Christine King Begins Tenure As City's First Chairwoman

Miami FL

16 December, 2021

7:46 PM

Description

By Bianca Marcof, Miami Times Staff Writer, the Miami Times Dec 14, 2021 Newly-elected District 5 Commissioner Christine King sat front and center on the dais during Thursday's city commission meeting. Displayed above her name tag for the first time was her glass ceiling-breaking title, "Chairwoman." Last week, the commissioner made history as the first woman appointed to "hold the gavel" and lead the commission as it passes laws and implements policies for the city. However, she did not preside over that particular meeting. Joe Carollo, commissioner for District 3, was chairman until he put forth a motion for King to chair the meeting for a period of time. She will not officially chair until January, following in her predecessor's steps. Historically, she said a chair is appointed and typically starts at the beginning of the year. "I am honored," King said. "Everything is so surreal and it's happening so quickly, becoming commissioner, winning with 65% of the vote, now being named chair. It is definitely an experience. I hope I'm an inspiration to little girls everywhere." Back in October during the District 5 race for commissioner, King told The Miami Times that there was "too much testosterone on the dais." She has become the first woman to serve on the commission in a decade. "I hope that I bring a certain civility to the board and that collectively, my presence along with my colleagues, are able to move the agenda for the City of Miami forward so that Miami is the Magic City that we all want it to be," she said. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.