Shelby County clerk Jane Creson swears in new Shelby County commissioner George Flinn on Wednesday.
Dr. George Flinn, who owns two successful careers already, wouldn’t take No for an answer in his quest for a third. And the members of the Shelby county Commission rewarded the physician/businessman’s doggedness Wednesday by electing him to their ranks.
Flinn, who ran unsuccessfuly for county mayor in 2002 and for the Memphis city council in 2003, was the second-ballot winner over three other contenders for the right to succeed Linda Rendtorff, now director of county services.
Businessman/developer Billy Orgel was closest behind Flinn and led the voting on the first ballot, with five votes. Flinn had three, and so did Wyatt Bunker. Karla Templeton, daughter of Commissioner John Willingham, had one vote — her father’s.
On the second go-round, with Templeton eliminated, Willingham cast his vote for Flinn. Also shifting to Flinn were Deidre Malone and Cleo Kirk, who had been with Orgel in Round One, and Joyce Avery, who had voted for Bunker the first time around.
Those four votes, added to Flinn’s original contingent — David Lillard, Bruce Thompson, and Julian Bolton — made seven, a majority.
Besides Avery, Bunker’s first-round voters were Marilyn Loeffel and Joe Ford. The other first-round Orgel voters were Tom Moss, Walter Bailey, and chairman Michael Hooks.
