Mayor Emory Folmar Proclaimed Donald Watkins' Exit from the Montgomery City Council "One of the Greatest Blessings Since the Union Troops Left in 1870."

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted on September 5, 2026

A disgusted Mayor Emory Folmar (left) consoles dejected Montgomery city council member Herman Harris after he lost his October 9, 1979, bid for re-election to political newcomer Donald V. Watkins.

When I ended my tenure as a Montgomery, Alabama city council member in October 1983, the City's long-serving, right-wing Republican mayor, Emory Folmar, publicly proclaimed during my last council meeting that it was "one of the greatest blessings since the Union troops went home in 1870." Folmar, who was also chairman of Alabama's Republican Party, rejoiced in my departure.

Donald V. Watkins was sworn-in as a new Montgomery, Alabama city council member in October 1979.

Even though I served only one four-term on the council, I investigated and brought a halt to a spree of fatal police shootings of unarmed black men. I ended the city's infamous "debtor's court," which jailed poor defendants who could not pay their court fines. I blocked a 1980 redistricting plan that intentionally discriminated against the city's black voters. I blocked the reappointment of the city court's chief judge, who was an open and notorious racist. I ended the city's misuse of tens of millions of dollars in federal community redevelopment funds, most of which had been diverted from poor black neighborhoods and spent in the richest white areas of the city.

From 1979 to 1983, I formed a city council committee of one person (me) to conduct nearly a dozen in-depth investigations into misconduct or malfeasance by police officers and other top city officials. I had a city council commission and a police department ID, and I used these credentials to aggressively protect and serve communities of color, women, poor people, and the budding LGBTQ political community.

I published numerous reports of official misconduct by top city officials and had them spread across the minutes of city council meetings at the conclusion of my investigations. These reports had the purpose and effect of curbing runaway racism and corruption in the administration of city government.

My hard-fought battles to provide equal city services to Montgomery's 40% black population were met with massive resistance from Mayor Folmar. They also made me extremely controversial and unpopular with many of the city's ultra conservative white residents.

I won my council district seat on October 9, 1979, with 74% of the vote in a crowded field of seven candidates, including incumbent Herman Harris. Mayor Folmar was disgusted on election night because Harris often aligned with him on crucial votes.

My favorability rating in the Montgomery’s white community never exceeded 20%.

Unlike most of today's black elected officials, my phone number was publicly listed while I served on the city council, and I answered it myself. I was accessible at city hall, at church, at community meetings, or at home. Constituents did not have to go through a staff assistant or aide to schedule a meeting with me. They did not have to sign-up in advance to speak to the council. If they showed up for the meeting, I made sure they had the opportunity to speak.

When Mayor Folmar made his comment about the Union troops going home in 1870, I knew exactly what he meant. The Calvary that protected Montgomery's black community from 1979 to 1983 was leaving. I was moving the headquarters of my political operations and legal services from Montgomery to Birmingham to protect and serve an embattled Richard Arrington, Jr., the city's first black mayor.