Elect women -- Walsh and Hoff -- to City Commission; Nickita, too

It's been a while since I offered up my two cents publicly on Birmingham city government. From 2000-2007, I wrote and edited the Birmingham Buzz, which kept an eye on City Hall and managed to influence at least one election and numerous important decisions in town. At one point, I ran for City Commission against three incumbents and lost. Though I had significant support, I chalked it up to the sad fact that many of my supporters simply did not turn up at the polls -- a fact I could verify since the city releases a list of voters in each election.

I fear the same fate will befall Vicki Walsh, a worthy candidate for Commission this year. Like me, Walsh is turning what would otherwise be a meaningless election (three incumbents "running" for three spots on the commission) into an actual campaign. Walsh, a longtime county prosecutor, promises to bring fresh ideas to the commission. 

Walsh's candidacy is important for several reasons, but the most important is that she is a woman, and the commission currently has only one of those -- Rackeline Hoff -- who will also get my vote. The rest is mostly oldish white guys. Don't get me wrong: I have nothing per se against oldish white guys; I'm one myself. But being a fairly wise oldish white guy, I know at least two things: Diversity is important on our city commission, and we currently lack it. The half of our population that happens to be female needs more representation, and Racky could use some company up there. Naysayers to Walsh's candidacy tend to insist that a commission candidate needs experience on volunteer boards, which Walsh lacks. Hogwash. What a candidate needs is intelligence and compassion. 

If you know where I live, you also know that the only sign in front of my house this season is for Mark Nickita. I'm voting for Mark because he's smart, dedicated to good planning and design, and has good ideas.
 
All three of these candidates, I think, will put Birmingham first. I urge you to get out and vote on Tuesday -- especially if it is something you wouldn't normally do -- and cast your ballot for Walsh, Nickita and Hoff.