Mabel V. Washington Jenkins was appointed by the Newport News City Council to the position of City Clerk, effective December 1, 2004. She was hired in 1996 as Administrative Coordinator in the Office of Intergovernmental and Community Relations, and has served as Administrative Coordinator to the Mayor, as well as Chief Deputy City Clerk.

Professional ties include membership in the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC); the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association (VMCA), having served as Director of Region X for two consecutive years, Second Vice President, First Vice President, and currently serves as President; the Peninsula Unit of the National Association of Parliamentarians; the Virginia Association of Government Records and Administrators (VAGARA); the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA); Hampton Roads Chapter of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA); the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club, Inc. (NANBPW); advisory board member of the Give Me A Chance Foundation; and numerous auxiliaries in her church.

Mabel was conferred the title of Certified Municipal Clerk in May 2003. In December 2004, she was accepted into the IIMC Master Municipal Clerk Academy Program. Only fifteen percent of the group's 10,300 members qualify for this status.

Mabel was an honor graduate of York High School and received a B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University in Business Administration and Management.