IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

Election time. And for the first time in a very long time, I am undecided about who to vote for and am actually contemplating sitting this one out. My mother would cuss me out if she heard me say that, but I'm serious. Does it really even matter?

I'm leaning towards Seth Williams for DA, but I'm not fully comfortable with his views. I know him from working at the African American Chamber of Commerce and he was always very supportive of our efforts and community outreach, but there seems to be something different about him now. The fact that he has the support of the FOP is not at all appealing in my view.

The only Judge I know vaguely is John Irvine. He presides over Truancy Court at Roosevelt so I interact with him when I go to support students who are summoned for truancy. He has always proven to be fair in his decisions and is a welcome role model for the male students who are semi-troubled. They look up to him and take his advise seriously.

Now, I really like Brett Mandel. I also met him while working at the African American Chamber of Commerce/Tax Reform Commission. The one thing I know is that he is definitely an independent thinker and will not be swayed by bureaucracy and/or politics. However I find that he may be a little detached from my realities.

Alan Butkovitz hasn't done a bad job, but I was just a little turned off by views on students and septa crimes. But then again, he openly opposes genocide in Darfur - something that he didn't have to do, but it was the humane thing to do. But it has nothing to do with his role as city controller.

This was one of the discussions that I had with my three daughters on Mother's Day.

It was amazing, sitting back and watching each of these separate and distinct personalities that developed from the babies that I birthed.

Anyway, that youngest one - the one who isn't old enough to vote - is the one who had the most opinion on the matter. She scares me. She is so opinionated and passionate about her opinions! She's leaning towards her father's views, even to the point of calling somebody a "handkerchief-head nigga". I was outdone. She attended a forum with her father, but the only candidate speaking was Mr. Williams, so she didn't hear anyone else's views.

So, she and I are going to attend some candidate event somewhere where ALL CANDIDATES are present and able to share their position so that she and I can make an intelligent decision. The other two will just vote for who we decide; they are busy working, going to college, passing exams and writing papers and becoming responsible young adults.

Motherhood is the greatest, most challenging job I've ever had!