000 in a checking account - it wouldn't take much for that to be gone," Jones said.

He describes himself as "honest, straightforward, no-nonsense."

He plans to look into "personnel policies" at the village, but did not go into detail. "I'm not satisfied with the way some departments are being run," he said.

The village also could use a full-time administrator, he said.

Across the street from Town Hall at Elmwood Elementary, school secretary Kathy Clements, 47, said Jones once coached her son's baseball team.

"I don't think he'd take on a challenge like our neighborhood without thinking he could make a difference," she said.

At the corner of Oak and Vine streets, Patrick Moody, 33, an Elmwood Place native, said he also had known the new mayor a long time.

"I don't think Mr. Jones will let anybody run him off," Moody said.

Jones, however, says he's not sure how long he'll stay.

"I'm going to give it a few months," he said.

"If I don't feel I'm doing a good job, I'll step down."

E-mail loakes@enquirer.com