Author: Chris Przybyszewski

So you’ve got your Internet hook-up, your free browser, your free time, and you want to surf. At the click of the aerodynamic rodent in your hand, you check your e-mail, rattle a few notes off to your compadres, check out a link that sounds interesting, and then most likely vamoose, leaving your computer wondering, Quo vadis, beloved user?

No, no. It’s not wondering where you’re going, it’s processing binary code, until you shut it down. The thing is a tool, not a pal. And I find that the only way I employ this tool is to communicate with and be entertained by others. Then I’m done, back to reality, having spent 15 minutes or so on epigrammatic communiques and some ephemeral entertainment. But wait a second … If it’s a tool, then I should be able to save time with it, not waste time goofing off on it. That’s what tools are for, right? Tasks simplified equal less work and more leisure time.

Millenia ago the bow and arrow made killing food a less exhausting enterprise. Today the Internet makes killing chores a little easier. You just have to know how to reach who you need to reach. That’s been my problem thus far. The Internet “yellow pages” don’t seem to help. And how can I save time if I don’t know what exactly is out there? And what’s the advantage over using the phone? There are probably a lot of menial tasks that I have to accomplish in my free time that I could take care of on the Web. Like this: Why drive to the DMV if I can surf there and cut out that nasty, mind-numbing waiting in line. But can I do the DMV via the Web? I don’t know. What I need is some guidance, a bit of revelation.

Luckily, it’s out there. Memphis is alive on the Web. But how would you ever know the extent to which it is flourishing unless some kind, encyclopedic soul had done the research for you? Someone has. Get yourself to www.MemphisWebSites.com.

The name says it all. And they all seem to be there. The Webmaster of Memphis Web Sites has compiled a veritable cornucopia of Memphis-related links under such nicely alphabetized headings as Attractions, Automotive, Banking and Money, Buildings and Structures, Business, City Guides, et cetera. See what I mean by guidance? This is what I need.

Say I’m shopping for a home. I check out the neighborhood. Looks good. But who knows? Do I need to go door to door and ask, Hey, is this a crime-ridden ‘hood? Nope. Turns out there’s a site where I can check out the crime statistics of any neighborhood in town. So instead of canvassing the streets, I can click around in my underwear with some Fritos and find out the same stuff. I wouldn’t have known the site existed if I hadn’t looked under the Government heading on Memphis Web Sites, which is actually a subsite of NeatSite.com, a Memphis-based “family-friendly Web guide” that is still under construction.

So if you’re using the binary beast that took over your desk to do little more than chat and goof off, here’s a helpful place to begin if you’d like it to really start earning its keep.

Wow.

Wake up one morning, have the NBA on the doorstep, banging to be let in. No, that’s not quite true. It’s more like the NBA is an ice-cream truck, ringing its bell. Only in this case, the ice-cream truck came down our street and stopped right in front of our door. Waiting.

Let’s ignore for a moment the dreaminess of it all. How it looks much too good to be true. What if? It’s a good question. For a city virtually ignored in terms of professional sports as if the gods had decreed a ban on the River City, this sudden turnaround seems … well, it just seems like too much.

Here’s the deal: Memphis has FedEx. Memphis has AutoZone. Memphis has a bunch of other less-well-known businesses who could contribute to an NBA team. Memphis has 1.1 million people. It is the biggest urban spot within 105 counties. More importantly, Memphis doesn’t have any major league sports teams — the Memphis Grizzlies (should we keep the name?) would have the area to itself. Our two major competitors for this NBA transplant — Anaheim and Las Vegas — are hurt by the former being too close to Los Angeles (a city with two NBA teams already) and the latter by gambling, a Pandora’s box NBA brass would just as soon not open. Has anyone told NBA commish David Stern about Tunica? Don’t answer that.

We also have The Pyramid, an arena admittedly built as the Tomb of Doom for Tiger basketball (read: college). Lacking box seats, club seats, and a plethora of skyboxes, the landmark arena admittedly needs some renovation. But the costs are much less than a new arena. Plus The Pyramid has plenty of space for the team’s offices and other attractions (maybe it will finally get the inclinator and theme restaurant we’ve heard so much about).

If Memphis has a shot for this big league team — heck, any professional team — we need to step up to the plate, stay in the pocket, stay out of the crease, take it to the hole, and split the uprights. This is too good an opportunity to pass up for a city that has always been considered a basketball town.

Sports are a defining attribute for a city. Even our illustrious president once called Tennessee “minor league” in reference to our lack of pro sports (this was said before the Titans). In this modern age, competing with the big boys is more than bragging rights. It’s a measuring stick. So far, Memphis has been in the range of centimeters and inches while our counterparts have gone on to yards and — dare I say it — miles. The NBA, which has reportedly (though not officially) endorsed Memphis, has given us just another inch for our ruler.

But you know what they say about inches and miles. Maybe, just maybe, we need to take this leap. All it would take is a commitment from the city and the rest are details.

With all the geometry, it doesn’t take a mathematician to see that it’s the right fit.

Additional Facts

The state of Tennessee has implemented the TNKids program, a computerized management system designed to help manage placements of children and caseloads on DCS workers. However, new DCS workers are not being trained on how to use this program, resulting in it not being used. It’s widely considered to a good, promising program, but since no one knows how to use it, they don’t.

DCS does not track medical/mental health treatments to assess the effectiveness of services and service providers.

After DCS was formed by combining staff from other departments, leadership positions were not allocated between employees coming from the previous divisions. Twenty-six of the 43 DCS leaders were formerly employed by the Department of Youth Development, while only five of the 43 came from the Department of Human Services. Conversely, two-thirds of the children in custody are dependent/neglected and previously would have been in the custody of DHS.

DCS caseworkers receive three weeks of job training. Foster parents receive 40 hours of training. However, CASA volunteers (who only report on the conditions the children are living in and make recommendations, but never have custody of the children) receive 30 hours of training.

The state is not complying with the John B. Consent Decree or with federal law by failing to ensure that all children in state custody receive EPSDT’s (Early and Periodic Screenings, Diagnosis and Treatment).

Additional Statistics

One study found that nationally parental rights for African-American children were terminated at younger ages than those for white children, although African-American children as a whole were less emotionally disturbed than white children. This suggests that less patience on the part of the system in working with African-American families. Tennessee does not maintain information that determines the length of stay by race.

Additional Quotes,

from Ira Lustbader, lead counsel for Children’s Rights Inc.

“In TN, we were contacted years ago about fundamental problems in TN. 1996, Dept of Children’s Services was created. The idea was to combine several departments into one, (corrections, foster, mental health) thought it would result in better treatment. At this point CRI stepped back and waited to see if the new DCS would be effective. It was not.”

“There is a high degree of privatization of foster care in Tennessee. All group placements are contract placements. There is a glaring lack of monitoring and oversight on the state’s part to adequately monitor by state. With all this mismanagement there are approximately 15-20 for-profit agencies. You have contract agencies making a profit off this. The possibilities for corruption or for corners to be cut are endless. We don’t have all the detailed information on contract agencies, but when you have this level of mismanagement and a high number of agencies making money off it, something is wrong. These are dangerous situations, overuse of medication, misuse of restraint methods, inadequate training of staff, overburdened caseworkers who can’t meet with the children. Dangerous.”

“The most basic premise of the system is that children are supposed to be reunited with their families if it is at all safe to do so, within a reasonable amount of time, with the services needed. The goal is to give every family an opportunity to reunite, or then to place the child with a relative or an adoptive family. Time and again, this is not happening.”

“The unusual thing about Tennessee is that in Tennessee much of our allegations come from the state’s own data. Year after year the state notes these problems and nothing gets done.”

“We can’t tell what the cost is going to be yet. There will be additional resources needed, but there are financial mismanagement problems, too. Through gross mismanagement the state is wasting millions in federal funds. The state could be doing a lot more with what they’ve got.”

Mayor Willie Herenton says he will attend a schools meeting with suburban mayors and County Mayor Jim Rout some time in the future but he doesn’t expect much from it.

“I’m going to go in a spirit of good will but I don’t expect anything to come out of it,” Herenton said in an interview with the Flyer Thursday. The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday but has been re-set for an undetermined date. “They’re very entrenched in their opposition to consolidation, but I firmly believe a consolidated form of government in the long run is going to be the most efficient and effective form of government. But it’s like crying in the wilderness alone.”

Herenton said he thought about skipping the meeting, which will be held in Rout’s office, and he “pointedly” asked Rout what would be accomplished. He said Rout assured him that he would offer some alternatives.

Herenton, formerly city schools superintendent, seemed weary of the debate which flared up again in February when a bill was introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly that would limit all counties to a single, unified school system. He laughed and admitted his suggestion in a television interview last week that school funding could “bankrupt” local government was “pretty strong.” But he predicted financing of government will be the hammer that will eventually force government and business leaders to push for consolidation.

“There is no political will in this community to consolidate,” he said.

The situation could change, however, in the coming months if Rout clarifies his political plans. The county mayoral race is in 2002. There has been speculation that Rout might run for governor, “but my bet is he will run for reelection,” Herenton said.

The costs of consolidation are not clear yet to Herenton, but he is confident that there would be long-term savings in personnel, school construction costs, pensions, and debt service.

“So what if you initially have a gap you have to make up? It’s just like a business plan. Some businesses don’t make money in their first few years, then they turn around and make money.”

He scoffed at fears that county students would be bused to inner-city schools and insisted school assignments would not change. And he said that fears of school construction cost overruns could be met by putting those decisions in the hands of a schools building authority. The city and county school boards would give way to a new elected county-wide board.

On the whole, Herenton was not in one of his famous fighting moods.

“None of what I’m talking about is easy,” he admitted.

He brushed off critics who say he injected race and class into the issue.

“Maybe it’s part of my education background, but in Memphis if you start talking from an academic perspective and mention race and class people go crazy. Well, race is a factor, and class is a factor. And nobody wants to admit that. It’s not just true of white suburbanites, it’s true of black suburbanites. The white and black middle class typically have the same views about people who are poor.”

He went out of his way to praise Shelby County Commissioner Buck Wellford, businessman Russell Gwatney, and the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce for a school-funding reform effort last year which Wellford admits went nowhere.

“We got stymied because the majority of commissioners and Mayor Rout were not ready to get out in front of a sales tax referendum and the suburban mayors were very resistant to both single-source funding and a building authority,” said Wellford.

Asked about a timetable for consolidation, Herenton said he expects it to happen “well within this decade.” He does not have to run for reelection until 2003. He wouldn’t say what his own political plans are, but his patience on the consolidation issue he has plugged for two decades now suggests he is in it for the long haul.