WINONA, Minn. – The winner of the primary election run-off for mayor, Jovy Rockey, has a court record for stealing more than $1,000 when she worked at Bluff Country Co-op 11 years ago, she acknowledged. The conviction was unreported during the mayoral campaign, but Rockey said she knew it would come up eventually. When reporter Josh DeLaRosa of the Winona Daily News confronted Rockey, she said she was pleased to get out in front of the issue. Rockey, then 27, was accused of taking deposits on returned milk bottles at the Co-op. She was fired. The crime was a gross misdemeanor for which Rockey was sentenced to two years probation and 80 hours community service. Rockey said she regretted what she did but noted that she was a single mother with three children and desperate: “I was not in a great place.”
Stay in town? Or not?
Rockey said she briefly pondered leaving town after the theft conviction but chose instead to make it a learning experience. “I decided I would serve this community and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past decade, which is give back in the ways that I can.” She now operates an art gallery downtown. “The mistakes I have made isn’t a reflection of who I am today,” she said.
Mayor race
Primary election put these mayoral candidates on November ballot: Jovy Rockey: 1,654; Scott Sherman: 1,261.
Rockey: Lessons learned
Earlier: Winona mayor race: Rockey v. Sherman
Almanac: November 2020 Winona ballot