Advertising executive Deidre Malone of Malone Advertising and Media Group has confirmed that she is in negotiation with representatives of the Memphis City Council to handle the “public information” campaign on three ballot referenda that a council majority has voted to fund to the tune of $30,000 to $40,000. 
Deirdre Malone
Malone, a former Shelby County commissioner, had previously announced her personal support for the referenda.
The council’s action, contained in a previously unannounced add-on resolution by Councilman/County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., was swiftly passed by an 5 to 3 margin Tuesday night, and immediately embedded in the public record by a “same-night minutes” motion from Ford.
The expenditure of public funds for a one-sided campaign on behalf of the referenda, sans benefit of mayoral approval or opportunity to veto, is the subject of an emergency hearing for a temporary injunction and restraining order against it, set for later Friday in the courtroom of Chancellor Jim Kyle.
