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Forum focuses on electing minority representatives

As the 1996 national and local elections approach, community members met Saturday to talk strategy on how to get more minorities elected to government.

Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) delivered words of wisdom to political hopefuls who attended the Political Action Forum at Washtenaw Community College looking for resources and information.

"In planning a political career, you do the same thing someone planning a business career would do," Smith said. "The men do it, and (women) are faulted for not doing it."

Christina Montague, a county commissioner, spoke about her experience running for local government as "a woman, not a professional politician."

Montague said she ran for office because she wanted to fight for those in her community who she viewed as underrepresented.

To others interested in a political office, Montague advised, "Have a defined message, know the issues, learn about the office you want to run for and give it your all."

The forum, in addition to discussing how to get more African Americans elected to office, also addressed ways to mobilize the black community to the polls.

"We're allowing ourselves to become discouraged and disillusioned," Smith said.

Smith said that if more people came to the polls, "the conservative tide" now in control of the House and Senate would be eliminated. People could "flip this whole process on its ear," she said.

The group discussed different venues to attract voters to the polls.

While programs like Get Out the Vote help, many community members register to vote but never get to the polls on election day, Ann Arbor resident Dwain King said.

The forum suggested providing child care near polls, forming car-pools and educating people on how to get absentee ballots if their workplace is too far from poll sites.

Making voting convenient for working mothers and people who work far from home is being tackled by vote-by-mail legislation, which is currently being debated in Lansing.

Smith said she has been pushing for vote-by-mail legislation for years, but it has yet to pass because lawmakers fear the impact of the new voters that would be recruited. Smith remained confident, however, that the legislation would pass soon.

"This was very exciting," said Shawn Mason Spence, chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women. "We got a lot of information in a small period of time."

Spence, who organized the forum, said the event offered people a chance to evaluate their own role in politics and plan "where they would like to see this go."