THIS JUST IN: COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 GETS AN INDEPENDENT

Thursday update 12:02 am

The Metro Council finally made a decision tonight after spending hours in a deadlock and then waiting for Jim King to get back from Ohio and Kevin Kramer to get back from Washington. And of course Glenn Stuckel changed his vote earlier in the process just to make it interesting.

The winner is likely someone you have never heard of in politics. Until tonight I hadn't either really. The new Council member is Deonte Hollowell a registered independent.

While many believed Ken Herndon should have gotten the appointment, myself among them, the Council remained deadlocked between Herndon and attorney Neena Parks Thompson. You can read the entire story here: Deonte Hollowell elected by Metro Council to fill George Unseld's seat courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal

Curiously there are now many questions to be asked. For starters just who is Deonte Hollowell? According to the CJ Deonte Hollowell holds a PhD. and is a professor at the University of Louisville and Spaulding University. He is also 31 years old and the first independent member of the Council.

So why Hollowell? Hollowell was apparently put up as a compromise candidate to break the deadlock between Herndon and Parks Thompson. Interestingly though other than being a Professor there is not much of a political past in Hollowell.

One thing that interests me already is that Hollowell said he will run in the General in November for the permanent seat and "probably" as an independent. He should know that he HAS to run as an independent by law at this point. he cannot change voter registration now and run on a party platform. For someone seeking a political position he should know this already so it already leaves me wondering just what he may know or do as a Council member.

Another thing that is puzzling is why would the parties appoint an independent? Is it because they were both playing power politics? The Republicans want the seat and need it for sure to offset the Democratic majority, and the Democrats do not want to give up any seats in the hopes that Abramson clone Greg Fisher gets elected in November.

With that being said, did the Republicans go with an independent to avoid the Democratic candidate campaigning as an incumbent hoping to gain an advantage in November? Did the Democrats go with independent Hollowell because he is African American and they could not get Parks Thompson through the process?

I will look through the votes later but one thing is for sure.

Hollowell just got the gift of a lifetime in politics. Let's hope he knows how to use it the right way for us all.