Valerie Abbott

Valerie A. Abbott represents District 3 in the Birmingham City Council. She also serves as Chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee and is a member of the Public Safety and Administration, Finance and Budget committees. She was first elected to the City Council in 2001 and was re-elected with nearly 80% of the vote in 2005. Her current term ends in 2009.

Abbott also serves on the boards of the Birmingham Planning Commission, the Birmingham Tree Commission, the Birmingham Historical Society, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Birmingham Urban Soccer for Youth.

In 2006 Birmingham Weekly gave Councilor Abbott an "A+" in its annual grading of Council members. In March 2007 she announced that she would create an exploratory committee for a possible campaign for the 2007 Birmingham mayoral election. That same month, she introduced an "Inclusion Resolution" to the Council, which sparked an unexpected debate on the legitimacy of recognizing civil rights for homosexuals.

In May 2007 Birmingham's Citizen's Advisory Board asked Abbott to secure an opinion from the state's attorney general's office on whether her employment at BellSouth, a public utility, violates the Mayor-Council Act.

Abbott and her husband, Rod, have one son and three grandchildren.

References

• Whitmire, Kyle (March 29, 2007) "Run, white lady, run!" Birmingham Weekly.

External links

• Abbott's council bio at informationbirmingham.com
• RoyalTwerp.com, criticism of Royal