Author: Janel Davis

Last week, James Bolden became executive director of the Homeland Security Council for Shelby, Lauderdale, Tipton, Fayette, DeSoto, and Crittenden counties. The former Memphis police director may have changed uniforms and gotten into color-coding, but he’s still protecting the Mid-South.

Flyer: What is the most significant terror threat facing our district?

Bolden: It could come in the form of anything, from cyberterrorism to transportation, to utilities, to a large-scale disruption of a public event.

The biggest threat that we have here in Tennessee, being a largely agrarian area with many chemical plants, is a potential for some sort of chemical threat.

How does the local office acquire terrorist information?

Federal authorities supply local authorities with information regarding terrorist activity. I cannot elaborate on investigations involving terrorist activity, but believe me, there are people involved in the act right here in Shelby County.

I think as citizens we forget that “terrorist activity” can include anything from money laundering to funding terrorists elsewhere to manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. So don’t think that all of a sudden you’re looking for someone walking down the street who is a suicide bomber, because terrorism takes on a lot of forms.

The talk-show host turned repo man turned community activist is no stranger to the limelight. This time he’s set his sights on Willie Herenton, and with the help of 10,000 signatures, hopes to unseat the mayor before his run for a fifth term.

The Man: Thaddeus Matthews, 47 (born on April Fool’s Day), is owner of Gotcha automobile repossession company, a 20-year talk-radio veteran, and a political activist with an interest in local elections, most recently as a campaign organizer for Memphis City Schools board member Stephanie Gatewood.

His Plan: Matthews has singled out elected officials before for inappropriate behavior and bad judgments. In his latest move, Matthews has begun a grassroots recall campaign of Mayor Willie Herenton. “I have taken a stance against the arrogance and the domineering nature of [Herenton],” he says. “On the radio I talk to people who live in the city, and there is a growing number of them who are tired of the [mayor’s] antics.”

His Platform: Matthews has taken Malcolm X’s “by any means necessary” to another level in his quest for political accountability. With the recall campaign, the media-savvy reformer is outlining his intentions to radio, television, and newspaper outlets. Call-in lines are flooded when he makes guest appearances on radio shows, reporters abound at his impromptu press conferences, and the list of his informants gets longer every day.

While no signatures have been collected yet for the recall, Matthews says he has put the mayor on notice that his days are numbered. To help with his project, Matthews has enlisted the help of fellow activist John Lunt, who also gathered thousands of signatures in attempts to put a city charter commission resolution on Memphis ballots.

His Purpose: Before the recall campaign, Matthews was facing popularity extinction. His radio show on a Flinn Broadcasting station had been replaced by elevator music. He was, and still is, in litigation with the owners of his last station for curtailing his contract in November. Matthews blames each station conflict on his political stance against “business as usual.”

About seven months ago, Matthews says an executive-level city government employee gave him city charter information about recalling the mayor. “That person just told me to read it and one day I would need it. Well, that day has come,” he says.

His Path: Although off the air, Matthews still tracks Memphis politics. He claims to know the personal relationships of politicians and can produce financial documents on most transactions involving city funds. No matter how grandiose, his stories usually pan out.

It’s not clear if he will get enough signatures for a recall, but he’s gotten a lot of attention doing it.

“Don’t laugh at me. Don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain,” sing the kindergartners at Snowden School. The kids may be too young to have heard of the song’s originators — Peter, Paul, and Mary — but they are not too young to understand the words.

Bullying was on the agenda of the optional school Tuesday morning, as the school launched its two-year bully-prevention initiative. During three presentations, students sang, danced, and rapped about the need for acceptance.

“Bullying is everywhere, we’re just not afraid to talk about it,” said school counselor Sharon Carter.

Snowden and Colonial Middle School are the only two schools in West Tennessee selected to participate in the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, promoting a safer and more positive atmosphere on school campuses. Both schools applied for the program through the Nashville organization Students Taking a Right Stand (STARS). Funding was made available through the district’s Center for Safe and Drug Free Schools. Teachers and administrators completed program training in July.

“Think about the words to the [kindergartners’ song], and whether you’ve ever gotten pleasure from someone else’s pain. If you have, then that’s bullying,” said principal Catherine Battle.

The program is based on bullying research by Norwegian scientist Dr. Dan Olweus and involves four components: individual, classroom, schoolwide, and community/parent. Part of the community component included a program presentation to parents held during an evening PTA meeting. The initial school assessment included student surveys about bully behavior and victimization. From the surveys, teachers will hold classroom meetings to address the behaviors, and administrators have developed schoolwide and classroom rules based on the program tenets.

“In post-Columbine times, everything has changed,” said STARS president Rodger Dinwiddie. “We’re now looking at students who have been picked on so much and have internalized it to the point where they can inflict damage on themselves or others.” Dinwiddie admits that bullying has long existed in school but that the severity has greatly increased. “What we used to experience in school was conflict. Now, conflict has escalated. Bullying is not conflict. Bullying is abuse.”

Within the district, Snowden and Colonial Middle are not usually involved in unacceptable student behavior and violent situations. “Whether or not a school has other discipline problems means nothing,” said Ann Sharp with CSDFS. “All schools have a bully problem. It’s just that we tend not to place as much attention there.”

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

Three defendants returned to court TUESDAY, each charged with one count of child rape. The defendants and brothers — Mario, Jamaal, and David Flynn — are accused of raping a 12-year-old runaway in an Oakhaven apartment in October. During the preliminary hearing before General Sessions Court judge Louis Montesi Jr., the now 13-year-old plaintiff in the case testified to events that took place during the three days in question. While preliminary reports stated that the incidents took place against the will of the plaintiff, defense attorneys challenged her statements.

After an unsuccessful request by the girl’s attorney to conduct the hearing in a closed courtroom, the hearing began with the plaintiff telling her version of the incident, which began on October 1st. According to the girl, after running away from home on a Friday morning, she was forced at knife and gun point into a car driven by defendant Mario Flynn. She described the first rape by Mario at an unnamed hotel. Afterwards, she says, she was taken to the Somerset Apartments in Oakhaven to an apartment shared with the other defendants.

For the next two days, the plaintiff said she was raped by the defendants and their acquaintances. The plaintiff also described being taken to abandoned apartments for additional rapes. She testified that she was unsure as to the total number of men involved in the incidents, but that she was also forced to drink large amounts of beer and smoke marijuana.

During a four-lawyer cross-examination that lasted for about an hour, defense attorneys challenged several of the plaintiff’s initial statements and testimony.

The plaintiff, dressed in a purple coat with black bows, cried at times during the questioning. When questioned by defense attorney Greg Carman regarding the initial meeting with Mario Flynn, the plaintiff testified that she told the defendant that she was in fact 17 years old and would soon be having a birthday. When asked if she had lied to Mario about her age, the plaintiff nodded “yes.” She also testified about having sexual relations with a female while in the Flynns’ apartment. During the weekend, that female braided the plaintiff’s hair, according to her testimony.

“There is some doubt as to her credibility. That’s why we are here,” Carman told the Flyer.

He would not say whether or not the incidents with the Flynn brothers were consensual. “This child was 12 years old at the time and that makes it rape of a child. She was four days from her 13th birthday, which would have made it statutory rape.” Under Tennessee law, rape of a child is a more serious offence than statutory rape.

The Flynn brothers’ defense attorneys also noted that the plaintiff never took advantage of opportunities to escape from the defendants or seek help. She testified there was a phone in the brothers’ apartment but did not use it to call for assistance. The ordeal finally came to an end when the girl’s father found her walking by herself in another area of the apartment complex.

Also at issue in the case is the involvement of an apartment security guard who, according to the plaintiff, also raped her. According to the girl’s testimony, that man also attempted to contact her grandmother. The plaintiff used a false name when talking to the grandmother in order to avoid punishment for running away. Judge Montesi disallowed extensive testimony about the involvement of the security guard, who may be involved in further litigation in the case.

The plaintiff insisted that she did not make up the rape story to avoid punishment for running away from home.

Judge Montesi found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury. •

TennCare enrollees attempting to defraud the state’s health-care system should know that TennCare’s new fraud czarina is cracking down on prescription drug abuse. Last week, some 9,300 enrollees receiving “questionable finding” letters were given 14 days to respond.

The form letters were sent by Deborah Faulkner, TennCare’s inspector general. Almost 8,000 were addressed to enrollees using pharmacies more than 100 miles from their homes to fill more than three prescriptions. The remainder of the notices were sent to enrollees using more than three pharmacies or four doctors to fill prescriptions within a 30-day period.

These actions, known as drug seeking and doctor shopping, have contributed to ballooning pharmacy costs in the health-care program. Despite savings from the formation of a pharmacy advisory board and preferred-drug list, pharmacy costs exceeded $2.1 billion last year, well above the $1.89 billion amount spent on higher education.

“The goal is to restore integrity to the health-care program,” Faulkner said. “The honest people who need this assistance, we want them to have it. It’s the people who are using up the money illegally that we’re trying to catch.”

Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen has long championed the need for a more aggressive fraud unit within TennCare as well as stiffer penalties for abuse. He established Faulkner’s department in February, got fraud legislation passed in June, and hired 40 new investigators, attorneys, and medical professionals soon after.

With the uncertain future of TennCare, stopping fraud is vital. TennCare recipients using distant pharmacies during the period from April to June accounted for more than 155,000 prescriptions, costing TennCare almost $15 million.

A survey of counties with possible pharmacy abuses listed Shelby County as number one — not necessarily due to the number of abusers but to an abundance of enrollees, said Faulkner. Of the 1.3 million Tennessee residents on TennCare, more than 230,000 live in Shelby County, accounting for 26 percent of the county’s population.

Leading the list of most commonly prescribed drugs were narcotic pain relievers, sleep inducers, and antidepressants. Many of these drugs are habit-forming and may also have relatively high street resale value.

In addition to the letters sent to enrollees, 48 letters were sent to providers charging them with excessive billing.

“There are all types of fraud. People living outside the state come back and use TennCare services. Some people have access to private insurance but opt out and get on TennCare. Some may be obtaining the drugs illegally and selling them. All of those things are felonies. And it all boils down to greed,” said Faulkner. “But it’s not our job to judge people prematurely. If we determine that a law has been broken, we will prosecute.”

Prior to this latest campaign, the fraud office compared wages reported by TennCare recipients to state wage reports. That investigation yielded 3,000 enrollees whose wages were at least $1,500 more than they reported. Some of those individuals agreed to be removed from the TennCare rolls, and others were required to repay the health-care program.

Last year, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and TennCare studied 30,000 cases and referred 10,000 enrollees for possible fraud. •

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

By the time this article is published, the District 7 Memphis School Board runoff election will be over. The victorious candidate will serve on the board beginning January 2005 through the next four years. By the end of early voting, December 2nd, the Election Commission reported 996 votes. There are 66,054 eligible voters in the district.

The campaign between incumbent candidate Hubon “Dutch” Sandridge and challenger Tomeka Hart has included allegations of voter fraud, campaign-literature violations, and old-fashioned mudslinging. Even taking into account all of these, the decision comes down to voter mentality, said former board candidate Rico Rivers.

“Voters will tell you they’re voting one way, but in the booth, they vote for someone else,” he said. That was the case in 2000, when Rivers unsuccessfully challenged Sandridge for the District 7 position. “People have a tendency to vote the way they always have or the way a [family member] tells them to, especially older voters.”

Throughout the race, Hart challenged Sandridge’s record within the community, calling for voters to select a candidate who would be responsive, accessible, and amicable. Sandridge countered with charges that Hart’s campaign was financed by white businessmen intent on unseating him to further their own agendas.

Financial-disclosure statements, due a week before the election or 45 days afterward, do in fact show a contribution from real estate developer Henry Turley. But there is also a contribution from Ruby Wharton, wife of Shelby County mayor A C Wharton, along with contributions from other somewhat lesser-known Memphians. A day before the election, Sandridge had not submitted his statements to the Election Commission. Officials said there is no enforced penalty for late filing.

Whoever wins the district seat will have to contend with the unmet needs of children in the area. A special report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation this week found that almost one in three Memphis children live in poverty. The report also found that almost two out of three urban children live in families that spend 30 percent or more of their income on housing.

In other school-system news, the defamation lawsuit against the school board was dropped by plumbing contractor Willie Nelson. Nelson’s company was chosen as the subcontractor by general contractor Inman-Beers for work at Germanshire Elementary School.

“We firmly believe that Mr. Nelson’s case was devoid of any merit whatsoever,” said a written statement by MCS board attorney Percy Harvey. “If the plaintiffs had not capitulated, we are confident that the court would have granted a motion to dismiss, thereby exposing them to possible sanctions. Nevertheless, we are pleased that this case is over and that our clients are vindicated.”

Nelson filed the suit after board members and a consultant said Nelson’s plumbing work might have been the cause for the school’s sinking. The suit had asked for $100 million in damages. •

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

Alberto Gutierrez takes over as the new general manager of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (MSO) on January 3rd. Hiring the former San Antonio Symphony operations manager is the latest step in a series of changes that have been planned since last spring.

Other recent changes include the signing of a new contract for the group’s 79 musicians, perhaps the most important aspect of the symphony’s survival. The new contract, signed earlier this month, is a one-year deal guaranteeing a 4 percent salary increase for the 2004-2005 season. Under the new contract, the symphony’s 34 full-time musicians will make at least $21,318 annually, with principal section leaders paid about $3,500 more. The remaining 45 musicians, who are paid per performance, will receive up to $107 for concerts and rehearsals.

Negotiations for the musicians, handled by representatives of the Memphis Federation of Musicians Local 71, were “amicable,” said MSO executive director Ryan Fleur. “The core orchestra salary is low compared to peer cities like Charlotte, Nashville, and Indianapolis, where core members make about $31,000 to $35,000,” he said. “We would love to be able to bring musicians’ salaries in line with these cities, but the salaries are based on what we feel the organization can handle.”

In 2001, Nashville symphony musicians signed a six-year deal guaranteeing its 84 full-time orchestra members a base salary of $30,769 for 40 weeks of work, with additional 5 percent raises each year. Before the deal, full-time orchestra musicians in Nashville were paid about $26,000 for 39 weeks of work. The raises were made possible by endowment campaign efforts which raised more than $20 million.

“Our number-one priority was money,” said union secretary/treasurer and MSO violinist Laurie Pyatt. “Right now we feel that we’re working the schedule of a major orchestra, and we’re not getting paid anything like a full-time job. The schedule makes it difficult to work another job. We’ve got to find a way to fix the problem.”

In addition to salary increases, the musicians included insurance demands in their negotiating package. Currently, only core musicians are eligible for the medical insurance package partly funded by MSO. According to Pyatt, the musicians were unable to reach an agreement making the insurance eligible to all 79 orchestra members.

“Previous contracts have been for longer periods than just one year,” said Pyatt. “As players, if we think that we can do better with longer contracts we go for longer [periods], but right now we’re just waiting to see what will be the result of this planning process. Hopefully some things will change.

MSO’s overhaul also involves ways to increase overall symphony funding, said Fleur, who was hired 15 months ago to create and implement the plan’s three components: orchestra utilization, promotion to constituents, and definition of the orchestra’s future level of excellence. Some areas are expected to be implemented as early as next spring, with personal invitations and letters sent out to contributors and season ticket holders. MSO administrators also plan to involve audience members in focus groups and town hall sessions to discuss other changes.

“Memphis can afford a symphony. The question is, can we build a base of support that is willing to pursue what’s needed to make that happen,” said Fleur. “For example, the whole community perceives the zoo with a sense of pride after the acquisition of the pandas. We need to find our pandas.”

The symphony, which is funded by large donations, ticket sales, and individual gifts, has secured an anonymous $300,000 matching gift over a three-year period. The challenge now is raising an additional $100,000 each year in matching funds.

“People don’t always think about the other things that a symphony brings to a city besides music,” said Fleur. “It brings an audience, talent, and, most importantly, skilled and experienced teachers in our schools and universities teaching music.” n

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

“When did our society get smarter than God?” asked Peabody Elementary School teacher Terrence Brittenum, referencing the biblical foundations for corporal punishment.

Brittenum and other corporal-punishment proponents watched in amazement on Monday night as the disciplinary policy fell by a vote of 5 to 4 in favor of alternative methods to begin July 1st of next year. The vote came after 10 months of debate between current board members, board candidates, and numerous articles, opinions, and studies by nationwide advocates. For Lora Jobe, the resolution’s author and departing school-board member, the vote was a “victory for children.”

“After so many years on the board,” said Jobe, “I continue to be optimistic about change. To the proponents of corporal punishment, I say let’s be forward-thinking. It’s like using a medical model: You want the best treatment that is readily available right now, not what was good years ago.”

Board member Deni Hirsh also dispelled two long-held but mistaken tenets of the plan that had been lauded by proponents. “If you look at the current policy, nowhere does it say that parents are allowed to opt out or that corporal punishment will be used as a last resort,” said Hirsh. The original policy was adopted in 1958 and revised in 1982 and calls for other punishment to be tried before resorting to paddling. It does not specify that paddling be used only as a “last resort,” as had been touted by Commissioner Wanda Halbert and others.

Board member Sara Lewis, adamant about abolishing the policy, vowed to submit “no spanking” letters to principals at the schools of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A former school principal, Lewis spoke about the negative effects of paddling. “To whip or not to whip, that is the question,” she said. “We are breeding a generation of ‘super predators’ who are not afraid of anything. They take a whipping and say, ‘So what?’ We’re demeaning our children and making them hostile. We can do something else.”

Until Monday’s resolution can be implemented, teachers are still allowed to use corporal punishment as a method of discipline. Alternative methods, specifically Superintendent Carol Johnson’s proposed Blue Ribbon Behavior Plan, will immediately be transitioned into schools.

While corporate punishment monopolized discussion at the more than five-hour meeting, commissioners revisited other issues such as new schools and city/county mergers.

Johnson and staff members presented a report outlining the district’s needs for the next five years. The plan was part of a required report due to Shelby County mayor A C Wharton by December 1st. According to the report, MCS staff has begun assessing underused schools for mergers and closures, new schools, and school maintenance and improvements.

The plan calls for a new middle school in Cordova’s Berryhill annexation area and an elementary school in Cordova. The schools are necessary to stem the overflow of students in annexed areas of the city. “We have about 278 portable [buildings] in the district, and Kate Bond Elementary [in a newly annexed area] has 15. These proposed schools were placed in these areas for a reason.”

The working document will continue with assessments of other areas within the district, including Southeast Memphis, an area also in need of new schools. •

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com