Former District 1 City Commissioner Charles Goston died Tuesday night at the age of 76.

Goston, born in the Sugarhill neighborhood in Gainesville, graduated from Lincoln High School where he served as a drum major and was a member of the swim and basketball teams. He attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and was then drafted into the U.S. Army.

When he returned to Gainesville following his service in the military, Goston enrolled at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism. He was one of the founding members of the Black Student Union and was one of the first Black students to broadcast a radio show on WRUF.

Goston created the “Black College Monthly” magazine and owned a cable Jazz station in Gainesville. He was a former president of the Alachua County Democratic Black Caucus and he served the community as a youth coach and mentor. In 2015, Goston was elected to the Gainesville City Commission.

According to the city of Gainesville, Goston’s accomplishments while in office included ending the Gainesville Regional Utilities’ Friday cutoffs, which occasionally left people late on their payments without power through the weekend. He worked to add restroom facilities to Smoke Bear Park and also upgraded RTS bus stops with shelters throughout District 1. Goston also helped secure a $200,000 grant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management to renovate the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center so it could serve as an emergency shelter.