Alison Gary says no re-election bid to Metro Council

Alison Gary

Metro Councilwoman Alison Gary announced Wednesday she will not seek a second term.

Gary represents District 11, a south Baton Rouge district that includes the Tara and Old Goodwood, Bocage and Jefferson Place neighborhoods. Her term expires Jan. 1.

Gary, who is expecting her first child, said her growing family influenced her decision.

“Now that the campaign season is gearing up, I wanted to let you know that I have decided not to run for a second term,” Gary said.

“It was an extremely difficult decision, but I know that once baby girl Gary gets here, my priorities are going to shift. I had been on the fence about this for a while, but more than anything I want to give my family as much attention as possible,” she said.

Gary said she will work hard for the remainder of her term and didn’t rule out a possible run in the future.

“I may run again in the future, but this year, I’m happy to watch y’all from the sidelines,” Gary said.

Gary’s announcement means there will be at least three new faces on the Metro Council next year.

Both Mike Walker and Ulysses “Bones” Addison cannot run again under the term limits rule.

On Tuesday, Ryan Heck, an Albemarle executive, announced he is running for Gary’s seat.

Heck, a 34-year-old Republican who is married and has two children, said Baton Rouge has serious crime and traffic problems that need to be addressed.

“I offer real experience and bold, conservative solutions to the challenges we face,” Heck said.

The qualifying period begins in August.

Comments

1) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 10/05/2012

Mrs Gary is my councilwoman as well. She has always been responsive to the needs of her constituents and as BlueDogDem stated, she never played party politics.

2) Comment by BlueDogDem - 10/05/2012

I too live is Coucilwoman Gary's district and I can truly say she ia a responsive public servant. She does not tend to be too extreme one way or the other and has always appeared to put her constituents and the city's concerns and needs ahead of any party or group's ideaology or agendas. She will truly be missed. I can only hope that her replacement is the same way.

3) Comment by Being_Stupid - 10/05/2012

That Recall Effort did not make a lot of sense.

4) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 10/05/2012

Cousin Dave, if that were the case then that ridiculous recall effort would have actually worked. The backers of the recall didn't have have the guts to say that her backing of the One BR Resolution was the reason for the recall. Closet bigots, but we all know...

5) Comment by Cousin Dave - 09/05/2012

She got out because she wasn't going to win anyway. Not conservative enough. She sponsored that pro-gay resolution with Mike Walker, and nobody wanted it.

6) Comment by Straight Shooter - 09/05/2012

District 11 will greatly miss Councilwoman Gary. It was refreshing to see a public servant with no political agenda. I hope the next council member for District 11 is as representative as she was for her constituents.

7) Comment by phil - 09/05/2012

I live in her district . She seems to be a very nice person but I have not always agreed with her politics. I wish her well in the future.

8) Comment by Being_Stupid - 09/05/2012

Too bad this news is not about Tara Wicker instead. We need somebody to run against Tara Wicker in District 10. Anybody, Lorri Burgess are you out there??? Somebody please run against this communist socialite community organizer Tara Wicker. She has totally destroyed any chance of business development in District 10 and Baton Rouge as a whole. She needs to go.

9) Comment by DMJ - 09/05/2012

I'm curious to hear Heck's solutions to traffic. I'm guessing he'll be in favor of widening streets...which solves traffic jams the same way buying larger pants solves obesity.

10) Comment by Duckyluve - 09/05/2012

Can anybody blame her for getting out now ? The council is a joke with clowns like bones on it.