Last night, I checked out the town hall meeting on consolidation put on by MemphisConnect.com, Rebuild Government, and Livable Memphis.
The charter commission is currently drafting what would be the new consolidated government — the one that both city and county voters will decide on at the polls November 2nd — at their weekly Thursday meetings.
But I’m just going to be honest with you. I have a hard time getting to *all* of the metro charter commission meetings (Thursday is a big day for meetings, for whatever reason) so I’m not as up to speed as I would like to be about what they’ve decided.
Some highlights from last night’s meeting: There would be a three-year freeze on property taxes under the new government, an appointed police chief would be in charge of law enforcement while the elected sheriff would be over the jail and security in the courts, and MLGW would become a separate authority much like the airport authority (I have my concerns about this). That actual number of seats on the metro council have not yet been decided, but members will be limited to two terms.
There will be three public hearings done by the metro charter commission shortly before they are to submit the final draft of the charter: July 8th at the Ben Hooks Central Library, July 15th at Southwind High School, and July 22nd at the Ed Rice Community Center. I believe they are all at 5:30 p.m.
