Kimberly Williamson Butler
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Kimberly Williamson Butler (born in Buffalo, New York in 1962) is a New Orleans, Louisiana politician and was a candidate in the New Orleans mayoral election, 2006.
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[edit] Political Career
Butler was recruited to New Orleans in 1999 as executive director of the city's Downtown Development District. She was then chosen by newly elected mayor Ray Nagin as his Chief Administrative Officer in 2002. However, as the Times-Picayune put it, "Butler's strict sense of decorum and fundamentalist Christianity didn't mesh with the saltier social style of the rest of Nagin's executive staff" [1]. Butler reportedly pressured other city employees to attend her church, and was frequently in conflict with other members of the staff. She was dismissed from Nagin's staff within the year.
Butler then successfully ran for Clerk of Court in 2003. Part of the duties of the office is supervising local elections. The September 18, 2004 city election, one of her first as Clerk of Court, was marked by problems with many polling places either opening late or not having voting machines. Butler blamed the problems as being a result of election workers who had left after a voluntary evacuation was called for Hurricane Ivan. Butler came under considerable criticism for the missteps associated with the election, and called a news conference to ask the public for their forgiveness. She recovered by successfully supervising the city's polling places in the 2004 national election, with the largest voter turnout in New Orleans history. Former Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen who criticized Butler's performance during Hurricane Ivan, characterized the Presidential election as having been run nearly "flawlessly".
In 2005, the city was devastated by flooding caused by levee breaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (see: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans). As many election workers were displaced in the aftermath of Katrina, calls went out for new poll workers. Reportedly many people volunteered, but Butler did not return their attempts to contact her while issuing statements that there were still insufficient poll workers for the election. [2] However Butler claimed to have succeeded in recruiting the largest number of poll workers in New Orleans history by attracting nearly 1200 new poll workers in less than three months.
Many city records were flooded. Butler long resisted court orders to turn over control of the city records to a FEMA group for salvage, in part because of her objections to the appointment of her predecessor as part of the team, who she accused of neglectful oversight of the property and evidence rooms was exposed when she took office. She resisted signing over this authority stating that she didn't believe that "an order of nine individuals [the judges] supersedes the mandate of the 71,717 individuals who elected her."
[edit] Seeking a new office
On March 3, 2006 local media gathered on the courthouse steps as Butler surrendered herself to the court to prevent her arrest. She told reporters, "I don't think I'm the right person for clerk of court," (a statement which many thought would be followed by an announcement of resignation), then added "I think I'm the right person for mayor." The announcement she would run for Mayor of New Orleans surprised many. [3]
Three days later on March 6, 2006 she was sent to jail for three days for contempt of court by Chief Judge Calvin Johnson. She was also ordered to pay a $500 dollar fine. [4]
Butler subsequently filed malfeasance charges against Judge Calvin Johnson and her predecessor Edwin Lombard for what she believed to be an illegal act on their part. On her release from jail, Butler compared herself to Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and other martyrs imprisoned for defending human rights. [5]
[edit] Disneyland photograph
First noticed by Disneyland enthusiasts, bloggers and news outlets reported that a photograph posted on Butler's campaign website was photoshopped. It purported to show the candidate standing in the French Quarter in New Orleans, but is rather a verifiable example of photographic manipulation. The background image actually shows Disneyland's New Orleans Square. According to the Associated Press, the unauthorized use of the Disney image has been referred to Disney's legal department.[6] On April 18, the obvious Disneyland trash can had been removed from the image; on April 19, the entire photo was gone, replaced by what appears to be an image of campaign literature. As of May 2006 the copyright date on the page was still 2003.
[edit] 2006 Election
Because Butler was still incumbent clerk of court for the city election, most of the supervision for the election was conducted under the Louisiana Secretary of State with personnel from other Louisiana parishes. Preliminary results of the 22 April election showed Butler with about 1% of the vote in the mayor's race.
[edit] 2007 allegations of wrongdoing
After Butler left office, the Orleans Parish District Attorney anounced investigations into possible mishandling of funds by Butler.
[edit] References
- This Justin weblog (April 12, 2006) This isn't going well for her... Retrieved April 14, 2006.
