MLGW president Jerry Collins said Memphis City Council member Janis Fullilove was “unprofessional” when she called him a “liar” in a meeting two weeks ago.
Fullilove and council member Wanda Halbert said they were not invited to meet with Collins before a recent vote on a big MLG&W contract. Collins said at the time that he tried to meet with all 13 council members.
This drew the ire of Fullilove who “called me a liar in front of everyone attending and watching the city council meeting,” Collins said in a Monday letter to city council chairman Jim Strickland and council member Myron Lowery.
Collins presented older emails that show he did try to set up meetings with Fullilove, Halbert, and council member Lee Harris on two separate occasions. Collins said he never received a response to his invitations.
“As you can see, there were four attempts to schedule meetings with these three city council members and there was no response to any one of the four emails,” Collins said in his Monday email. “Therefore, you can understand that I was surprised and disappointed by Councilwoman Fullilove’s accusation. Her accusation was, in my opinion, unprofessional and untrue.”
Collins’ letter was forwarded by Lowery to city council members and city hall staffers with an apology.
“On behalf of the council, please accept our apology,” Lowery wrote to Collins Monday. “Everyone who comes before the council should be treated with dignity and respect. We have discussed this in the past and will try to ensure that it does not occur again.”
