With an emotional assist on Thursday from the widow of his onetime coach Larry Finch, former University of Memphis basketballer and current aide to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland Ken Moody formally launched the greatest gambit to date of his governmental career — an electoral bid for the office of Shelby County Mayor.
Introducing Moody to a crowd in the lobby of Hattiloo Theater, Vicki Finch said, “You’re gonna love the things Kenny Moody has done, because he doesn’t spotlight himself. … He goes out there, and he does what he has to do for the community.”
One of the things Moody had done, she confided, was to provide comfort and aid during her iconic husband’s final illness. “When I was at my lowest, he was one of those people who came to my rescue. Once Larry had failed, I didn’t call for him. I didn’t ask for help. I had no idea that he would be the one to come and say this thing: ‘What do you need? What is there that I can do to help you?’”
Beginning his own remarks, Moody said, “Thank you very much, Ms. Finch. I knew when I asked you to introduce me, it would be emotional.” Responding to a tribute she had paid to his sense of religion, Moody said he didn’t know how things took place in Heaven, “but I know right now my mom and Coach Finch are in conversation.”
Moody reviewed his own personal journey from a “humble beginning in a single-parent home” to opportunities he would have in maturity to work as a significant aide in both the Herenton and Strickland city administrations. “I have developed an experience and skill set that has allowed me and prepared me for this moment in time.”
His “front row seat in city government,” he said had made him aware of “a lack of governmental cooperation and support coming from county government.” That failure of partnership applied to relations with the county’s other municipalities as well as to Memphis itself, he said.
“That does not exist. We gotta have it. You’re gonna have that with me as your county mayor.”
He alluded to the county’s problems last year on the health-care front. “You saw what happened with the vaccination. I mean, they failed, they failed totally. It showed a lack of leadership.”
With County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., who has an ongoing feud with Mayor Lee Harris, among his onlookers, Moody criticized what he said was the incumbent’s failure to mesh with his “legislative department.” He said, “They’re the ones that are to help him move Shelby County forward. And you can’t have an antagonistic relationship where you have got to have a solid relationship.” He promised to have a better relationship with the Commission.
In a question-and-answer session after his remarks, Moody, who will run, along with Harris, in the Democratic primary, was asked if his candidacy might have a divisive effect on the county’s collective Democratic effort.
“The democratic process gives people a choice. We’re just giving them a choice,” he replied.
City Councilman Worth Morgan has previously announced a candidacy for County Mayor as a Republican.
