Former Tallahassee mayor and city commissioner Dot Inman-Johnson is tossing her hat into the ring once again. She’s filed to run against City Commissioner Curtis Richardson next year.
Inman-Johnson was the first African American woman elected to the City Commission in 1986. She was the first African American woman to serve as Tallahassee’s mayor in 1989 and again in 1993, when the position rotated among the commissioners.
After leaving the commission, Inman-Johnson led the Capital Area Community Action Agency, an anti-poverty program, for 14 years. She has also been the city manager of Midway.
“If I win this race, I will be the majority vote, hopefully, that can mediate and work with and bring people to common-sense decisions,” she said.
Inman-Johnson says she can make change on the commission, which has undergone a series of often bitterly contested 3-2 votes. She vowed to be a strong voice for eradicating poverty, which she called the root cause of most of Tallahassee’s ills.
“More than one out of every four citizens in this community is living at or below the federal poverty guideline,” she said.
She wouldn’t say which commission faction she might vote with. Her opponent, Richardson, is usually in the majority, voting with Mayor John Dailey and Mayor Pro Tem Dianne Williams-Cox. The three now support a proposed property tax increase, which Inman-Johnson says she opposes.
Prompted by her husband, she went a step further in her criticism.
“Well, I haven’t seen a great idea from Dailey and Dianne and Curtis," she said. "But when they come up with one, I’m there.”
Richardson, a former state legislator and school board member, turned down multiple requests for comment.
