Montgomery's next mayor proves to be a critical choice

Vanzetta Penn McPherson
Alabama Voices

Next year, for at least the fourth time, Montgomery’s mayoralty will be seriously subject to a demographic transition — from white male to someone else.

In 2019, in a city where more than 50 percent of the population is not male and 60 percent of the population is not white, it is time for the occupant of the mayor’s office to reflect the predominant citizenry. 

But while merely being white and male has been “enough” in countless previous elections in Alabama, merely being black or a white female will not be enough to become mayor in 2019.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange introduces former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce annual meeting in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.

Several candidates have already begun to assess support. 

A few of them have well-known records of public service. Some are “election junkies” who set aside funds for the next filing fee.  Others are “unknown soldiers” who expect support based on tenuous potential, not verifiable action.

No one can legally prevent a person from running for office.

However, we can — and we must — discourage candidacies that, most importantly, do not serve the best interests of our city, and, as an auxiliary consideration, do not serve the best interests of the African American community.

Recognizing that being mayor takes much longer than running for mayor, here are some unofficial, admittedly unscientific, criteria.

The desirable candidate must have a well-known, commendable record of public service. A 10-year chairmanship of one’s family reunion is not enough.

Public service establishes an accessible track record that permits voters to determine a person’s integrity, leadership skills, vision, priorities, management of relationships, and reliability. It extends beyond government service.

It creates a slate of witnesses who can attest to a candidate’s qualities and a jury of peers who can evaluate them. Anonymity is not an option; neither is a pattern of magically re-appearing at election time and disappearing thereafter.

The desirable candidate must commit to serving the entire community.

Everyone has pet issues — community development, public education, jobs, transportation, budget balancing, poverty, the arts, downtown development, historical preservation, or others.

It is not inappropriate for a candidate to pitch worthiness for office based on political priorities, and it is not inappropriate for voters to support a candidate based upon identification with those priorities.

But campaigning and governing are necessarily distinct endeavors.

Once elected, the mayor must see every issue as vital to a strong, unified community and must have the courage and determination to manage and allocate resources in a way that fairly and reasonably addresses all of its citizens’ needs.

The desirable candidate must be an effective and inspirational communicator who understands  the importance of technology in communications.

"Money is power.” There was a time when that axiom was indisputable.

For the past 30 years, money has been increasingly forced to share its primacy with information.

Access to information requires a mastery of the language arts, described by my elementary school teachers as reading, writing, thinking, and listening.

Regrettably, the nation is painstakingly enduring the impact of an executive who does not read, write or listen, and who prioritizes prattle over exposition and analysis.  Candidates cannot merely say what audiences want to hear.

They must be able to explain their positions, especially the unpopular ones. 

As recent events have demonstrated, Montgomery is a national site, one that requires its mayor to represent us commendably on the national stage and in the national press.

If the face of our beloved city is not fluent in current issues, historical analysis, data, and nuance, we will remain mired in political stagnation and the population decline that Montgomery has seen for the past seven years.

As for the “auxiliary consideration” of serving the best interests of the African American community, the new mayor, whether black or white, must understand, embrace, and be willing and able to address those interests.

We cannot assume that a black candidate’s race presumptively fulfills these criteria. 

But there will be black candidates who not only fulfill them, they have mastered them. 

Therefore, African Americans should filter black candidates early to avoid the now-routine slate of two whites and 50 blacks, thus guaranteeing the defeat of all blacks in a pretextually non-partisan election.