There have been many, many forums so far, involving
candidates for mayor and the various city council positions.
Almost all of them follow the same formula: opening
statements, policy positions stated in response to generalized questions in
specific subject areas like crime, education, economic development, than a
standard vote-for-me close.
Retired businessman Lester Lit broke new ground at a League
of Women Voters forum for District 9 candidates Monday night. Not only did Lit,
a candidate for District 9, Position 3, criticize an opponent at length and by
name, he used the entirety of his opening and closing statement time to do so.
Lit devoted his one-minute opening time to an attack on
Reid Hedgepeth as lacking qualifications to serve. Then, flanked by fellow 9, 3
candidates Mary Wilder, Desi Franklin, and Boris Combest, Lit used the
two-minute period allotted him for a closing statement to say this:
“…There really is an 800-pound gorilla in this room, and
he’s not here tonight. His name is Reid Hedgepeth, and I’m going to tell you
right now, with the backing that young man has, he could very well win this
election, and that upsets me. I’m mad as hell to think that he could, because we
have four very qualified candidates on this panel here tonight, and I’d feel
very good if any of the four could serve as your representative on the next city
council. I would not feel too happy if Reid Hedgepeth serves as my representative
on the City Council.“He has been to no forums. He has been to no neighborhood
associations. He is maintaining his campaign strictly with a hundred-thousand
dollar budget on TV and slick mailers that he sends out, such as this one right
here [brandishing a mailout flyer], which is — this is not even a picture
of Memphis — this is Detroit that they’re using pictures of to mislead you…. Y’all
were nice enough to come out this evening to try to learn about the candidates.
I think you need to go one step further and educate yourself about the missing
candidate, the one that I’m afraid could steal this election because of
financial backing that he has.“I forgot to mention in my opening that not only has he
never voted in a city council race in his life, he also made two separate
donations to Rickey Peete two years after the last city election. So you do
your homework. If you want to vote for one of us, you’ll get a good council
person. Let’s not make any more mistakes. We’ve had enough mistakes. Let’s not go down that road anymore.”
