MEET THE CANDIDATES: Shirley A. Black: Alderman--Ward Three

Shirley A. Black is running for re-election as Alderman in Ward Three.

Alderman Black has frequently joined the Democratic council majority in criticizing and opposing the mayor, but could there be a personal agenda? In September 2007, The Herald reported that Black criticized the mayor for transferring hers and at least one other part-time crossing guard job from the city, to the Board of Education, making Black ineligible to collect unemployment benefits for her $35 a day part-time job because of an obscure state law that prohibits part time Board of Education employees from collecting unemployment benefits. (Crossing guard unhappy with new employer: Rick Guinness, September 14, 2007).

In April 2009, Black was absent from an important budget meeting of the council, along with 3 other Democratic Aldermen, in what some believe was an attempt by the Majority Democrats in preventing there from being a quorum present to act on the budget. According to the April 9 Herald story on that meeting, the mayor criticized the inaction by the council on the budget by saying "Council membership is not a spectator sport" (NO TAX HIKE: by James Craven, April 9, 2009).

Black was also one of the 13 Democratic Aldermen who allowed fellow Democrat Paul Catanzaro to violate the City Charter during the February 2009 council meeting by speaking against and then voting against his own ethics violation, despite the fact that section 4.7 of the charter prohibits an Alderman from speaking on, and voting on a matter of personal interest. Although section 4.7 mandates expulsion from the council for any Alderman who violates that section, not only did Black fail to perform her sworn duty as an Aldermen by enforcing section 4.7, she actually joined Catanzaro in his vote which was in violation of that section.

Black initially held the party line by opposing the recent proposed changes to the city blight ordinance, but in the end, Black did change her mind and pledged support for correcting the defective ordinance that had initially been drafted by Tim O'Brien when he was still an Alderman.