Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Mike Bolin kneels outside a store in Homewood, Alabama, on Monday, July 17, 2023 — the day before he was elected to the Jefferson County Commission.
Jefferson County’s newest commissioner wasn’t interested in sitting on the sidelines this week, waiting instead until he’s actually in the lineup.
Mike Bolin was absent from Tuesday committee meetings of the Jefferson County Commission. Likewise, he won’t be in Bessemer Thursday morning as the commission assembles for its regular meeting.
“I don't think it's proper for me to be there, just as a distraction to what the commission is doing,” Bolin said. “I'm just the commissioner-elect. I don't think I should interject myself where I'm sitting down in the audience.
“Upon reflection, I just don't think it's right,” the retired Supreme Court justice continued. “I should go through the process and become a commissioner, and then the next meeting I'll be there early.”
Bolin will go through the process in the commission chamber at 11:30 a.m. Monday as he will be sworn into office. He could have been sworn in as early as Friday, but his daughter would have been absent.
“Everything about me and my life, my wife notwithstanding, is about my daughter,” he said of Nashville’s Leigh Anne Balsman. “She couldn't be down here Friday, but she can be down here Monday.”
The swearing in ceremony will be the latest step in Bolin’s shift from the state’s judicial branch of government to the county’s legislative, although he calls it quasi-legislative/executive.
Bolin says he was miserable after retiring from the Alabama Supreme Court in January. He had inquired about teaching at a local law school when Steve Ammons stepped down from being the District 5 representative on the commission. The district includes parts of Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Birmingham and Leeds.
The Jefferson County Election Commission assembled on June 29 and set a special election to fill Ammons’ unexpired term. On July 18, Bolin outpolled developer David Silverstein with 59% of the votes cast.
