Some months ago, I inaugurated the Goldie Award in honor of Goldie Solomon, a tireless nudge, gadfly and community activist from Port Chester who has spent a good part of her adult life holding politicians’ feet to the fire. (See award above). In case you couldn’t tell, the “lid” Goldie’s wearing is a tri-corner hat, signifying her erstwhile political party, The Common Sense Party, which she formed in a fruitless campaign to get elected mayor.

I thought about having a real Goldie trophy made so that other local gadflies could be suitably honored on a periodic basis. Unfortunately, there was a cost issue involved and the idea was quickly scrapped.

But, what the heck. I figure that the next best thing is to just honor winners with a blog mention and run the Goldie image alongside their bios and brief descriptions of how they’ve managed to annoy the Hell ouf of the fustian Babbitts who run the municipalities of Westchester and Putnam counties.

In a Journal News column, I mentioned that the first official winner of the Golide Award (other than Goldie herself, of course) was Peggy Godfrey, a retired schoolteacher from New Rochelle. Readers e-mailed other potential Golide winners, but I never put their names in print….

So here’s your chance. Post me at this blog, or e-mail me at presiman@lohud.com, and tell me who you think deserves a Goldie and why, in 250 words or less.
Threre are no special requirements, but here are just a few qualities that would make any candidate a shoo-in for the Goldie:
1. Someone who frequently runs for local office and never wins.
2. Someone who is so passionate that he, or she, has gotten escorted out of a public meeting or even better, arrested.
3. Someone who rarely misses a public meeting and never gives up a chance to speak up.
4. Someone with a pet issue that he or she obsesses about such as garbage pickup, taxes, litter , development, etc.
5. Someone who drives a beatup car plastered with bumper stickers like, “Save the Whales,” and “I brake for Animals.”