“It doesn’t take a majority to win, just a tireless minority that will keep starting brush fires in the mind and hearts of their fellow men.”

Samuel Adams

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Why Do We Call Council Members Alder man/woman?

Definition of ALDERMAN

1 : a person governing a kingdom, district, or shire as viceroy for an Anglo-Saxon king

2 a : a magistrate formerly ranking next below the mayor in an English or Irish city or borough b : a high-ranking member of a borough or county council in Ireland or formerly in England chosen by elected members

: a member of a city legislative body — al·der·man·ic \ˌȯl-dər-ˈma-nik\ adjective

Definition of COUNCILMAN>br> : a member of a council (as of a town or city) — coun·cil·man·ic \ˌkau̇n(t)-səl-ˈma-nik\ adjective

We are governed by a mayor and city council and I like the sound of calling them councilman or councilwoman instead of alderman and alderwoman. The term of alder is very old and women at that time were not serving in any type of government. We are now in the 21st century and maybe it is time to modernize what we call our council members. Any thoughts on this.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maybe they think they are kings ruling the kingdom Lois.