Despite much advice to the contrary, I have jumped in the Mississippi River. In the middle of winter.
And I’m not the only one …
Read more about the Polar Bear Plunge at In the Bluff.
Month: January 2009
The state Republican establishment took a hit week before last when House Democratic leader Gary Odom of Nashville orchestrated a parliamentary sleight-of-hand which not only installed maverick Republican Kent Williams as speaker but forced the majority Republicans into sharing committee power and hobbled their best-laid policy plans in advance. The state Democratic establishment took a hit of its own this past weekend when members of the state Democratic executive committee not only ignored the arm-twisting of Tennessee’s ranking Democratic officeholders but gave an almost two-to-one endorsement to the chairmanship candidate whom the party VIPs had opposed.
Of the two rebukes, the more convincing was the one administered on Saturday when longtime party activist Chip Forrester, supported only by the rank-and-file, decisively won election as party chairman over Charles Robert Bone, son of an established party power broker and a candidate who had the active support of Governor Phil Bredesen; Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the right-centrist Democratic Leadership Council; sitting congressmen Lincoln Davis, John Tanner, Bart Gordon, and Jim Cooper; and outgoing party chairman Gray Sasser.
Nor were these worthies merely giving lip service to their support for Bone. They wrote letters, made phone calls, and had their primary surrogates work the issue hard, using both carrot and stick as incentives. Here and there they made a convert — like Knoxville-based lobbyist Bill Owens, whose livelihood literally depends on good relations with D.C. officeholders. But mostly the line was held, and the final tally was: Forrester, 43, Bone, 25 — a compelling margin for a bona fide grassroots rebellion.
Appropriately, the vote Saturday was taken in the very House chamber where the Democratic minority had staged its coup two weeks ago. And, if that previous vote — whereby 49 Democrats plus Williams narrowly overcame a regular GOP bloc of 49 — had been a patent maneuver to forestall Republican control of the chamber, the one on Saturday could be regarded as a proper sequel.
Both events were directly related to the Democrats’ unexpected debacle in last fall’s election, when Republicans grabbed off enough seats to take a 50-49 edge in the state House, becoming the majority party there for the first time since Reconstruction. (In 1969-’70, the GOP held the speakership and majority leader position, but that was the result of a 49-49 deadlock, with an independent casting his lot that session with the Republicans.)
Considering that the electoral trend in 2008 proved overwhelming nationwide, for both Democrats in general and presidential candidate Barack Obama in particular, the GOP victory in Tennessee’s legislative races, if not a perfect storm, owed a great deal to some freak political weather: a last-minute touchdown in East Tennessee by GOP candidate John McCain; a hoarding of campaign funds by overconfident Democratic loser Nathan Vaughn; political advertising that was widely regarded as substandard; and a feckless statewide election strategy.
But a major factor was what, in retrospect, seems an inexplicable aversion on the part of party leaders — notably, Bredesen and potential gubernatorial successor Davis — to the idea of campaigning within the state by charismatic standard-bearer Obama.
The governor, a former businessman whose budget-cutting bottom-line approach to governing has often seemed cold and calculating, even antiseptic, to many of the party rank and file, is reported to have waved Obama off. Davis never endorsed Obama, and his aide Beecher Frasier — the same Frasier who was active behind the scenes for Bone’s chairmanship hopes — expressed public misgivings last summer that the party nominee might have “terrorist” ties.
So it was that when state executive member Don Farmer of Milan, in the process of seconding Bone’s nomination on Saturday, made pointed reference to each of the party heavyweights who had weighed in for Bone, there was an audible rumble of dissatisfaction from the House gallery, where scores of placards supporting Forrester were being held up by spectators.
There were other factors leading to Saturday’s outcome — including rumors of untoward business relationships and vested interests among the Bone supporters — but, at root, the vote in favor of Forrester was a pointed rejection of the established powers-that-be, in whom a majority of the Democratic rank and file had plainly lost confidence.
Jackson Baker is the Flyer‘s political columnist.
Anna Ives, the adorable daughter of Goner Records co-owner Zac Ives and wife Amy, is a tough, energetic little girl. Just 4 years old, she has already endured two successful brain surgeries with grace and pluck.
Last week, Anna and her family (including 6-month-old brother Aron) decamped to Boston for a two-month stay in which Anna will receive special preventative treatment. To assist with the costs that come with relocation, missed work, and other expenses, Zac Ives’ Goner partner Eric Friedl and other local friends have banded together to raise money via an online auction and benefit concert.
“We knew that they were going through so much,” Friedl says. “We wanted to help how we could, to alleviate some of the financial stress.”
The medical ordeal began in 2007 when Anna, then 2, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, which was removed at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, a surgery that received high-profile coverage in The Commercial Appeal as part of a series on Le Bonheur’s brain surgeons and that landed Anna in Washington as surely one of the most charming lobbyists the capital has ever seen.
Unfortunately, last October, tests found the tumor returning — smaller this time, but malignant — necessitating a second, also successful, surgery at Le Bonheur. Following the surgery, Anna was referred to the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for radiation treatment aimed at reducing the risk of the tumor returning.
According to Friedl, the Ives family is settling in well and prepping for treatment, which will begin in early February. Meanwhile, friends are banding together back home to help them out.
The online auction, accessible at Goner-Records.com/Anna, is something of a free-for-all, with Goner Records operating as a middle man — collecting checks and alerting donors as to when and where to send their auction items.
“It depends a little bit on trust,” Friedl says, “but I think everyone wants to see this go well.”
The items include music-related items, event tickets, gift certificates, original artwork from local artists, and other services.
“A lot of people don’t have money, but they do have things, so this is a way they can contribute if they want to,” Friedl says. The online auction, which started January 26th, will run through February 2nd.
The benefit concert, set for Thursday, January 29th, at the Hi-Tone Café, emerged from a desire to find different ways to help.
“John Paul Keith was saying, ‘Hey I don’t have a lot to donate right now, but if there’s a benefit …,'” Friedl says about the origin of the show, which will pair roots-rocker Keith and his band The One Four Fives with Goner-connected artists Harlan T. Bobo and Jack O & the Tearjerkers.
“We put it together quickly,” Friedl says, “but it’s also in the middle of the auction, so it can steer people that way.”
The benefit will be novel for local club shows in that it will start early (doors open at 7 p.m., with music set to start at 8 p.m.), and bands will rotate mini-sets throughout the night. The idea is that fans interested in seeing a particular act won’t have to wait long to see them.
“This is my idea, and if it falls apart, it’s my fault,” Friedl says of the show’s format.
Admission to the show is $10, with all proceeds going to assist the Ives family. Full information on the auction and benefit concert, as well as a way to donate money directly, can be found at Goner-Records.com/Anna.
Categories
Food for Thought
“To use a metaphor, they were force-fed the book.” The book Jonathan Judaken, the director of the University of Memphis’ Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities, is referring to is Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, which was chosen for this past fall’s “common read” for the university’s Academic Orientation Program taken by the majority of freshmen. Campus groups also read the book, and events, such as film screenings and lectures, have been organized around the title to foster discussion.
On Wednesday, February 4th, Schlosser will read from Fast Food Nation and sign copies of the book at an open-to-the-public event hosted by the Marcus W. Orr Center and the River City Writers Series.
Published in 2001, Fast Food Nation provides a devastating eye-opener of the high cost of the convenient and cheap chain-produced meal: obesity, employee exploitation, and slaughterhouse horrors, among others. Often compared to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the work is a touchstone for a growing community concerned about responsible consumption.
“[But] it’s not only about fast food,” Judaken says. “It’s also about popular culture and property, urban planning and development, globalization, agriculture, and food production. It runs across many different areas.”
Eric Schlosser Lecture and Booksigning, Wednesday, February 4th. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m.; The reading starts at 7 p.m. Memphis Pink Palace Museum’s IMAX Theater, 3050 Central (320-6320).
Categories
Take-Home Test
Students aren’t the only ones who have to worry about pop quizzes. Property managers need to worry, as well.
Memphis Area Legal Services recently held a training session for “fair housing testers” — people who pose as potential renters.
Memphis Area Legal Services investigates complaints of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. Using a federal Housing and Urban Development grant, the group also tests rental practices at multi-family apartment complexes.
“The number of testers we had before was causing the project to go slowly, so we wanted to get more people involved,” says Webb Brewer, director of advocacy at Memphis Area Legal Services. “We need a pool that’s diverse, because in testing you try to replicate suspected instances of discrimination and that can take all kinds of shapes.”
For example, the organization might send in a pair of testers to an apartment building suspected of racial discrimination. After applying for an apartment, the testers record their experiences.
During training, testers are taught about the federal Fair Housing Act and what their roles are. When they are sent to an apartment building, however, they are not told what the specific complaint is.
“They know very little about what is being investigated, because we don’t want them to do anything to impact the outcome,” Brewer says. “We give them a very specific script: Your name is such-and-such, and you do this.”
The testers eventually will be debriefed but not until the case is resolved. And that could take awhile.
“Ultimately,” Brewer says, “they might be a witness in a trial.”
Several years ago, Memphis Area Legal Services did similar testing that resulted in two separate settlements in 2007.
During the most recent training, about 50 people participated. Testers earn $50 per test.
“I think the economic situation is such that there might be more interest [than in the past]. We compensate people for their trouble, but we don’t want someone making a second job out of it. We would rather have people do it because they’re civically minded,” Brewer says.
As for property managers, Brewer doesn’t mind them knowing that testers are out there.
“It might give them the incentive to do what’s right,” he says.
Categories
No Place to call home
Just before 8 o’clock on a blustery January morning, about 50 men and a few women gather on the front porch of a modest house on Jefferson Avenue in Midtown. Some are bundled in coats, scarves, and hats, while others wear only ragged jeans and too-thin jackets.
Inside, volunteers of Manna House, a hospitality facility for the homeless, are preparing to open the doors and welcome a small group of the city’s chronically destitute.
One volunteer offers to man the coffee station, while another holds a jar of vitamins to hand to those in need of proper nutrition. Another person volunteers to staff the laundry room, where homeless folks can trade their dirty togs for clean, used clothing and socks.
Manna House head volunteer Peter Gathje, a tall man with gentle eyes and a shaved head, leads the group of 20 or so volunteers in a short prayer, as they hold hands and stand in a circle.
When the “Amen” has been delivered, Gathje opens the Manna House doors and shouts, “Good morning!” A cheerful “Good morning!” sounds from those gathered on the small porch.
One by one, the homeless pour through the front door to take in a few hours of warmth and hospitality. Some rest on tattered couches, while others stand and chat with volunteers.
Manna House, funded by donations from churches and individuals, offers the city’s homeless a place of welcome, at least for the few hours it’s open on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. The rest of their days are often spent trekking back and forth between downtown and Midtown, seeking free food, spare change, and a place to rest.
“There are 1,800 homeless people in Memphis on any given day — at least that we can find,” says Pat Morgan, executive director of Partners for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization attempting to coordinate resources and services for the city’s homeless. “We know there are more than that, but we can’t find them.”
Morgan’s numbers come from a head count of homeless people on the street and in the shelters taken on one designated night each year. Though Partners staff and Memphis police check parks, alleys, and abandoned buildings (known as “cat holes”), it’s impossible to pinpoint the actual number of Memphis’ homeless population.
But one thing is certain: There aren’t enough resources for the chronically homeless in Memphis. The city is lacking permanent supportive housing for the low-income to no-income poor. There are very few shelter beds open to intact families.
Unlike many large cities, Memphis has no free shelters for men, yet men make up about 80 percent of the city’s homeless population. And based on recent spikes in shelter statistics — the Union Mission served 14,371 meals in February of last year compared to 18,094 in December — the economic downtown may be driving even more Memphians into homelessness.
Give Me Shelter
Bone*, a young man wearing silver rings on every finger, probably wouldn’t strike most people as homeless. But he’s been living on the streets, off and on, for four years.
“My grandparents raised me, and after they passed away, I ended up on the streets,” says Bone, on the porch of Manna House.
Bone has slept in abandoned houses and at bus stops. He stays at the Union Mission, the city’s largest men’s shelter, when he can.
“I prefer the shelter, where I don’t have to worry about getting robbed,” Bone says. “Ain’t nothing wrong with the Union Mission building. The problem is the other people in it. It’s better than being outside though.”
The Union Mission, a Christian ministry since it opened in 1945, provides 120 beds and 100 mats per night for men willing to listen to a sermon by on-site pastor Jeff Patrick. Each man receives four free nights of lodging, but every night after that costs $6.
The mission dishes out an average of 600 plates per day of free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition to acting as an emergency shelter and soup kitchen, the mission also provides a residential drug and alcohol treatment program for the homeless.
by Justin Fox Burks
Peter Gathje, left, volunteers at Manna House, a hospitality center for the homeless on Jefferson Avenue in Midtown.
“On some nights, we’ll have 250 people in here, but there’s no violence,” Patrick says. “The guys that stay here regularly love it because they feel safe.”
Other shelters — such as Midtown’s Living for Christ shelter, Peabody House, and the Salvation Army — provide emergency shelter for men or women, but most charge a nominal fee per night. In total, there are 1,126 beds for the homeless in Memphis, but some of those are reserved for people recovering from substance abuse and the mentally ill. Others are available only by referral from a nonprofit agency.
Yet some homeless people, like Mike, seek out alternatives to the shelters. In his mid-40s, Mike has been on the streets since September 2006, after he was released from spending a year in jail due to missing court on a DUI charge.
“I do my four free days at the Union Mission, but most of us would rather sleep outside than sleep there. It’s just too crowded,” Mike says. “I’ve stayed in cat holes. I used to sleep at the [temporarily closed] Magevney House, and it even had a bathroom.”
Those who do wish to sleep in a shelter will not only need $6 to $8 per night, depending on where they stay, but they’ll also need a picture ID.
“We help people get birth certificates, since picture IDs are required for shelter stays,” says David Figel, executive director of the Hospitality Hub, a point-of-entry center for the newly homeless. “To get an ID, you need a birth certificate, two letters (no older than four months to show residence), and a Social Security card. We let people open a mailbox here, and we send them two letters. The process takes about three to four weeks.”
The Hospitality Hub, located on Jefferson Avenue downtown and funded by the Downtown Church Association, provides access to computers, one free local and long-distance phone call per day, free books, and locker rentals so the homeless have a safe place to store their belongings. They also assist people in finding jobs, though with the economy in the dumps, that task has been more difficult.
“Jobs are becoming more scarce,” Figel says. “We used to have a list of day labor centers, but now day labor isn’t hiring as much. We really feel the cutbacks at this level.”
by Justin Fox Burks
Bone
Power to the (Homeless) People
Homelessness can happen to anyone. Take Sam, a small-framed man who hangs out in Court Square. He attended college and says he was once an expert guitar player and a skilled electrical worker. But in August 2007, Sam was hit by a car. One of his hands was severely injured, and the medical bills began stacking up. Since he was uninsured, he eventually lost everything. His injured hand prevents him from doing the electrical work he once loved.
Now Sam lives on $675 a month in disability. Sometimes, when he has money left, he stays in cheap hotels. But he’s often forced to seek out a shelter bed or an abandoned building.
In the current economic crisis, stories like Sam’s are becoming more common. Patrick of the Union Mission says in recent months they’ve seen an increase in “East Memphis types who’ve lost it all” and checked into the shelter. The foreclosure crisis is putting more and more intact families on the streets.
“We’ve never had enough housing for families,” Morgan says. “We’re not serving the ones who need our help the most.”
Only women’s shelters accept children, so fathers are often separated from their families. The Union Mission does provide five fully furnished transitional homes for needy families, but there’s a waiting list.
In 2002, the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, a group of service providers and government representatives, outlined a “blueprint to end chronic homelessness,” identifying key service areas that could use a boost. But, as Morgan indicated at a meeting of the Center City Commission in December, the plan hasn’t come very far in the past six years.
The blueprint lays out the city’s biggest needs for the homeless. Among them are filling housing gaps, developing safe havens of supportive housing, and providing more assistance for homeless people discharged from rehabs and hospitals.
“There’s still nowhere to house the medically fragile,” Morgan says. “The current emergency shelters can’t handle them.”
There hasn’t been much progress in filling housing gaps either. There’s currently no permanent housing for people with substance-abuse problems, but Morgan says Partners is working to develop apartments for people discharged from residential rehab facilities.
by Justin Fox Burks
David Figel of Hospitality Hub counsels one of Memphis’ homeless.
Though not outlined in the mayor’s plan, Jacob Flowers of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has long advocated for a large free shelter for males and females, similar to the Nashville Rescue Mission.
“I think a free shelter could be federally funded,” Flowers says. “Partners for the Homeless brings in money from the [Department of Housing and Urban Development]. Why can’t we put that money into a free shelter?”
But Morgan believes providing free shelters promotes irresponsibility among the homeless.
“If you work all day with a day labor crew and then you get paid and smoke it all up in crack, I’m not paying for your room tonight, thank you very much,” Morgan says. “We have to teach the homeless to be responsible and be good stewards of the money that people give us.”
But not all homeless people are on drugs. Tony, a middle-aged Vietnam veteran, doesn’t do drugs, but he’s currently homeless and out of work. With day labor jobs becoming scarce, it’s often hard to come up with shelter money without panhandling.
“Memphis is a bad place for homeless people,” Tony says. “The Nashville shelter is as big as a Home Depot or a Lowe’s, and it’s free. Most cities I’ve been to have free shelters.”
Flowers believes the answer to addressing the needs of the homeless lies in the formation of a homeless-run advocacy group like the Nashville Homeless Power Project.
The group, made up of homeless and formerly homeless people, has managed to secure $800,000 in Nashville city funding for 60 units of low-income housing, and they’re campaigning for more. The group also has registered more than 1,000 homeless people to vote, and they’ve trained Nashville police officers in how to deal with the homeless.
Each Thursday at Manna House, Flowers leads a discussion group with homeless people interested in advocating for their own needs, such as free shelters and an end to harassment by the Center City Commission’s public safety officers in Court Square. In addition to stopping panhandlers, the officers cite homeless people for public urination, cursing, and sleeping on park benches.
Flowers believes letting homeless people address their own needs could be more effective than waiting on the city to step up to the task.
“It’s not effective for us as privileged individuals to advocate on behalf of the less fortunate,” Flowers says. “We’re trying to identify people on the streets who can organize themselves around these very real issues, and we’re training them in grassroots advocacy. We have to address the root causes of homelessness if we’re ever going to truly fix the problem.”
* Some names of the homeless have been changed to protect their identities.
by Justin Fox Burks
Jeff Patrick, pastor of the Union Mission on Poplar
Categories
Do Over
Before a single local media member had expressed an opinion on the matter, reports last week that the Grizzlies had fired head coach Marc Iavaroni only to almost immediately hire former assistant Lionel Hollins were greeted with bewilderment and skepticism. Surely Hollins was being brought back as an assistant coach again ran the message-board consensus. Nope. This time, Hollins was getting the top job.
Defenders of the Hollins hire make a good point in asserting that Hollins’ resume is as good as — if not better than — Iavaroni’s was at the time of his hiring. Both were former players and longtime assistants who had served under some quality head coaches. Actually, Hollins was a little bit better player in his day and has more head-coaching experience (though with very little success) than Iavaroni. But if Iavaroni was perceived as a good hire and Hollins as a curious one, the blame for that rests primarily with the Grizzlies themselves, who had Hollins on their bench and bypassed him on multiple occasions, most notably when the team needed an internal interim coach after Mike Fratello’s departure.
Former Grizzlies general manager Jerry West clearly didn’t take Hollins seriously as a head-coaching candidate. Hollins supporters would point out — again correctly — that West has been wrong before. (Another explanation for bypassing Hollins in the past and hiring him now, of course, is that the budget for head coaches has changed.)
The truth is you never know: Marc Iavaroni was universally considered a good hire and didn’t work out. Hubie Brown was greeted with initial skepticism and was a (short-lived) triumph.
But regardless of Hollins’ head-coaching potential, the circumstances of his hiring are unavoidably prickly.
After two previous interim coaching stints with the team, Hollins is essentially back for a third. Hollins, owner Michael Heisley, and general manager Chris Wallace would all disapprove of applying the term “interim” to this situation, but that’s what it really is. Most interim coaches are brought in to serve out a season. Hollins, by contrast, has been brought in to serve out a contract — namely, Iavaroni’s.
Iavaroni’s coaching contract will still be on the books through the end of next season, and this team doesn’t want to spend too much on coaching — or anything else — right now. That doesn’t mean this is strictly a money move: The cheap thing to do would have been to do nothing, but the on-court regression and growing unhappiness of key players made keeping Iavaroni untenable.
Hollins can replace Iavaroni through the end of Iavaroni’s contract without adding too much additional expense and hopefully allow the team to get player development back on track while Wallace and Heisley finish putting the roster together. As someone who’s pursued a head-coaching opportunity for years, Hollins was apparently willing to take the job for the right price and potentially limited security.
In the summer of 2010, with Iavaroni’s and Hollins’ contracts both up, there will be a clean slate for a new coaching hire. At that point, presumably, the roster will be in place for a team that can compete for a playoff slot, making the job more attractive for established coaches than it is currently.
This doesn’t preclude Hollins from staying on the bench beyond the summer of 2010 if the organization thinks he’s a coach who can take the team to the next level. Like many other interim coaches, Hollins will have an honest opportunity to earn a reappointment. But as a longtime organizational man with strong ties to Memphis and a relationship with the owner, Hollins can possibly be transitioned out of the job (perhaps to another organizational post) with minimal drama or disruption.
The problem with this scenario occurs if Hollins is a disaster on the sidelines; if, rather than allowing development to occur and the locker room to settle down, his leadership is instead listless and counterproductive. This is the gamble the Grizzlies are taking. But, as past history has shown, all coaching hires are gambles.
Hollins doesn’t have to be Red Auerbach. He just needs to get players like Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, and Marc Gasol buying in, working together, building chemistry, and developing their individual skills.
Hollins brings with him a commitment to the city that probably hasn’t gotten enough attention — in a nomadic profession, he’s maintained a sole residence here. If he can get things back on track, this ostensibly curious hire will work out fine. But if he can’t, the Grizzlies are stuck: Even though the franchise hasn’t made a long-term commitment to him, the circumstances all but guarantee that Hollins will serve out his current contract, and this team can’t afford any more lost time.
Hey, have you sent off for your free Heat Surge Roll-n-Glow miracle heater yet? In these tough economic times, who wouldn’t want one? Of course, you also have to buy the genuine “Amish hand-made fireplace mantle” for $298.
I’m fascinated by this amazing ad campaign. The spots are all over television, and there was a full-page ad in The Commercial Appeal this week. I say “amazing,” because this deal is so obviously a scam. Heck, they can’t even spell “mantel.”
The ads feature a workshop in which Amish-looking folk are “handcrafting” wood fireplace mantles. (I’ll stick with their spelling.) They are a “steal” at $298, but we can only take advantage of this fabulous offer if we act within 48 hours. Right.
The ad copy is glorious: “Winter rush orders have turned country roads into pipelines to the big city delivery system.” This is set under a picture of a horse-drawn wagon (with two heaters) being driven down a snowy lane by an Amish gent. The ad copy for the heater itself is also classic: It’s a “work of engineering genius from the China coast so advanced you simply plug it in to any outlet.” Wow. That is advanced. But here’s my favorite part: If you don’t want the mantle, they’ll send you the “free” miracle heater for only $249.
The heater itself produces “an amazing 5,119 BTUs,” we’re told. I checked, and at most local hardware stores you can get a 5,000 BTU space heater for as little as $29.95. In the advertising business, they call this “selling the sizzle, not the steak.” I call it selling a cheap Chinese heater for 10 times what it’s worth.
Branding is, of course, an important part of selling anything — political policy, soft drinks, cigarettes, you name it. Which brings me to “Triangle Noir,” Mayor Herenton’s development plan for the area just south and east of downtown. We are told that the name comes from the fact that so much African-American history was made in the area. I get that: It’s sort of a triangle shape, and “noir” is French for black. And it’s kind of a sexy name for a project of this type.
Only one tiny little problem: The term “triangle noir” was most famously used in Nazi death camps, where prisoners were forced to wear triangles of different colors to denote their status. Gays, for example, were made to wear pink triangles. Criminals wore red. The black triangle, or triangle noir, was used to designate the “socially maladjusted,” including lesbians.
And maybe the Amish …
Bruce VanWyngarden
David Kustoff, the former U.S. Attorney who along with the local F.B.I. bureau presided over the Operation Clean Sweep and Main Street Sweeper anti-corruption stings, has been named chairman of the gubernatorial campaign of his onetime opposite number and fellow Memphian, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons.
The Gibbons campaign made the announcement in a press release Tuesday. Kustoff, who last year resumed his private law partnership with his father Bernie Kustoff and city councilman Jim Strickland, is a veteran of Republican politics, having served the local GOP as chairman and taken a major role in several political campaigns.
Kustoff made an unsuccessful run of his own in the 2002 Republican primary for Congress in the 7th District, finishing second to the current incumbent, Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood. He also was state chairman for both of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and for Lamar Alexander’s successful Senate bid in 2002.
The Gibbons press release also announced that Memphis lawyer John Bobango, a former city councilman, will serve as chairman of the campaign’s advisory committee.
–Jackson Baker
Dear Bianca,
I live in old Midtown apartment complex, and I hate my neighbors. Since the walls are dirt-thin, I hear everything that goes on next door. They play loud music, and they have a ton of company coming in at all hours of the night. To top it off, I think their nasty funk has led to a roach infestation. (They’re coming into my place now and they’re huge!).
I’m not a very direct person, so I have a hard time complaining face-to-face. I feel like the grumpy old next-door neighbor. Am I right to be upset about this? And how should I deal with it?
–Grumpy Old Man
Dear Grumpy,
You can handle this problem in two ways: work up the courage to tell them how you really feel or go behind their backs and complain to your landlord.
Having been on the other side of this situation (yes, in my college days, I lived in a party house and I’m certain my neighbors hated me), I’d say the best way to deal with the problem is talking directly to your neighbors about your concerns. If they’re anything like I was (young and slightly self-centered), they might not even realize their hard-partying lifestyle is affecting other people in the building.
If a neighbor had ever approached me about noise or traffic, I think I would have tried to tone things down a bit. But unfortunately for me, they went above my head and complained to the powers-that-be. When it came time to renew my lease, the management company said no way.
I’ll admit that it was a wake-up call. I eventually learned to respect my neighbors, but I would have appreciated hearing from them directly. Before you run to a higher authority, kindly ask your neighbors to please keep the music down and the late-night comings and goings to a minimum. Then if the problems persist, you can have a clear conscience about tattling to your landlord.
As for the roaches, honey, you live in Midtown. Those suckers — especially the creepy monster-sized ones — are a part of life. Giant roaches are as much a part of Midtown as the Hi-Tone or Overton Park. Learn to live with them.
Got a problem? E-mail Bianca at bphillips@memphisflyer.com.