The 1967 Newark riots hastened an exodus of families from that city, many of them moving a few short blocks into neighboring Irvington. Until 1965, Irvington was almost exclusively white. By 1980, the town was nearly 40% black; by 1990 it was 70%. On July 1, 1980, Fred Bost, the first black person to serve on the Town Council, was sworn in as East Ward Councilman. At age 24, Michael G. Steele became the first black elected to public office in Irvington when he won a seat on the school board on March 25, 1980, then became the township's first black mayor ten years later, when he was elected in 1990 and served for four years, followed by Sarah Brockington Bost in 1994. In 1994 Steele returned to the Board of Education to pursue his career as the district's certified School Business Administrator, serving over 22 years. The current Mayor is Tony Vauss.