By Clint Confehr
COLUMBIA, TN — Voters here elected an African-American woman to be sworn in Jan. 6 given her Nov. 4 victory over the incumbent with more than 55 percent of the vote.
Council member Dr. Christa S. Martin will be 59 years old when she takes the oath of office, stepping up after 22 years on the Columbia City Council. She won her ninth election by 706 votes.
Martin won 3,728 votes. Vice Mayor Wayne Kennedy received 3,022.
Serving on Columbia’s city council has been a labor of love for Martin. “Yes,” she said. “And it’s a commitment to my community.” Martin’s 3,728 votes exceed the plurality victory won by Mayor Dean Dickey who won with 2,893 votes.
Council member Debbie Matthews received 2,062 votes in her bid for mayor. Newcomer Gale Courtny Moore got 2,036 votes.
In victory, Dickey cited goals for Columbia. They’re like Martin’s. Her campaign stressed: Quality of life with a living wage, more jobs, available retail shopping, housing options, educational opportunities, recreation, medical care, transportation, the arts, culture and tourism; A safe and clean community with good police and fire protection, and public works services; And sustainable streets, sidewalks, utilities, bridges, water and technology. “We’ve worked to- gether for eight years now,” Dickey told The (Columbia) Daily Herald. “She’ll do her part with what needs to be done to move our city forward.”
Martin says she and Dickey have “a good working relationship. We’re working hard to move Columbia forward.”
She’s always wanted to serve the public. Her chance came in 1992 when Mayor Barbara McIntyre appointed Martin to succeed a city councilman. “A few months into his term, he approached McIntyre … He didn’t want to continue,” Martin recalls. McIntyre consulted with Martin about being the Ward 3 council member, and verified with Dr. Paul Sands, then president of Columbia State Community College, that there was no conflict. At the time, Martin was CSCC’s director of computer services. Her degrees are in computer science and accounting.
In 2003, after 20 years as the college’s computer services director, Martin was named assistant to the president for access and diversity. Her current job is to be sure people have access to an education at the two-year state college, regardless of their constitutionally-protected class, and sexual orientation, she said.
As a council member, Martin is paid $500 a month. She wasn’t sure, but she believed she’d be paid $150 more per month as vice mayor. If she works 23 hours a week, her pay is lower than minimum wage.
Since Columbia was chartered in 1807, Martin said, several African-Americans have served on the council, “but I’m very proud to be the first African American to serve as vice mayor.” She is uncertain about whether there’s been a female vice mayor in Columbia.
Her election campaign the Ward 3 council member, and verified with Dr. Paul Sands, then president of Columbia State Community College, that there was no conflict. At the time, Martin was CSCC’s director of computer services. Her degrees are in computer science and ac- counting. In 2003, after 20 years as the college’s computer services director, Martin was named assistant to the president for access and diversity.
Her current job is to be sure people have access to an education at the two-year state college, regardless of their constitutionally-protected class, and sexual orientation, she said. As a council member, Martin is paid $500 a month. She wasn’t sure, but she believed she’d be paid $150 more per month as vice mayor.
If she works 23 hours a week, her pay is lower than minimum wage. Since Columbia was chartered in 1807, Mar- tin said, several African Americans have served on the council, “but I’m very proud to be the first African American to serve as vice mayor.” She is uncertain about whether there’s been a female vice mayor in Columbia. Her election campaign was organized. “We worked on it,” Martin said. “There were 35 people on my team with 14 captains, two co- ordinators, a campaign manager [Berrie Pate] and [William English as] campaign advisor.” Campaign signs were throughout Columbia and in Spring Hill on the Maury-Williamson counties’ line.
An early voting poll in Spring Hill let residents of Columbia who wanted to vote early at a poll north of Columbia. Many Columbia residents found it convenient to vote in Spring Hill. “They live in north Columbia, but they were eligible to vote at the ear- ly voting poll in Spring Hill,” Martin said. The General Motors plant, supporting businesses and other jobs are in Spring Hill and a number of Columbia residents who work there found it convenient to vote early in Spring Hill, instead of the county election office in Columbia.
Martin would have talked more about winning a four-year term as vice mayor, but the Sunday night of her telephone interview, she was to drive her granddaughter, Nevaeh Vestal, back home near Brick Church Pike in Nashville. The child’s first name is heaven spelled backwards.
Featured Image by Clint Confehr