Why I’m Running
As a lifelong Alachua County resident and as an environmental engineer, I am running to protect our water and environment, provide good planning for climate change and growth, and to maintain our current infrastructure.
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Current and Former Board Positions:
- Utility Advisory Board Member for City of Gainesville (current member and former Chair)
- Alachua County Code Enforcement Board (engineer)
- Alachua County Environmental Advisory Board (former Chair)
- United Way of North Central Florida (board member)
- Florida Defenders of the Environment (executive board member)
- United States Green Building Council, Heart of Florida Chapter (President, LEED for Homes Chair)
- Cultural Arts Coalition (board member)
- NAACP Environmental Justice Committee Member
- Sequential Artists Workshop (board member)
Through my work, experience, and education I have become an expert in sustainability, utility, housing, environmental and energy issues and I have been honored to serve on many local and state boards.
I am pleased to announce that I will be running a carbon-neutral campaign. Please consider this when making donations.On Facebook
We must honor Martin Luther King’s full legacy, his real legacy, and acknowledge that in his martyrdom his message was stripped of some of it’s power, and his strengthening voice and strengthening message. He was only 39 when he died, and I was eight years old and lived only a block from A. Quinn Jones (Lincoln High School).
I remember the powerful grief and anger that came from our neighbors just on the other side of 8th Avenue (as a child I lived at 1202 NW 9th Ave), and I mark this as a time when I lost much of my childhood innocence and learned of the evil in the world. I credit my mother with explaining this to me in a meaningful way. It was a volatile time in Gainesville and her explanations helped me see these events with more compassion than fear. I can’t imagine how hard the conversations the mothers had with their children that lived on the other side of that segregated street .
If MLK were alive today he would be 90 and I see him, in that alternate history, as continuing to be a great leader. Undoubtedly he would have continued to be a pivotal leader of our nation. The possibilities of where we might be right now are mind boggling. We have much to mourn in his loss and much to work for to bring his legacy to pass. It’s so much more than a dream.
I shared this article a couple of years ago but it’s still a great discussion of the legacy of MLK often forgotten or ignored in white dominated culture. Let’s fix that.
We Need to Honor MLK's Real Legacy, Not the One That Makes White Americans Comfortable
www.teenvogue.com
Let's do his memory justice.I’m humbly and genuinely grateful for my life today. It is good. Not particularly easy but good. It’s full, and it’s rich, and I’m surrounded by loving people, interesting people, committed people.
I was worried, when I ran for office, that there would be shallowness, disingenuousness, ugliness. I’ve found that, for the most part, people are helpful, they want to share, and they want me to understand their positions and issues, and this has allowed me to take a deeper dive into some concerns that I thought I understood and to form relationships with some incredible folks. I’ve met some great and loving people, committed to equity, clean water, attainable quality housing, maintaining to rich fabric of our neighborhoods, a safe environment, feeding the hungry, preparing for an uncertain future, educating and nurturing our young. But it all translates to making our community a place where all are welcomed, all are nourished, all are safe, all are loved.
I don’t know how this will turn out - I don’t know if other people are going to run. I know that I am in the right place and doing what I am supposed to be doing. And, no matter the outcome, this is a growing experience for me and (I hope) positive for you as well. Thank you, everyone, for your support. I am humbly grateful for all the things you continue to share with me and teach me.
On Twitter
It’s sad to see the county has decided to decrease Grace’s funding. Grace has served as a lifeline & safety net for our most vulnerable citizens. Enough is enough. It’s time to do the right thing. The county should live up to its agreement & fully fund their share of Grace.
City commissioners are asking county officials not to reduce funding for the local homeless shelter. https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190905/city-asks-county-to-equally-fund-grace-marketplace
I'm a 6th generation Floridian, born and raised in Alachua County, and environmental engineer running a #CarbonNeutral campaign for Alachua County Commission, District 1! 🏳️🌈 Please support my campaign below!
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mary-alford-for-alachua-county-commission-district-one-1