Month: March 2003

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Georgia On My Mind

“Well, I’m through,” said photographer Alfred Stieglitz

in April 1917 as he closed up shop at 291, the progressive art gallery that

had become a regular meeting place for the New York avant-garde. “But,”

he added triumphantly, “I have given the world a woman!”

Over the years, Stieglitz, whose renown as a critic and curator was beginning

to outstrip his glowing reputation as the man who finally brought photography into

the realm of fine art, had introduced America to the works of such notable

European artists as Rodin and Matisse. He had been the first person to show works by such

provocative Americans as Arthur Dove, Charles Demuth, and Marsden

Hartley. But in spite of all this, he believed

that introducing the world to a female artist as accomplished and progressive as any

male painter of the day was by far his greatest achievement. The painter in question

was Georgia O’Keeffe, a young art teacher who would eventually become Stieglitz’s

second wife.

O’Keeffe was no doubt seething on the inside over her lover’s comment, though

she never said as much. Could anyone — even Stieglitz, whose opinion she held in the

highest regard — make such a self-serving comment? A comment that was ultimately so

dismissive of her own inherent potency? O’Keeffe hadn’t just fallen off the

tomato truck, after all. She made up her mind to become a great

artist when she was still a child in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Nobody gave her to the world; she flung herself at it. And while there was something

decidedly feminine about her work, she hated being labeled a “female artist.” She was clearly

interested in helping define her gender outside the pervasive confines of the male

perspective, but she didn’t want to be defined by her gender.

There is something missing from the Brooks Museum of Art’s exhibit

“Georgia O’Keeffe and the Calla Lily in

American Art 1860-1940”: the spirit of

Georgia O’Keeffe. The exhibit’s title implies that O’Keeffe’s work will dominate the

landscape or, at the very least, set the standard by which all the other works are to

be judged. Neither is the case. Of the 30 artists (painters and photographers all)

collected for this exhibit, O’Keeffe is, in terms of sheer numbers, perhaps the best

represented. Her contemporary and compatriot at 291, Marsden Hartley, ranks a close

second. But, of all O’Keeffe’s work, only one rather small painting from 1923,

Calla Lily with Red Background, seems to capture the sexual energy and not-so-fragile beauty that set

her apart from the pack. In it, two curvaceous fields of deep red part like thighs and

between them rests a calla lily, its jagged edges seeming every bit as

dangerous as its folds seem inviting. The yellow stamen wickedly asserts itself. In spite of this remarkable piece, O’Keeffe is not

truly the star of this star-studded exhibit: the calla lily is. The often poster-ized O’Keeffe, whose

name and reputation have only grown since her death 20 years ago, has merely been given top

billing to broaden the exhibit’s popular appeal.

Though O’Keeffe often painted clouds, trees, and scenes from the American

Southwest, she also tried her hand at precisionism as well as completely abstract experiments with

color and form. Still, she is probably best known for her large flower paintings. She was

certainly not the first painter to devote herself to the tried-and-true subject matter, not even the

first modern. As calla lilies go, that honor belongs to Hartley. But O’Keeffe

brought something to her florals that had never really been there before: a social theory.

“Most people in the city

rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower,” she said. “I want them

to see it whether they want to or not.” With this statement, her work became

a kind of social realism in reverse: recognizing the rush and crush of urban

life, the artwork itself screams, “Stop and smell the roses.” Or at least the calla

lilies. It is this kind of command that is missing from the Brooks’ exhibit.

A mid-1930s drawing by Kalman Kubin places a potted calla lily down

in the middle of a city, with smoke-belching factories in the background and

with trains, trucks, and skyscrapers flanking it. A discarded newspaper with the

emphatic headline “Yanks Win!” threatens to cover the flower, and people walk

by without seeming to even notice it. Kubin’s piece is a perfect visual essay

of O’Keeffe’s rationale, but nowhere in the exhibit’s text is this point made clear.

If you aren’t an art historian, or at least an avid horticulturist, you

might find yourself wandering around this exhibit dumbly muttering, “Calla

Lily, calla lily, calla lily ” — the repetition of form can be that numbing.

But if you can avoid this fate, there are some definite wonders to behold.

Man Ray’s Calla Lily is every bit as darkly erotic as any of his famous portraits

of Kiki. Marguerite Zorach’s 1916 painting New England Family

is a bourgeoisie precursor to American

Gothic as seen through the eyes of a German

expressionist. Charles Demuth’s nonrepresentational portrait of vaudeville’s

premier drag performer Bert Savoy is a masterpiece of both kitsch and

graphic design. Hartley’s paintings, while not nearly as interesting as his own

nonrepresentational portraits, dominate the show, and they have to be seen

in person to be appreciated. The textures are that nice and that important.

And if you feel let down by the O’Keeffes, you can always seek out a small,

dark, pre-1900s painting by Anna Sellers. As delicate and detailed as a

Rembrandt, this piece places a calla lily on a

black background between two exploding red geraniums. The folds of the

white flower are positively pornographic, and yet there can be little doubt that

this was intended to be nothing more than the exact representation of a

flower. Except for sheer presence, this little painting has everything you could

ever want from even the largest O’Keeffe and, in its lack of presumption,

much, much more. n

“Georgia O’Keeffe and the Calla

Lily in American Art: 1860-1940” is at the Brooks Museum throughMay

4th.

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

From Backboards to Billboards

John Grice measures over 10 feet tall, scowling at his audience and dribbling

hard toward an unseen goal. Thousands see him each day, showcasing the ball-handling

skills his head coach John Calipari would prefer never to witness. (“John

Grice can take one dribble,” says Cal. “That’s it.”)

Grice has become an ambassador of sorts for the Memphis Tigers, at least for

thousands of truck drivers, rush-hour commuters, and family vacationers. The

physically gifted, sometimes troubled Tiger senior is the face on a Tigers billboard

next to I-40 at the Whitten Road exit.

It was a somewhat embarrassing and unexpected honor for the mostly reserved

Grice. He didn’t even know about it until mid-season. “The only reason

that I found out about it was that Nathaniel Root told me that he and his girlfriend

saw it,” Grice says. “I just feel honored that they would put me up

there. It’s a great feeling.”

He wasn’t the only one surprised.

Grice, who was enveloped by his large family during senior ceremonies at Saturday’s

Cincinnati game, at one time seemed closer to having his face emblazoned on

a milk carton, joining a long list of “whatever happened to” former

Tiger players who didn’t pan out.

It’s been nearly three years since Grice signed with Memphis out of Southwest

Tennessee Community College as a first-team JUCO All-American. His first two

years at Memphis, Grice worked to overcome disciplinary suspensions and academic

ineligibility. Then, in August, Calipari announced that Grice had regained eligibility.

And now, as March Madness grows more fervent, Calipari’s compliments toward

Grice (though he had zero points and two rebounds in limited minutes in the

Tigers’ emotional 67-48 win over Cincy) have escalated. Philadelphia 76ers coach

Larry Brown called Grice’s comeback the “success story of the year.”

“I was just saying to myself, I can beat this,” Grice says. “I

just asked God to give me another chance, and he did. I put it in His hands

and here I am.”

Says former teammate Courtney Trask, who was suspended with Grice after academic

misconduct: “The hype he had when he first got there created a lot of pressure.

But he worked hard and stayed through it and he’s made it back.”

There are others Grice credits with molding him as a person and player. One

of those is his mother, Mary Grice. The other is his wheelchair-bound grandfather

— another 6’6″ John Grice — who obviously passed on more than a name.

Both have attended almost all of the younger Grice’s games. It’s an attendance

streak that stretches back to junior college, high school, and beyond, according

to the family.

“Ever since John came home from the hospital, he came over to my house,

and we’ve grown up together like that,” says “Grand Pappy”

Grice, crossing two long fingers. Even seated in a wheelchair, the elder Grice

makes for an imposing presence behind the basket. “I know that he got a

lot of his height from me because his mom is kind of tall and she got hers from

me,” says the elder Grice. Grice’s family also supplied him with some additional

advertising on December 30th. During the Tigers’ home game with Murray State,

nearly a hundred relatives and friends wore T-shirts announcing Grice’s 23rd

birthday.

“It felt great that my family came out and supported me like that in

big numbers with signs and things on my birthday,” Grice says. Calipari,

at times Grice’s biggest critic, has also been quick to support his player even

during some of his least-productive games.

“I’m proud of John Grice,” Calipari says. “He’s listening.

He’s trying to do the right things. I’m happy for him and how he’s playing.”

“We have a mutual understanding that I’ll go out and do what he asks,”

Grice says.

Grice has also turned into the Tigers’ “Mr. Clutch” down the stretch,

burying late free throws and three-pointers. He even overcame his own admitted

bad judgment with a throat-cutting gesture to ice the Tigers’ win over Louisville

at the line. Tiger fans can only hope there are more heroics in store and a

possible drive down I-40 to see Grice again — and the rest of the Tigers —

in the 2003 NCAA Tournament’s first round in Nashville.

n If the NCAA men’s basketball-tournament selection committee follows ESPN.com

“Bracketologist” Joe Lunardi’s current predictions, Memphis will indeed

be traveling to Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Center for a March 21st showdown

with Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech Red Raiders. Says Lunardi: “I’m guessing

the Tigers would take this draw. Texas Tech and Wake Forest in Nashville is

a path to the Sweet 16.” The Tigers would be the number-six seed in Lunardi’s

scenario; Tech, number 11. Also seeded in ESPN’s Nashville bracket is current

ACC leader Wake Forest (3) which was beaten recently by C-USA leader Marquette.

n The Tigers, who play at late-season nemesis Houston Thursday and finish the

regular season at UAB Saturday, moved up to number 18 in the Associated Press

basketball poll released on Monday.

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Put a Cap On It

This month’s collapse of Reciprocal of America, the state’s largest reciprocal

insurer against medical malpractice claims, means much more than the loss of

insurance coverage for more than 300 hospitals and other health-care providers

in Tennessee.

It means that the medical malpractice crisis in

Tennessee has arrived ahead of schedule. And the entire

health-care system may be in jeopardy as a result.

Ironically, the receivership of Reciprocal of America

and its affiliates left 3,500 attorneys without insurance for

legal malpractice as well. Will this ripple effect serve as a

wake-up call to trial lawyers who steadfastly oppose medical

malpractice reform, or do we continue to play the litigation

lottery and jeopardize everyone’s access to affordable health care?

The spiraling cost of health insurance for individuals

and employers, malpractice liability insurance for doctors

and hospitals, and coverage for TennCare enrollees is the

result of declining investments and increasing costs associated

with an aging, poorly educated, and sickly population of

Tennesseans as well as the cost of medical malpractice

litigation. We are not alone. The American Medical Association

finds a full-blown crisis in at least a dozen states, including

Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York,

Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and West

Virginia. It says crises are looming in another 30 states.

With increasing frequency, doctors can no longer

afford to provide care to those who need it, and those who

need care cannot afford it or the health insurance that is

supposed to make the care affordable. Health-care costs for

the privately insured increased 10 percent in 2001. Last

year, premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage rose

12.7 percent. The percentage of Americans covered by

employment-based health insurance fell 1 percent to 62.6

percent in 2001, and two out of five Americans have no group

insurance coverage.

Individuals are losing their private health-insurance

coverage at an alarming rate. The uninsured increased by

1.4 million people in 2001. Eight out of 10 uninsured are

in working families that cannot afford health insurance

and are not eligible for public programs like TennCare. In

Tennessee, the newly uninsured and now uninsurable turn

to TennCare, which teeters on the brink of collapse.

Comprehensive insurance reform is the only real

answer. Reform must address each component: insurers as well

as the insured, providers as well as payers, and courts as well

as claimants and their counsel. The latter is commonly

referred to as “medical malpractice reform.” Although such

reform is debated in Congress, Tennessee cannot afford to wait

for a federal solution.

According to the Tennessee Medical Association

(TMA), 73 percent of Americans support medical malpractice

reform, which imposes caps on damages for

noneconomic “pain and suffering” and punitive damages. The median

jury-verdict award increased 43 percent between 1999 and

2000. More than half of all jury awards now exceed $1 million,

and the average has increased to $3.5 million. According to the

TMA, escalating jury awards and the high cost of defending even

frivolous lawsuits are driving premium increases. The increase

is making access to affordable care progressively more

difficult. Improving access to affordable health care is crucial at this time.

California capped damages over 25 years ago. As a

result, premium increases are only one third of the rest of the

nation. Under California’s more stable system, for example,

an ob-gyn’s insurance costs approximately $57,000 per

year compared to $210,000 for the same coverage in Florida.

We need such stability in Tennessee.

This is why I am sponsoring legislation in the 103rd

General Assembly patterned after California’s reforms,

including caps on damages which otherwise are speculative

and intangible. We must protect the rights of individuals to

fair compensation for malpractice injuries but provide a

more reasonable degree of predictability. Caps accomplish

that. They provide accountability but help preserve access

and affordability. Without caps, the litigation lottery is more

like Russian roulette for the rest of us. n

Mark Norris is a Republican state senator from Collierville.

Categories
Opinion

Barons of the Bluff

If a lottery, as someone said, is a tax on stupidity, then a subsidy is a

tax reward for cleverness and initiative.

If the Tennessee General Assembly can work out the details, by the end of

this year Memphians, stupid or otherwise, will be able to advance the college

educations of children of the middle class by buying lottery tickets at convenience

stores all over town. As the director of the Georgia Lottery told Tennessee

lawmakers recently, the goal is pretty simple: Get people to play early and

play often!

While the lottery makes headlines, another plan to game the tax system is

working its way through the Center City Commission (CCC) en route to the Memphis

City Council and Shelby County Commission. Like the lottery, this one keeps

public money out of general funds and dedicates it to a specific area or group

— in this case, the CCC and downtown.

In the works for several months, the plan is called a tax increment financing

or “TIF” district, encompassing much of downtown from the Wolf River

to Crump Boulevard. Some 25 years ago, the CCC started giving subsidies in the

form of property tax freezes to — to date — approximately 200 downtown projects,

from apartment buildings to The Peabody. The idea was that the subsidy would

help downtown get back on its feet, at which time developers and property owners

would start paying taxes like everyone else.

The older tax freezes are starting to expire. But if the plan goes through,

the tax payments won’t go into the city or county’s general fund. They’ll be

captured by the TIF district and stay right at home to finance projects on the

CCC’s $588 million, 30-year wish list, including a land bridge to Mud Island.

What could be controversial about this plan as it makes its way into the public

agenda is that downtown has no monopoly on need and blight. Every dollar that

goes into the land bridge is a dollar that won’t be used to fill a pothole or

pay a policeman in Raleigh, Frayser, Whitehaven, or Midtown.

The difference is that downtowners hold all the high cards. The Uptown redevelopment

around St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Riverfront Development Corporation

(RDC), the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), the Center City Commission,

the expanded Memphis Cook Convention Center, and the FedEx Forum already get

dedicated public revenue streams or tax subsidies or both. Developer Henry Turley

as well as Jeff Sanford, Benny Lendermon, and Kevin Kane — head honchos of

the CCC, RDC, and CVB, respectively — all live or work on the bluff. City councilman

Rickey Peete, chairman of the CCC board, is head of the Beale Street Merchants

Association. Fine fellows and independent thinkers one and all, but a stacked

deck is a stacked deck.

Where does the shoe-store owner in the Mall of Memphis or Raleigh Springs

Mall, which have lost their anchor tenants, go to get a tax subsidy and a TIF

to fight blight?

Where in Midtown does Stewart Brothers Hardware, which is getting squeezed

by Home Depot and trolley disruption, go for special treatment and dedicated

taxes? Or Ken Barton’s Car Care, whose insurance premiums are going through

the roof because cars are being stolen right off his lot?

Where do the residents of Frayser and Whitehaven go to ensure that the Ed

Rice Community Center and the Roark-Whitehaven Tennis Center are as well maintained

as the riverfront and the South Bluffs for the next 30 years?

To which special agency, professionally staffed and with a board stacked with

politicians and business leaders, do neighborhoods go to attract a fraction

of the thousands of new expensive houses and market-rate apartments that have

been built downtown in the last decade?

They go to City Hall. They don’t have special agencies. They have elected

representatives who are stretched thin and associations staffed by volunteers,

and they compete for scarce tax dollars in the messy public process.

A big tax storm is coming. The insiders are loading up now so they can live

comfortably while the cold winds blow. The outsiders get to buy fur coats, mittens,

and hot chocolate for the insiders. Which are you? As they say in poker, if

you look around the table and you don’t know who the chump is …

Their minds are made up. Don’t confuse them with facts. David Pickler, the

chairman of the Shelby County Board of Education, doesn’t miss a chance to knock

the Memphis City Schools, urban school systems, or school system consolidation.

The Commercial Appeal turned him loose in an op-ed column last weekend.

“Enrollment in the Nashville-Davidson County school system has declined

from nearly 82,000 pupils at the time of consolidation to just 48,000 today

— during a period of unprecedented growth in Middle Tennessee,” Pickler

wrote.

No, it has not. The actual enrollment, according to the Metropolitan Nashville

Public School System and the Tennessee Department of Education, is 68,277. Apparently

plus-or-minus 30 percent is close enough for the county board and the CA,

which did not correct the error. School system consolidation, by the way, occurred

in 1964. If Nashvillians are still reeling from it, that’s one heck of a hangover.

The ability of people with no first-hand experience with an urban school system

to intuit the motives of thousands of people 200 miles away for 39 years is

amazing.

Categories
News The Fly-By

City Reporter

Skippers in the Slammer?

District attorney says truancy is civil, not criminal, issue.

By Mary Cashiola

A study on juvenile crime first put the focus on the problem of truancy.

Now, with the federal No Child Left Behind Act requiring that 95 percent of school

students take state achievement tests, solving the

problem is harder than ever.

But it wasn’t so long ago that an

initiative from Shelby County district attorney Bill

Gibbons’ office put children’s faces on ads and billboards, warning that if kids don’t go

to school, their parents could go to jail.

With 18,000 students considered truant each year, have any parents seen the slammer?

“Yes,” said John Sorrels, the assistant

district attorney who handles all the county’s truancy cases. “Not an extremely large

number, but some parents have gone to jail; some

have lost custody of their children.”

However, Sorrels said, “Prosecution is

our last resort. Many times, it’s not ‘I don’t want to go to school.’ It’s ‘I don’t

want to go to school because I don’t have shoes.’ …. There are so many

reasons kids miss school.”

Cases are first referred to the Truancy Assessment Center,

a collaboration between the Memphis City Schools and the

Memphis Police Department, for whatever social services can be offered. If

that fails, the case is referred to Sorrels.

When the district attorney’s office first began looking at

truancy, it began prosecuting parents in three ways:

the compulsory-attendance statute, contributing to the delinquency of a minor,

or contributing to the neglect of a minor. The

compulsory-attendance statute was a class C misdemeanor — which can mean

a $50 fine or 30 days in jail for each offense. The other charges are class A

misdemeanors, which can result in up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and/or a $2,500 fine.

But anyone charged with a crime has the right to have the case submitted to a

grand jury. “When we have some single mother

who has never been arrested, she’s not going to

plead guilty and have a criminal record,” said

Sorrels. The case would instead go before the grand

jury, delaying it three to six months. “Meanwhile,

the child still isn’t going to school.”

Sorrells said his office realized jail wasn’t

the best option: “If you’re a Criminal Court

judge and you’ve got burglars, rapists, and murderers coming before you and you let the

burglar out on probation because there’s no room

in the jail, why are you going to put a single mother in jail who can’t get her kids to school?”

Instead, the district attorney charges

both parents and children under a civil statute

and calls all parties before the judge. Depending on the child’s age, either the parent or the

child is put under a court order to get the child

to school. If the child has any more unexcused absences, the parent is in contempt of

court, which can mean immediate jail time.

“Again, it’s a last resort,” said

Sorrells. “Think of all the problems it creates. If

Mom’s in jail, does it really address the issue of

why the car won’t start in the morning?”

He continued, “I think with the billboards we’re getting the word out.

I’ve gotten a lot more calls from parents who tell me they don’t want to go

to jail. It’s not rocket science. If [the child is] sick, fine, but we’ve got

to have a doctor’s note or something.”

Scoot!

U of M buys Segway scooters for physical-plant workers.

By Mary Cashiola

With the coming addition of the FedEx Technology Institute on

campus, some other areas of the University of Memphis decided they wanted to be on the

cutting edge of technology too.

The university’s physical-plant department has recently bought two Segway human

transporters. The two-wheeled, electric-powered devices travel up to 12 mph and use a

gyroscopic balancing mechanism to keep the driver upright.

“In the midst of our budget cuts,”

said Drew Schmitz, the department’s communications specialist, “one way we think we

can combat cuts and still maintain an efficient department is through new technology.”

And the Segway definitely fits the bill as new technology, introduced with great

fanfare in late 2001 as the transportation of the future. Designed for use on sidewalks,

the two-wheeled Segway is battery-powered and carries a single standing rider.

“If we buy a pickup truck, it’s going to cost us $20,000. We can get

four Segways for that,” said Schmitz.

“You may not know they’re equipped with three saddlebags.” The device is perfect

for employees who work in the lock shop, he said, explaining that they don’t

carry many tools with them and most of their jobs are one-person projects anyway.

So why can’t they just walk? “Our

campus is 1,100 acres,” said Schmitz. “It’s all

[about] time. With the budget cutbacks, we’re

already pressed with a large amount of work orders.”

The department is also considering the vehicles for the workers who repair

lamps throughout the campus because the vehicles raise the driver a foot or so off

the ground. A tall person on the Segway could drive from lamp to lamp without

having to carry a stepladder.

“It’s kind of like using golf carts,”

said Schmitz. “The department already has several of those, but we wanted to

explore new technology.”

Although the university already has the devices, they won’t be seen zooming

around campus until the end of April or early May, when employees are certified

to use them.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze

Memphis Parent wins national awards.

Memphis Parent magazine picked up six awards in a national

journalism competition sponsored by Parenting Publications of

America (PPA). The awards were presented March 1st during PPA’s annual

conference in Los Angeles.

The awards recognize excellence in writing, photography, and design.

In the 30,000 to 55,000 circulation category, Memphis

Parent earned a second-place Silver Award for general

excellence. Judges noted it was a “compelling publication” and the “topics

are wide-ranging and original.” The monthly magazine also received

awards in the following categories:

· First place, News Feature:

“Trading Retirement for Child Rearing,”

by Jane Schneider, editor.

· Second place, Column: “Living

in the Moment,” by Jane Schneider.

· Second place, Column — Family Matters: “Work and Family”

by Katherine Perry and Kathy Martin.

· Third place, Column — Pub-lisher’s/Editor’s Note: “Living in

the Moment” by Jane Schneider.

· Third place, Column — Family Fun: “Day Tripping: Spring Beauties

and Tasty Food Producers,” by Jane Schneider, Linda Ricci, and Margie Sims.

Memphis Parent is produced by Contemporary Media, publisher of The

Memphis Flyer and Memphis magazine. This year’s Editorial and

Design Awards drew more than 700 entries. Headquartered in Los Angeles, PPA

is a nonprofit, national organization representing more than 150 parenting magazines

and newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

From Brits to Barbecue

Upcoming events will place Memphis in national spotlight.

By Bianca Phillips

Every year, the Memphis Convention &

Visitors Bureau promotes activities that will place our city under an

international spotlight and draw more tourists here. And this year is no different.

Upcoming events include the filming of a British reality show called

ReBorn in the USA at the Gibson Lounge downtown, an episode of the

Food Network’s $40 a Day dedicated to cheap eats in the Bluff City, and a

TV special with NBC’s Today show weatherman Al Roker and his Memphis

in May barbecue team, also to air on the Food Network.

ReBorn in the USA, which is scheduled to be filmed here

March 26th-31st, is a reality series in which British one-hit-wonder pop

stars are given a second chance at fame in seven major U.S. cities.

They’ll board a bus and stop off in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Detroit,

Nashville, Cleveland, New York, and Memphis to perform for a live

American audience and a British television audience.

The American audience will get vote for their favorite, but

U.K. voters will have the final say about which performer is thrown off

the show. The last two surviving contestants will be flown back to England

for a live final showdown. The winner gets a renewed recording contract.

“The ReBorn in the USA people have already been here on a

few scouting trips. They’ve been looking at locations and taking shots

of the city. They went to a number of locations before they decided

that the Gibson could best accommodate their crew of about 60 people

and parking for their 10 trucks,” said Denise DuBois-Taylor, vice

president of communications and public relations for the CVB.

Also on the agenda for the city is an episode of the Food

Network’s travel-on-a-budget show, $40 a

Day. Host Rachael Ray will dine at four local restaurants with a limit of $40 for the entire day. Taylor

said the historic Arcade Restaurant and Huey’s are on the list.

Finally, the Food Network will also air a 30-minute special focusing on the

Today show’s Al Roker and his Memphis in May barbecue team. This will

be Roker’s first time to participate in the contest, although he makes a yearly

appearance.

Homefront Help

City council sets up hotline for military families.

By Bianca Phillips

From financial woes to a shortage of helping hands around the house, families of military reservists often

experience a variety of difficulties when their loved ones are called up

for active duty. But the Memphis City Council is hoping to provide

some assistance to the families of the 499 men and women to date who

have already been activated from Memphis.

The Homefront Helpline, a mobile phone line that was set

up Monday, will provide nearly any kind of assistance needed by

these military families. From help with utility bills to help mowing the

lawn, the city council says they’re prepared to do what is in their power

to address each and every need called into the helpline.

Since many of the help requests may go beyond the scope of

the council, they’re asking for assistance from local businesses, civic

groups, and other organizations that would be willing to donate their services.

“I think it’s important that we as a community come together

to help the families who are helping us,” said council chair Brent

Taylor, who is spearheading the project.

The mobile phone and service for the Helpline was donated by Cellular South.

The line will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and can

be reached at 461-USA1 (-8721).

A Tense Tenure

School board airs frustrations with new president.

By Mary Cashiola

After weeks of marathon meetings, the school board adjourned its latest meeting

around 9 p.m. But commissioners spent most of the relatively short three-and-a-half-hour

meeting bickering among themselves.

Tempers remain high between the board and its president Carl Johnson, resulting

in one commissioner suggesting a five-minute recess to clear the air. Hubon

Sandridge reiterated his previous threat to try to vote Johnson out of the position.

“You are the person holding us up,” Sandridge told him. “If

you can’t accept that we need someone else, do what’s right and

serve the way you know you should.”

Other commissioners echoed Sandridge’s frustrations. Commissioner Michael

Hooks Jr. told Johnson to “try harder” and Commissioner Lee Brown

said he was uncomfortable with the way things were going. “We cannot have

an orderly meeting if the president is not president,” said Brown. “I’m

for respecting the position of president, but it seems to me, the problem is

having respect for the person who is president.”

Johnson responded by saying, “The president called for committee reports.

We’ve heard almost no committee reports, but we’ve spent an hour

on something,” said Johnson. “Is that the president’s fault?”

The back and forth continued throughout the meeting. Since Johnson’s hard-won

battle for the presidency, many of the other members on the board have complained

about his communication skills. Especially at issue Monday night was the board’s

committees. As president, Johnson’s job is to appoint members of the board

to various committees, but some members felt he had not taken their preferences

into account.

“I’m only on two committees,” said new board member Deni Hirsh.

“One that only meets once a year and doesn’t seem to have much of

a purpose, and the other is something that I know nothing about. … I’ve

been on this board for two months and I feel we have not moved forward.”

Johnson said he would reconsider the committee appointments.

“Some people mistake kindness for weakness. Maybe the president is being

too kind,” said Johnson. “You don’t have to be stubborn or

bull-headed to run the meeting.”

The board also voted to appoint citizens and members to a commission to study

how to consolidate the two local school districts.

Eye in the Sky

Webcam offers views of FedExForum construction.

by Bianca Phillips

No more driving downtown to check on the progress of the new FedExForum. Grizzlies

fans can now view construction of the arena on the forum’s new Web site,

FedExForum.com.

The site, which officially launched last month, contains a link to a QuickTime

video of arena construction, which can be viewed as a still image or as a moving

picture that links together images taken every two hours.

“It’s an exciting way for people to monitor the progress of construction.

Not everybody has an opportunity to go down to the site on a regular basis to

see how it’s coming along,” said Mike Golub, senior vice president

of business operations for the Grizzlies. “This gives visitors to the

Web site a chance to see the progress in real time.”

The site also contains arena news, artists’ renderings, and a timeline

of construction milestones. A countdown clock displays exactly how many days,

hours, and minutes are left until the arena’s grand opening, currently

slated for the fall of 2004.

The Web site will eventually serve as an employment center for future arena

workers and will also contain a schedule of arena events.

Music Appreciation

VH1 sends Overton students to New York.

By Mary Cashiola

Sometimes peer pressure isn’t such a bad thing. For 16-year-old Ashley

Williams, it got her a free trip to New York and a chance to meet Whoopi Goldberg.

Williams and fellow classmate Sophia Sopann were two of 18 students from across

the country who were flown to New York by VH1’s Save the Music Foundation.

The students were members of an orchestra that played during a Grammy-viewing

party hosted by Goldberg.

“I wasn’t really into playing the violin at first,” said Williams.

“Some of my friends wanted to do it, so I wanted to do it too.”

She gradually began to like playing the instrument and now says her life would

be dull without it.

And what could possibly be a better example of that than her first trip to New

York?

“We stayed for a week practicing the music, but we also did a lot of sightseeing.

We went to Carnegie Hall, Central Park, Times Square — it was awesome,”

she said as the rest of the orchestra practiced a selection from Mozart behind

her. “It was my first time on a plane too, so that was exciting.”

VH1’s Save the Music Foundation has helped restore public-school music

education programs in 75 cities, including Memphis. Since 1999, local participant

Time Warner and Save the Music have donated $360,000 in musical instruments

to 14 local schools.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Politically Incorrect

The

talk has shifted from politicians to minority-contractor

participation in the FedEx Forum project to the impending war with Iraq to retirement

pay for city sanitation workers — and back to politics. The ebb and flow between

callers and host is constant. The city’s political leaders are called “punk

politicians,” “token Negroes,” and “puppet representatives.”

And that’s only in the first half-hour. Welcome to Express Yourself:

You’re on the air with Thaddeus Matthews.

Housed in a closet-size booth at Flinn Broadcasting, the show airs

on WTCK-AM 1210 from noon to 2 weekdays. Matthews — dressed entirely in black,

with a bald head and glasses — uses his distinctive baritone voice to urge

listeners to think for themselves.

“For two hours I’ve got to stimulate your mind and entertain you,”

he says. “If I’m feeling down or really tired, I’m like Superman stepping

into the telephone booth. When I open up that mike, it’s my cape, and I’m there.

For the next two hours you can’t beat me in my game. I’m not politically correct,”

he adds, “and I can be obnoxious. But it’s the most exciting two hours

of the day.”

Express Yourself went on the air in October 2002, and during the show’s

first five months, Matthews has emerged as Memphis’ most controversial host,

making a name for himself by “challenging the powers that be.” It’s

a traditional talk-radio format and most of the show’s callers are black, but

Matthews contends the show is “not a black thing, not a white thing, but

the right thing.”

He makes no apologies for his rough style. In fact, he believes the tough

talk lends authenticity to the program. When callers describe needed changes

in run-down city neighborhoods, Matthews, a product of the “New Chicago”

area of North Memphis, can identify. “I think people have been waiting

for the truth. Even if they don’t like the messenger, they like the message,”

he says. “[The show] is real blunt. It’s not some guy who’s trying to be

a super-intellectual, just a regular guy who’s been there. I’ve lived in those

streets and still ride those streets.”

Paving the Way

As a teenager, Matthews lived near the old Firestone plant, where most young

men in his neighborhood eventually ended up working. When Memphis City Schools

began busing students for integration in 1973, the Manassas High student was

sent to predominately white Frayser High School.

For the first time in his life Matthews felt the sting of racism. Refusing

to sit idly by, he led a boycott and walkout in 1974. “I’ve always had

a big mouth. If it comes up, it comes out. So, I led the walkout and we had

our riots,” he says. “All of the black boys were locked in the library,

so we broke the glass, had an incident. I was the spokesman on television. Luckily,

it was my senior year, and instead of kicking me out of school [the superintendent]

transferred me to Northside High School and I became a peaceful person. The

rest is history.”

Not quite.

Born to a teenage mother, Matthews was reared by a great-aunt and raised in

the church. He began preaching while in high school and traveled the city church

circuit with other young preachers. But Matthews struggled trying to satisfy

the ideals of a preacher’s life, so he turned to the only other thing he knew

how to do: talk.

Several sales jobs followed, with Matthews pushing everything from chemicals

to funeral homes. In 1985, he began selling radio ads for WXSS-AM 1030 and was

bitten by the radio bug. “They had a [deejay] on in the mornings doing

a gospel show and he didn’t sound that good to me,” says Matthews. “This

ego of mine led me to tell the station manager what I wanted to be: a radio

personality. I became the Sunday morning guy and advertised my show as a ‘hand-clapping,

toe-tapping good time.’ And because I had a church background, I was good. Real

good.”

Matthews went on to do shows on several other stations, including versions

of Express Yourself, but more often gospel or blues formats. (He has

no resume and relies on memory to keep a record of dates and call letters.)

“I was a young fellow then and had no idea what I was doing,” he says.

“If I had known then the things I know now, I could be Rush Limbaugh. I’d

be what Rush wants to be when he grows up.”

Matthews’ mouth often led to his termination or resignation, and as misfortunes

accumulated in his professional life, they did in his personal life as well.

Admitting to a onetime sexual addiction, Matthews says he was married “between

five and 10 times,” resulting in four children by four different women.

“If a woman doesn’t like who I am, [she can] leave. As long as God can

keep making women, he’ll make another one,” he says. “Yes, I’m spoiled.

I was spoiled by my great-aunt, and I’ve been looking for a woman to spoil me

ever since.”

Matthews has also accumulated an extensive criminal rap sheet, with charges

ranging from contempt of court, illegal possession of a firearm, criminal impersonation,

and assault. He denies nothing, openly talking about his past on the air and

saying, “I never portrayed myself as a choirboy. I’m not one of those preachers

who will turn the other cheek if you slap him.”

Shock Jock

After starting a newspaper called The Shopping Spree in 1991, Matthews

returned to radio in 1993. He paid $5,000 down and $3,000 a month to operate

WNWZ-AM 1430. Financial difficulties ensued. Matthews filed bankruptcy, and

the station’s owner terminated WNWZ’s signal.

Matthews then hired an engineer to replace the transmitter and rebroadcast

the station’s signal. To draw attention and advertisers, Express Yourself

was reincarnated as an outrageous, sexually themed show. The most shocking segment

featured a female guest having intercourse with a dog. “I was labeled the

first shock jock in Memphis,” Matthews says. “I was Jerry Springer

before Jerry Springer was Jerry Springer. I started using all the lines I had

ever used, and playing love songs. I would get women calling me on the phone,

masturbating.” WNWZ failed after a one-year run.

Matthews now criticizes other stations, especially WDIA-AM 1070, for copying

his former shock style. WDIA program director and morning host Bobby O’Jay says

only that his station is “flattered at the attention given to us by other

media,” adding that WDIA has been doing relationship shows since 1987.

“I’ve only had one conversation with Mr. Matthews concerning a possible

connection with WDIA,” O’Jay says. “We’ve never used his services

in the past. However, who knows what the future holds? There’s more to it than

opening a microphone and taking phone calls. There is a certain amount of talk-show

etiquette that comes with that responsibility. We look for talent that has that

quality.”

According to the latest Arbitron ratings, WDIA is the number-one AM station

in Memphis among 25- to 64-year-olds. Arbitron ratings for Matthews’ current

show will not be available before June, since the station recently changed call

letters and formats.

After WNWZ’s failure, Matthews landed at WAVN-AM 1240 in Southaven, where

he did a blues program and another version of Express Yourself. Matthews,

who was also working for N.J. Ford Funeral Home at the time, says Harold Ford

Sr. demanded his dismissal from the station after Matthews put the parents of

a young man involved in a shooting on the air and revealed information he had

learned at the funeral home. Ultimately, the show was canceled.

Matthews says he then became a bounty hunter. After discovering that repossessing

cars was easier and less dangerous, he started GOTCHA! Auto Recovery, a business

he still owns. But he never lost his love for the spotlight. “I would be

okay with being out of radio,” he says, “until I would be out in the

community picking up a car or at a church preaching and someone would tell me

that they remembered one of my old shows. I missed that attention, and the radio

bug bit me again.”

He turned to the only person who seemed willing to work with him: George Flinn.

He began calling Flinn during Flinn’s 2002 county mayoral race but never received

a return call. “I don’t think they thought I would have supported his candidacy,

with him running against a black man and me being black,” says Matthews.

“But as soon as he lost, I gave him a call and we set it up. I went on

the air October 7, 2002.”

Airtime for Express Yourself is paid for by Matthews. He says his yearly

cost is between $20,000 and $40,000. He and Flinn deny rumors that the station

owner is bankrolling the program to further his political ambitions. Matthews

says he pays for the time-slot with advertising and funds from his repossession

business.

“Thaddeus’ program is his program,” says Flinn. “We don’t give

him topics and people to discuss. He pays the same that everyone else pays.

The price is standard. I wish I had had him on the air during my campaign. I

think he would have gotten me a few more votes. He’s really got his finger on

the pulse of the community.”

Other hosts on the station now include Matthews’ buddy Jennings Bernard, who

began a “Democratic Crack Head” phone line that lampooned Memphis’

chronic reelection of criminal offenders.

Pulsing

Matthews says being in touch with the community means being “in touch

with truth.” His most intensive political criticism has been aimed at Memphis

City Council member Rickey Peete. On the air, Matthews has questioned Peete’s

dual membership on the council and Beale Street Merchants Association, calling

it a conflict of interest. Off the air, Matthews held a press conference demanding

Peete’s resignation from the city council.

“I don’t even dignify someone like that with a comment,” says Peete.

“You only encourage these types of actions from people like that when you

say something in response.”

In addition to his continued attacks on Peete, Matthews has begun a campaign

to vote the Shelby County Democratic Party steering committee out of office.

“With politicians, especially in the black community, there was no one

to whip them into shape, no one to hold them accountable,” he says. Matthews

has become something of a community activist off the air as well. He regularly

attends city and county meetings and asks politicians to be guests on his show.

While most have declined, they know he’s out there, talking.

“I’ve known Thaddeus for years and he’s matured a lot,” says Flinn.

“Frankly, I’d like to have some more like him on the air. He’s talking

about good things. People call his show controversial, but it shows how angry

people really are about these issues.”

Since Matthews’ current show hasn’t been around long enough to be rated by

Arbitron, it’s difficult to judge how many people he is actually reaching. Matthews

hopes the numbers will justify another year’s contract with the station. In

the meantime, he serves as associate pastor of Christ United Baptist Church

in Whitehaven and continues his repo business. He steadfastly denies any political

aspirations, opting to remain “that voice outside the ring that keeps those

in the ring on their toes.”

Although his show appears to be gaining momentum, Matthews says he wasn’t

certain he’d arrived until a listener named John called. Known around the city

for his repeated calls to other talk shows, John is a conservative, pro-Bush

black man with a speech impediment who boasts of not having worked in 22 years.

“People ask me why I waste my time with John, why I take his calls,”

says Matthews. “I take his calls because John reminds me of what I could

have been. Except for the grace of God and the help of some people, that could

have been me. I knew my show hadn’t made it until John called.”

It’s 12:35 p.m. and the lines are open. “Hello, Thaddeus,” says

the caller on the other end. “It’s John.”

Name Game

Thaddeus Matthews never passes up an opportunity to give his opinion on anything

or anyone. Here are his views on a few city and county leaders.

Rickey Peete: “Bought and paid for, on a self-serving mission.

His new slogan should be: Don’t Repeat! Get Rid of Peete!”

Sara Lewis: “I like Sara. She’s aggressive and she’s accessible.

She has provided me information about the circus atmosphere that’s going on

in the school board.”

Harold Ford Jr.: “Ambitious but not responsive. I think Junior

has his eyes on the big prize — the presidency — but first, the U.S. Senate.

I’m not that crazy about his father, but he’s not as responsive as his father.

His position of siding with President Bush for war will make him vulnerable

at election time.”

Mayor A C Wharton: “I think as mayor he’s very efficient.

I think he’s got his hands full. Because he is a people person and both black

and white communities admire him, he’ll walk through this. I think we’ll be

very surprised at some of the changes that he’s going to make.”

Barbara Swearingen-Holt: “A nice lady, but not as responsive as

she used to be. I think she needs to disassociate herself from some of the other

council people. She’s well-respected, but there would be another level of respect

if she didn’t associate herself with Rickey Peete.”

E.C. Jones: “I’ve found him to be responsive. I’ve been able to

call him and he has responded. I have nothing but the highest regard for him.”

Mayor Willie Herenton: “I think he is a servant to the power brokers

in this city — Turley, Belz, and Hyde. I think they have an agenda that they

need him to fulfill. Unless you find a very strong candidate with a lot of money,

he will win again. No average Joe is going to beat him because he’s too well-connected.”

Categories
Editorial Opinion

March Madness

There is joy in Mudville this week, to be sure, as University of Memphis basketball fans — more than 20,000 of whom packed The Pyramid Saturday afternoon, watching the Tigers wax Cincinnati — celebrate their team’s now-certain return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.

By this time next week, “March Madness” will be in full swing in these parts. Sadly, it seems painfully replicated on the world stage, where the Bush administration appears determined to pursue its strategy of waging preemptive war against Saddam Hussein, whatever obstacles might pop up in its path.

Last Saturday, the “Coalition of the Willing” apparently lost one of its key members when the Turkish Parliament refused to ratify the multi-billion-dollar American gift/loan package designed to allow the U.S. to station troops in that country. As we go to press, the Bush administration is pressuring Ankara, using its mulligan, so to speak, in hopes of getting that country’s parliament to re-vote and deliver a more favorable “result” by week’s end.

And so the U.S. government finds itself strong-arming the Turks — whose democratic process delivered a blow to our war plans — so that it can proceed with overthrowing Saddam Hussein, so that it can bring democratic government to Iraq. Are we missing something here? Are we the only ones reminded of the Vietnam-era strategy of destroying villages in order to save them?

Perhaps we can get a straight answer from Colin Powell, our secretary of state, who now argues so forcefully for our marching on Baghdad immediately, if not sooner. Then again, maybe we can’t. After all, this is the same General Powell who in 1991 successfully liberated Kuwait in pursuit of a “limited objective” war in Iraq. “If it had not been that,” he observed in 1993, “we would be ruling Baghdad today — at unpardonable expense in terms of money,lives lost, and ruined relationships.”

Evidently, the “unpardonable expense” has become pardonable. Perhaps because the Bush administration has proven that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? Well, as they say in the Hertz commercials, “not exactly.” So far, Dr. Hans Blix has failed to find any WMDs, while the current issue of Newsweek is reporting that a former Iraqi weapons chief (now deceased) told U.N. inspectors after defecting in 1995 that his country had indeed destroyed its entire banned-weapons stockpile after the Gulf War.

So who and what does one believe, and why exactly do we find ourselves in this mad March mess? We as Americans have few allies whose support we haven’t purchased, no discernible program for governing Iraq once we conquer it, and no reason whatsoever for going to war with Iraq that a majority of the population of the civilized world can remotely understand. One way or another, though, we’re on course for some kind of interesting rendezvous with destiny.

As we embark on this voyage, money, apparently, will be no object. We’re poised to blow through the all-time record annual U.S. budgetary deficit ($290 billion in 1992) even before any potential Iraqi war costs are factored in. Meanwhile, our president keeps pushing ahead with his beloved tax cuts, ignoring altogether the fact that 43 of 50 states have crippling budgetary deficits. Ignored as well is the fact that these state governments can do little more than our own Governor Bredesen is doing: Cut to the bone, and then start cutting bone.

What’s next for Bush 43? Perhaps a tea party with the Axis of Evil-er he most wishes would go away: Kim Sung Il? Let’s hope so. A table for four has been set already: George W. Bush, Kim, the Mad Hatter, and, appropriately enough, the March Hare.

Compared to the Bush White House, Alice’s Wonderland is starting to look like a terribly sane place.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Postscript

Suburban Blues

To the Editor:

If I read John Branston’s article correctly (City Beat, February27th issue),

Arlington doesn’t deserve a new high school because its residents don’t pay

enough taxes. What he didn’t mention was that Arlington provided most of the

land for the 60-acre high school at below-market value. The county school board

had earlier rejected an offer to provide the same land at the old airport for

free.

It should also be noted that Arlington also provided Shelby County with 12

acres for the new sheriff’s department substation, again for free. Arlington

homeowners may not pay the high taxes that Memphians do, but the town has certainly

contributed to Shelby County. And Arlington residents pay the same county property

taxes as do homeowners in Memphis, Lakeland, and Bartlett. Their city property

taxes are low because the city doesn’t have a police department or many of the

other “services” Memphians pay for with their taxes. The town sold

its water system to MLGW several years ago and contracts with BFI for trash

collection. City Hall and Public Works operate very well with small staffs.

The same can be said for Lakeland, where they have no police or fire department

or property tax. Arlington and Lakeland residents pay fewer taxes because they

have learned to live very comfortably without many of the services Memphis residents

enjoy or seem to think they need. But the folks in both Arlington and Lakeland

deserve to receive something in exchange for their taxes. Lakeland has virtually

no county services except those provided by the sheriff’s department and county

fire department. Arlington has a county library, but it’s so small they can’t

accept large-print books.

Branston is absolutely correct that the homebuilders who have created the

need for new schools in places like Arlington should share in the cost of new

school construction. Personally, I think he understates impact fees. I think

$5,000 to $10,000 per $200,000 home is not unreasonable. Last year, I ran for

a seat on the county commission and impact fees was one of the principal planks

of my campaign. Naturally, I got buried at the polls.

Until we elect commissioners who aren’t bought and paid for by developers

like Jackie Welch and Clair VanderSchaaf, impact fees are a good idea that will

never see the light of day. Impact fees are the “third rail” of county

politics. You can be sure that the current bunch won’t touch it for the next

four years.

Bob Koenig

Bartlett

To the Editor:

Once there was a small community called Cordova. There was a sign on Macon

that read “Farms, Flowers, Fellowship.” Now there’s an apartment complex

there. Developers continue to destroy the woods, and people continue to move

in by the thousands. In five years, they’ll complain about crime and how crowded

it is.

Cordova is becoming Hickory Hill North, and no one worries about the rising

crime rate and destruction of natural beauty. They can always move farther out

to Oakland, Arlington, or Somerville, I guess. I work in Cordova but live in

Binghamton, and all the SUVs and credit cards in the world couldn’t get me to

reverse that.

Clay Clark

Memphis

Expendable Med?

To the Editor:

Regarding Janel Davis’ article about the Med possibly closing (City Reporter,

February 27th issue): I work at the Med in the ICU, and we lack the basic necessities

to care for our patients. I fail to see how Governor Bredesen plans for the

Med to have long-term financial security. We take care of indigents and the

working poor, many of whom, if they have a job, surely do not have one after

a hospital stay. These people are considered expendable by employers. I guess

they are expendable to the governor as well.

It must be nice to sit in a mansion and not have to look death, malnutrition,

and disease in the face. It must seem very antiseptic to tell us to get a long-term

financial goal. Last summer, I took care of an elderly woman who was left in

a crack house with maggots eating her legs. Luckily, someone called the police

and she came to us. I saw to it that she died pain-free and in as much peace

and dignity as I could give her. That’s what we do at the Med. We don’t get

paid for it, but do you think Baptist, Methodist, St. Francis, or any other

private (read: for-profit) hospital would have taken that patient?

What is the governor’s idea for the long-term financial plan he would like

us to have? Does he want to kill the poor people?

Please excuse the spelling and grammar. I’ve been up for 24 hours saving lives

— apparently, thanklessly.

Annita M. Cline, R.N.

Memphis

The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the

Editor, POB 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send

us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address,

and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.

Categories
News News Feature

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

CITY BEAT

BARONS OF THE BLUFF

If a lottery, as someone said, is a tax on stupidity, then a subsidy is a tax reward for cleverness and initiative.

If the Tennessee General Assembly can work out the details, by the end of this year Memphians, stupid or otherwise, will be able to advance the college educations of children of the middle-class by buying lottery tickets

at convenience stores all over town. As the director of the Georgia Lottery told Tennessee lawmakers recently, the goal is pretty simple. Get people to play early and play often!

While the lottery makes headlines, another plan to game the tax system is working its way through the Center City Commission (CCC) enroute to the City Council and County Commission. Like the lottery, this one keeps public money out of general funds and dedicates it to a specific area or group, in this case the CCC and downtown.

In the works for several months, the plan is called a tax increment financing or “TIF” district, encompassing much of downtown from the Wolf River to Crump Boulevard. Some 25 years ago, the CCC started giving subsidies in the form of property tax freezes to approximately 200 downtown projects so far, from apartment buildings to The Peabody. The idea was that the subsidy would help downtown get back on its feet, at which time developers and property owners would start paying taxes like everyone else.

The older tax freezes are starting to expire. But if the plan goes through, the tax payments won’t go into the city or county’s general fund. They’ll be captured by the TIF district and stay right at home to finance projects on the CCC’s $588 million 30-year wish list, including a land bridge to Mud Island.

What could be controversial about this plan as it makes its way into the public agenda is that downtown has no monopoly on need and blight. Every dollar that goes into the land bridge is a dollar that won’t be used to fill a pothole or pay a policeman in Raleigh, Frayser, Whitehaven, or Midtown.

The difference is that downtowners hold all the high cards. The Uptown redevelopment around St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC), the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the Center City Commission, the expanded Memphis Cook Convention Center, and the FedEx Forum already get dedicated public revenue streams or tax subsidies or both. Developer Henry Turley as well as Jeff Sanford, Benny Lendermon, and Kevin Kane head honchos of the CCC, RDC, and CVB respectively all live or work on the bluff. City Councilman Rickey Peete, chairman of the CCC board, is head of the Beale Street Merchants Association. Fine fellows and independent thinkers one and all, but a stacked deck is a stacked deck.

Where does the shoe store owner in the Mall of Memphis or Raleigh Springs Mall, which have lost their anchor tenants, go to get a tax subsidy and a TIF to fight blight?

Where in Midtown does Stewart Brothers Hardware, which is getting squeezed by Home Depot and trolley disruption, go for special treatment and dedicated taxes? Or Ken Barton’s Car Care, whose insurance premiums are going through the roof because cars are being stolen right off his lot?

Where do the residents of Frayser and Whitehaven go to insure that the Ed Rice Community Center and the Roark-Whitehaven Tennis Center are as well maintained as the riverfront and the South Bluffs for the next 30 years?

To which special agency, professionally staffed and with a board stacked with politicians and business leaders, do neighborhoods go to attract a fraction of the thousands of new expensive houses and market-rate apartments that have been built downtown in the last decade?

They go to City Hall. They don’t have special agencies. They have elected representatives who are stretched thin and associations staffed by volunteers, and they compete for scarce tax dollars in the messy public process.

A big tax storm is coming. The insiders are loading up now so they can live comfortably while the cold winds blow. The outsiders get to buy fur coats, mittens, and hot chocolate for the insiders. Which are you? As they say in poker, if you look around the table and you don’t know who the chump is …

*******

Their minds are made up; don’t confuse them with facts. David Pickler, the chairman of the Shelby County Board of Education, doesn’t miss a chance to knock the Memphis City Schools, urban school systems, or school system consolidation. The Commercial Appeal turned him loose in an op-ed column last weekend.

“Enrollment in the Nashville-Davidson County school system has declined from nearly 82,000 pupils at the time of consolidation to just 48,000 today during a period of unprecedented growth in Middle Tennessee,” Pickler wrote.

No it has not. The actual enrollment, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System and the Tennessee Department of Education, is 68,277. Apparently plus-or-minus 30 percent is close enough for the county board and the CA, which did not correct the error. School system consolidation, by the way, occurred in 1964. If Nashvillians are still reeling from it, that’s one heck of a hangover.

The ability of people with no first-hand experience with an urban school system to intuit the motives of thousands of people 200 miles away for 39 years is amazing.