Council chair Berlin Boyd responds to Willie Herenton’s claims of conspiracy.
Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd called former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s recent claims that a question on the November 6th ballot is intended to keep him from running for mayor next year “fictitious” during a Thursday morning press conference at city hall.
Herenton said Wednesday that the ballot question that could allow the mayor and council members to serve three consecutive terms is “deceptive” and “fraudulent.”
In April, Herenton, who served as mayor from 1992 until 2009 announced his plan to run for mayor in 2019. Wednesday the former mayor said that the ballot language was intended to prevent him from running.
The language that the council approved in January says that a person would be ineligible for a council seat or the office of the mayor if they have served “at any time after Dec. 31, 2011, more than three consecutive four-year terms.” But, after the former mayor announced his candidacy in April, his lawyer said that the time stipulation was removed, making Herenton ineligible to run.
However, Boyd said this was “unintentional,” saying it was a drafting error on the part of council attorney Allan Wade and that “there is no hidden conspiracy.”
“While I maintain the utmost respect for the nearly two-decades legacy of service former Mayor Willie Herenton provided to the city of Memphis, as I said to him directly, there was no attempt by myself or anyone else to block him or any other potential candidate from seeking any office,” Boyd said.
View the full press conference below.
Council Chair: Herenton’s Conspiracy Claims ‘Fictitious’
