Bottoms’ win in the 2017 Atlanta mayoral election is the latest addition to her long record of public service. She was previously a
judge (pro hoc) in the Fulton County State Court, executive director of the
City of Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority (AFCRA), and a member of
the Atlanta City Council.
Her next big job should be serving on the Board of Trustees (BOT)
of FAMU. Rattlers should begin lobbying the Florida Board of Governors, Gov.
Rick Scott, and all of the gubernatorial candidates to appoint her to one of
the seats.
Bottoms’ predecessor, Kasim Reed, became a member of the Howard University Board of Trustees in 2002 while he was in the Georgia General Assembly. He continued to serve on the Howard board when he was inaugurated as the mayor of Atlanta in 2010 and remained until June 30, 2017.
A seat on the FAMU BOT would give Bottoms a chance to use
her strong leadership skills to help ensure that her alma mater has the policies and supervision it needs for continued success.
She would also be at the center of the long-term planning processes. That would
create an even better opportunity for her to connect her work in Atlanta with
what is happening at FAMU. Her agenda in Atlanta includes strengthening the Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport and increasing city support for the local K-12
school system.
A total of 12 of 13 seats on the FAMU BOT are currently
filled. Scott still hasn’t appointed a replacement for former Trustees Gary McCoy,
who resigned last year.
FAMU went from having six of the 11 appointed seats on its
Board of Trustees (BOT) filled by alumni in 2015 to now only two. At both the
University of Florida and Florida State University, alumni hold the majority of
the 11 appointed seats.
For state university BOTs in Florida, the governor appoints
six members and the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) appoints five. The Student
Government Association president and Faculty Senate president serve as
ex-officio members.
No candidate in the Florida gubernatorial race has publicly promised to work to restore the alumni majority on the FAMU BOT if elected.
The FAMU National Alumni Association has spoken out publicly
about the problem. But so far Scott, the BOG, and the gubernatorial candidates
haven’t announced any intention to correct it.