devyn keith

At just 27 years old, Devyn Keith was overwhelming elected to the Huntsville city council. (Contributed photo)

In this presidential election season when craziness meets a new boundary with each passing day, meet Devyn Keith.

He won a seat Tuesday on the Huntsville city council - far from the spotlight of Election 2016 - and, well, he's got this idea.

"We're going to do a lot of different approaches in this district," Keith said in an interview last week with AL.com.

Yes, this is different all right.

"I'm moving into the most economically disenfranchised community and I'm going to do that for a year," said Keith, announcing his plans to take an apartment in the Terry Heights community.

Uh, what?

"Then move into Meadow Hills for a year, Glen Park for a year and the backside of the Lakewood area for a year," Keith said. "These people talk about issues but they don't feel the city councilman understands them. So I'm going to live there and try to understand them."

In his four-year term on the city council, Keith said he plans to move to four different communities in his north Huntsville district - four communities "economically disenfranchised," he said.

Huntsville's newest councilman is 27 years old with no wife or children. He's got a suitcase and he's looking for a series of 1-year leases.

"I am not going to city hall," Keith said. "I'm bringing city hall to everybody's front door. That's a concept I don't think we've quite grasped in local politics."

Keith would seem to have a mandate. In Tuesday's runoff election against seven-time councilman Richard Showers, 70, Keith won all 14 voting precincts and overall collected 69 percent of the vote.

He touched on the need for better infrastructure in north Huntsville's District 1 as well as a desire for more economic prosperity or, simply, a better variety of restaurants - all touchstones of the local politician.

The idea, though, of embedding himself in problem areas of his district - that's, as he said, "different."

"At this point, I'm a sponge," he said. "At 27 years old, I absorb everything - perspectives, knowledge, relationships, everything. I don't know at what age you start getting old. But being young allows me to be open in my perspectives and diverse in the platform we're going to do civic politics in north Huntsville."

Something else he's doing that's different: He's giving up his assigned parking space at city hall.

"First come, first serve," Keith said. "The person who paid their taxes owns that spot just as much as I do."

Keith has never held public office before but scored an endorsement from the Committee of 100 - an organization of Huntsville-area business and community leaders. The group was also Keith's biggest benefactor in the runoff, contributing $7,500 to his campaign, according to campaign finance disclosures.

He and Michelda Johnson were endorsed by the committee as the best District 1 candidates. Johnson finished third in the municipal election.

"Devyn Keith grew up in District 1 and returned to the area with a deep spirit of public service and new ideas to invigorate the area's economic vitality and quality of life in as a city council member," John Allen, Chair of BizPac, the political action arm of the Committee of 100, said in an email to AL.com. "We were very pleased to support his new vision for North Huntsville and his commitment to citizen engagement and teamwork throughout the city.

"We support candidates who are independent thinkers and seek input from a broad base of citizens in addition to having a spirit of collaboration - that was a key factor in our endorsement."

Keith attended Sparkman High School - where his mother was a teacher - then received a football scholarship from Samford University. Keith received his master's degree in public policy and administration from the University of Massachusetts.

Moving forward, though, Keith said he considered his defeated opponent a valuable asset. Keith dismissed criticisms from Showers during campaign - which included Showers declaring Keith "not fit to serve" - to be nothing more than campaign rhetoric.

"His ability to pass the torch is important," Keith said. "There are going to be things I need his experience, wisdom and relationships in my hand and him hand-in-hand teaching me for us to move District 1 forward in the most aggressive manner. This is a very aggressive campaign on how we plan to bring change in north Huntsville."