Humanitarian seeks seat
Nov. 9, 2007
Karen Baxter takes recycling to a whole other level. She picks up old mattresses and stuffs them in her car. She organizes free garage sales in her yard. People give her items, and she gives them away.
Now, she's adding a bid for First Ward councilwoman as a way to serve the residents of Columbia.
"Why would you throw something away if someone could use it?," Baxter said. "To me, it's just recycling taken a little bit further. It's just another way I can feel I can make a difference, and being on the City Council is just a further extension of that."
Baxter moved to Columbia in 1970 and lived in the city for four years. After moving a few times, she returned to Columbia in 1984.
When she began working at Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen in the mid-90s, she decided to move to the First Ward.
"I felt for me to make a difference, I had to make a fairly radical change in my lifestyle," she said. "I just thought it would be a whole lot easier to identify with people if you were willing to live in their neighborhood."
Since living in the First Ward, Baxter has devoted herself to service and charity. She takes whatever she can find that she thinks people can use, and if she can't find an individual who needs it, she finds a charity that does.
"Most people operate in their comfort zone," Baxter said. "For us to be a really successful community, we all need to get out of our comfort zone and widen our perspectives."
The first line of a flier she handed out in her neighborhood for rummage give-away two weeks ago read, "Having been blessed with more than enough, I'd like to share my excess."
Anyone who came with the flier was entitled to five free items.
When she served as Ridgeway Neighborhood Association vice president, she spoke on behalf of the association at Council meetings.
"I like to be informed, and I really hope that part of my role as a councilperson could be that of an educator to the citizens to let them know what the issue means to them personally," Baxter said.
She said her main goal will be increasing communication between citizens and the Council, and if elected, Baxter said she will go door to door to discuss issues.
"I think sometimes, as citizens of a town, people get the feeling of being a little bit disconnected between city government," Baxter said. "I really want to be able to link them up a little more. All over the city, people want to know that someone is listening to them, however big or small the issue. It's just a need people have to be heard and to know someone cares. I guess I'm just willing to take that to a higher level."
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