Tag: A C Wharton

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After Early Openness, Mayor Adopts Policy of Wariness on Details of Lipscomb Crisis

CREDIT: JB

JB

Wharton surrounded by reporters on Thrsday

As the Robert Lipscomb crisis wears on, Mayor A C Wharton — who was reasonably forthcoming in a Wednesday-morning interview with the Flyer — has begun a new policy of responding to inquiries with a wariness that he puts forth as conforming to legal scruple.

He gave a demonstration of the policy as he was surrounded by reporters Thursday morning as he left a meeting room at the Convention Center during a break in the action of the National Conversation about Prosperity which he is hosting.

Even as reporters began to sally forth their questions, Wharton began with a dose of caution regarding the matter of how he weighed a Seattle accuser’s allegations of sexual abuse that in fairly short order led to city czar Lipscomb’s dismissal from city service.

“I will not touch on the evidence, not at all,” the Mayor said, acknowledging a legal presumption of Lipscomb’s innocence of misdeeds “until proven guilty” but saying that he had acted in accordance with “the welfare of this city,” and that, “I will do what is necessary to protect this city.”

Asked what transpired when he first confronted Lipscomb about the Seattle man’s accusations, Wharton said, “I declined to comment on it when I was asked about it before, and I’m not gong to comment on it. It’s an investigation. One’s action or reaction n cold become an issue in the courts, and I’m not going to comment on it.”

References to an ongoing “investigation” are now the Mayor’s inevitable response to most questions that probe into the heart of the matter. Elaborating, he said, “I don’t jump into criminal matters. It goes through the Police Department. The only reason I was in on the front of this one was because a call came in to me personally.”

This was a reference to the Seattle man’s telephone call to the Mayor of Thursday, August 21, that triggered his prompt dispatching of Police Director Toney Armstrong and other officers to the Washington city to hear out the accuser in person.

Both the Mayor and other city officials have talked about the emergence of at least 9 other accusers besides the Seattle man who have surfaced since the Lipscomb story broke early in the week — an echo of what happened when entertainer Bill Cosby began to be accused of raping various women.

The difference is that all of Cosby’s accusers went on the record and have been promptly identified as to their names and the circumstances of their accusations. In the Lipscomb case there have been no details at all as to who the accusers are, where they are located, and what they say happened to them or when.

Asked for such details on Thursday, the Mayor went to his mantra: “That gets into the investigation.”

One question Wharton dismissed with a point blank answer of sorts. Asked about allegations made by the Seattle accuser in an interview with local FOX-13 television that the city had made promises to him of “compensation,” the Mayor said, “I will say no to that.

He said that all that had been proffered to the Seattle man was available to all of “those who think they were victimized,” and that was access to the city’s Crime Victims’ Assistance Center. “And that’s it.”

Meanwhile, fragments of information about the Seattle accuser are coalescing into the portrait of a man whose probity is beginning to come under question.

For details of our own extended conversation with the accuser, “Lipscomb’s Accuser Speaks to the Flyer” go here.

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Lipscomb Update: Wharton Taps New Leaders for HCD, MHA

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton appointed an interim director of the office of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to replace former director Robert Lipscomb, who resigned Monday on a sex crime allegation. Wharton also recommended an interim executive director for Lipscomb’s the position at the Memphis Housing Authority (MHA).

Wharton appointed HCD deputy director Debbie Singleton to lead up that organization. He has recommended Maura Black Sullivan, the city’s deputy Chief Administrative Officer, to temporarily lead MHA.

“Recognizing the significant role HCD and MHA play in the growth and development of our City, a smooth transition is imperative,” Wharton said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “For this reason, I am appointing deputy director Singleton to be interim lead of HCD, and I have asked the MHA board to appoint Mrs. Sullivan interim executive director until new directors are appointed to lead each organization.”

Singleton has been at HCD for 20 years. She’s worked on projects ranging from Peabody Place, Sears Crosstown, the redevelopment of the Pyramid, the Fairgrounds redevelopment, the Overton Square parking garage, and AutoZone Park.

Sullivan is a longtime member of Wharton’s executive team. Before that she was deputy director of Planning and Development for Memphis and Shelby County, an assistant superintendent of Planning and Student Services for Shelby County Schools, a special assistant for the Congressman Harold E. Ford Jr, and as a family court mediator for the Shelby County Juvenile Court.

Sullivan’s position will be voted on by the MHA during their meeting tomorrow morning. 

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News The Fly-By

City Agencies Help Memphians Cool Off

CREDIT: Jimdelillo | Dreamstime.com

“It’s not the heat. It’s the humidity.” There’s a phrase Memphians have heard a million times. But here lately, it seems the heat and the humidity have teamed up for an especially brutal summer.

Temperatures in July were scorching but averaged only slightly above the average high for the month of 92 degrees. With temperatures peaking at 99 degrees, as seen on July 29th, the humidity and temperature have been combining for heat indexes (what it actually feels like outside) as high as 108 degrees. And temperatures are forecast to remain in the 90s for the foreseeable future.

Jimdelillo | Dreamstime.com

“We do have an increase in heat-related emergencies in the summer, specifically June and July,” said Lieutenant Wayne Cook of the Memphis Fire Department. “These calls come in for a number of causes, such as overheating when exercising or working on jobs or simply from people outside doing lawn care.”

The fire department received about 60 heat-related emergency calls in June, but in July that number more than doubled to around 130, according to Cook.

Shelby County reported four “probable” heat-related deaths as of July 30th. This number is up from last year’s fatality total of two. None were reported in 2013. The heat also killed a dog last week, after it was left in its owner’s car at Wolfchase Galleria for hours. The car’s windows were cracked, but that didn’t help on a day when the heat index reached 112.

“Make sure to stay cool and hydrated, especially during the middle of the day when it is the hottest,” said Elizabeth Hart, public health information officer for Shelby County. “And don’t ever leave pets and kids inside the car for any length of time.”

On July 13th, Memphis Light, Gas, & Water (MLGW) implemented the Special Reconnect Program in which customers who are without one or more utility services can pay $250 plus a reconnect fee to reestablish service. As of August 3rd, 444 customers have taken advantage of this program.

MLGW doesn’t disconnect service for certain groups of people, such as the elderly and those with physical disabilities, on days when the heat index reaches 95 degrees.

A C Wharton’s office has opened cooling centers across the city when the heat index has reached 105 degrees or if there is a great need. These centers, such as the Orange Mound Community Center, typically remain open until 8 p.m., when any high temperatures will have passed. This summer, the Memphis Area Transit Authority has provided transportation to the cooling centers for those who needed it.

In addition to all of these efforts, the fire department has also been going door-to-door when there is extreme heat to check on those in need. However, Cook says the responsibility to keep everyone safe falls on all Memphians.

“Conditions can change from one minute to the next. It is important to check on those who are most vulnerable, such as the elderly and children,” said Lt. Cook. “Staying indoors in an air-conditioned space for only two hours a day can make a difference.”

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News The Fly-By

Plan Outlines Need For Sidewalk Improvements

Walking in Memphis can be a treacherous — even dangerous — endeavor, and that’s just not because of the heat or the crime. It’s also because of the sidewalks.

Almost all of Memphis’ 3,429 miles of sidewalks need repair, with a third of them requiring immediate repair. That’s according to a report issued last week that lays out the biggest challenges for the city’s sidewalk system.

The Memphis Pedestrian and School Safety Plan proposes spending $200 million over 20 years to fix city sidewalks and crosswalks. The plan prioritizes projects close to schools or in high-use areas; walkways that provide access to transit hubs, businesses, and attractions; and areas that have high rates of pedestrian crashes. 

“At the end of the day, we’re all pedestrians,” said Memphis Mayor A C Wharton. “The moment we get out of our cars to go in a store, take a walk to the park with our families, or step out of the office to grab lunch at the restaurant next door, we each expose ourselves to an environment that should be welcoming and safe.”

But many Memphis sidewalks are neither. “Crumbling or uprooted sidewalk panels” create tripping hazards and limit accessibility for people with disabilities, the study says. Utility poles and street signs block walkways and force pedestrians to walk in the roads. Too few crosswalks cause pedestrians to cross streets mid-block. 

Between 2007 and 2011, 1,725 car crashes involved pedestrians. Of those, 75 were fatalities, the study says. The pedestrian crashes occurred mainly in downtown and Midtown and frequently involved youth aged 10 to 19.      

Replacing all the city’s sidewalks would cost $1.1 billion, the study says. Just making all those “immediate repairs” would cost $363 million. To properly maintain existing city sidewalks would cost $19 million every year indefinitely. But since 2004, the city has spent an average of $33,400 ever year on sidewalk maintenance. 

“With a maintenance burden so vast, it has always been difficult to evaluate where the greatest needs for sidewalk repair or sidewalk improvements were at any given time,” said city engineer John Cameron.  

To pay for the program, the study suggests partnering with organizations like the Memphis Area Transit Authority, Memphis Light Gas & Water, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation to leverage grant funds.

The first phase of the proposed projects span the city in every Memphis City Council district and range in scope in size. One project would fix a Frayser sidewalk that stretches one-tenth of mile at cost of about $48,000. Another would build a new sidewalk in Whitehaven at a cost of about $1.3 million.  

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Wharton Wants Forrest Statue Removed From Park

Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Health Sciences Park

In one of the many reactions to the murders in the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting last week, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton announced Thursday that he wants the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest removed from Health Sciences Park.

The recent attention that has been given to the dismissal of the Confederate flag from state capitals since the shooting has put more pressure on Southern political leaders to make a statement on any remnants of Confederate history.

“We are simply saying that there might be a more appropriate place,” said Wharton. “In the case of the flag, put it in a museum. Don’t put it out in common places. You see, we all have t

o drive down Union Avenue. It’s a common, unavoidable place. If someone wishes to see that, then go over to the cemetery in the peace of solitude, tranquility, and reverence and do it there. What Americans would say, I’d like to have a picnic in the shadow Bedford Forrest?”

Forrest fought in the Confederate army and is declared by many as one of the original leaders of the Klu Klux Klan, although any public involvement with the group is harder to pin down. Both his and his wife’s bodies are buried near the statue in Health Sciences Park. Their remains were originally buried at Elmwood Cemetery, but they were moved to the park in 1904.

The call for the statue’s removal comes only two years after the name of the park itself was changed. In February 2013, the park was renamed from Forrest Park to its current name in a vote by the Memphis City Council.

The final decision on moving the statue and the bodies would have to be made by the Memphis City Council, making the Mayor’s declaration just a declaration. Any decision would have to come from the council and will likely receive much opposition from groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Wharton made it clear that removal of other Confederate symbols, specifically the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, around the city was a discussion for another day. His thoughts on the Forrest statue, however, according to the Mayor, are simple.

“We have an opportunity to just go ahead and remove this monument to a horrible time of the history of our state and nation,” Wharton said. “Let’s just do it.”

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Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Moving Downtown

Elaine Hare, executive director of Susan G. Komen Memphis-Mid-South

On October 31st, a projected 20,000 runners and walkers will take to the streets of downtown to raise awareness about breast cancer. The 23rd annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K is moving downtown after a two year run in Collierville at Carriage Crossing. Before settling in Collierville, the race was held in Germantown at the Shops of Saddle Creek for 20 years.

The announcement was made today at Raymond James tower downtown. Raymond James is a major sponsor for the event, and its Managing Director Jan Gwin said the race’s move to downtown will “significantly grow awareness and prevention of breast cancer.”

Mayor A C Wharton was on-hand at the conference, commending the move. He said he lost one sister to breast cancer and has another sister currently battling the disease.

“This is a rebirth. I can think of no better time. It’s spring. The birds are signing. The trees are budding, and guess what? Susan G. Komen is moving to Memphis, and they’re bringing downtown back to life again,” Wharton said.

The 5K race will begin and end at AutoZone Park, much like the annual St. Jude race series, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 31st. The course will run down Front and Riverside, though South Main, and past the FedFexForum. A post-race expo at AutoZone Park will feature the Bouffants. Race registration is already open.

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News The Fly-By

Private Donation Will Make City Summer Camp Free

CREDIT: Toby Sells

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton is already thinking about spring break and summer camp as he announced last Friday that the city and a private donor will help more kids stay busy in their idle days this year.

Wharton said Memphis businessman Avron Fogelman contributed an undisclosed amount of money to the city last week, enough to allow 1,500 Memphis children on public assistance to go to the city’s Summer Day Camp this year for free. 

Toby Sells

A C Wharton announces free summer camp plan.

The camp cost $81 for kids on public assistance last year. Covering those fees for 1,500 children would have cost $121,500. The regular rate for the seven-week camp was $162 last year.

Wharton said the donation was not solicited. Fogelman said his motivation was in recognizing the financial strain on cities these days and that “corporate world and public citizens need to step up” and give cities some help.

“I can think of nothing more important than finding ways for the youth of Memphis to be off the streets during the long, hot summers and to be able to be productive and accomplish things,” Fogelman said. “There’s nothing more important to me, in my stage in life, but the care of the youth and the generation yet to come.” 

Fogelman only hinted at the undercurrent of the announcement: keeping children occupied and out of trouble. Wharton hinted at it, too, noting that many of his news interviews are about “some unseemly thing young folks have done.” He said Fogelman’s commitment “made my year.” Wharton spent much of last year discussing a mob of teens beating people in a Kroger parking lot.

The Summer Day Camp is run by the city’s Division of Parks and Neighborhoods and held at 25 of the city’s community centers. From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., children can create arts and crafts, play sports, play music, and more. The camp is typically seven weeks long, but Wharton said he will expand the camp to eight weeks this year.

Parks director Janet Hooks said the camp’s total capacity is about 2,400 children. The camp costs the city $72,800 each week to run, she said. Wharton issued a challenge with the announcement, asking more companies and citizens to come forward and donate. Local companies Central Defense Security and the Daniel Law Firm already pay the fees for some children, city officials said. But Wharton said he wanted to be able to offer the program to every Memphis child on public assistance. 

“You’ve heard of Governor [Bill] Haslam’s plan so that every child who wants to go to college will be able to go,” Wharton said. “Well, if we don’t take care of them at this age, they will not be in a position to even consider going on to college.” Donations to the program can be made to the Division of Parks and Neighborhoods. For more information, call 576-4200.

Wharton also announced a new initiative that will, for the first time, open all of the city’s community centers during spring break this year and provide “wholesome, structured activities.”

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News The Fly-By

Wharton Priorities Revealed in State of the City Address

“Sound and strong.”  That’s the overall state of the city at the beginning of 2015, according to Memphis Mayor A C Wharton in his annual State of the City address last week. 

Wharton looked back at 2014 during his speech last Thursday at the Hattiloo Theatre but also gave Memphians a glimpse of his plans for the coming year.  

That year could be cut short for Wharton, of course, depending on the outcome of October’s mayoral election. So far, Wharton’s front-running opponent in the race is Jim Strickland, a Memphis city councilmember. 

Strickland formally rebutted Wharton’s speech after it concluded. He noted many here don’t feel safe in their communities and that, he said, “is the state of the city many of our residents are living through.” 

Nevertheless, Wharton has time on the clock as mayor, and here are his big three ideas for his time remaining:

1. Fighting Crime — In his speech, Wharton said he will emphasize “old-fashioned community policing and new, cutting-edge technology.”

On the old-school side, Wharton said he’ll activate neighborhood leaders, especially in areas with high violent crime, to work at the “grassroots level” to reduce crime. 

On the high-tech side, he said the city will add police car dash cameras, automatic vehicle location technology, and body cameras for officers this year. 

Also, new officers are on the way to move the Memphis Police Department ranks closer to the “optimal force of 2,500.”

“We have increased the budget for the Memphis Police Department by nearly $40 million. We have intensified our anti-gang programs. We have toughened sentences for violent crimes. We have targeted crimes in apartment complexes, and we are fighting gun crimes by young offenders,” Wharton said.

In Strickland’s speech, he said he would have a “100 percent commitment to Blue Crush,” work with state legislators to get higher penalties for violent criminals (and hold parents accountable for violent crimes committed by their children), and work with community leaders to help children “who are picking the wrong path.”

“Crime needs to be the absolute focal point for the future adminstration, and I will, like a laser beam, focus on that in the next four years,” Strickland said.

2. Minority Business — Wharton said it was “simply unacceptable” that only one percent of business receipts in Memphis are with minority businesses. 

To increase that number, he proposed a new division of city government, what he called the Division of Minority Business Services. The agency would “manage all city agencies and services related to minority businesses” and create partnerships with groups like Memphis Light, Gas and Water, the Memphis Area Transit Authority, and other agencies that receive city grants. 

“Our ultimate goal as a result is to put in place a process that is just as entrepreneurial as the entrepreneurs we hope to create and support,” Wharton said. 

But Strickland said Wharton already has this authority, and minority contracts have actually fallen during his term. 

“The mayor is the sole contracting authority for city government,” Strickland said. “That means he controls all contracts. They all have to come through city hall. Minority contracting with the City of Memphis has actually decreased over the last two years.”

3. Poverty — Wharton’s overall plan to fight poverty is to promote prosperity. 

His “Blueprint for Prosperity” was revealed in May and came with one major goal: to reduce poverty in Memphis by 10 percentage points in the next 10 years. 

The blueprint is a massive document designed by the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology. It is crammed with data and theory, but Wharton said last week that he will begin implementing the plan over the next six months.

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News The Fly-By

The Latest on Parking, Permits, and Sidewalks

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

Here’s an update on some of the stories that we began covering in 2014 and will continue to follow in the New Year.

• Overflow parking for the Memphis Zoo will continue on the Greensward at Overton Park for a period that could stretch until 2019.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said while his “clear preference” was not to use the space for parking, the experience of this past summer made it clear to him that the Greensward “will be an important relief for zoo parking until such time as a viable alternative is realized.” 

The news came in a letter from Wharton to Tina Sullivan, Overton Park Conservancy executive director, on Wednesday, December 31st. The sentiment is a complete departure from a Wharton letter in May that said the city was committed to eliminating Greensward parking by the end of 2014.

“We were very surprised and disappointed to receive this letter from the city a few hours ago,” read a Facebook post from Get Off Our Lawn, a group organized to fight Greensward parking. “The fight for a car-free Greensward continues.”

Going forward, Wharton wants zoo and park stakeholders to work together to develop a viable plan for parking that does not include the Greensward. 

He called Overton Park a “great treasure” and called the zoo a “tremendous asset.” Wharton wrote, “The city will allow parking on the Greensward, as may be absolutely essential to zoo operations, until a plan is implemented, [or] Jan. 1, 2019, whichever comes first.”

Brandon Dill

Naomi Van Tol and Stacey Greenberg protest Greensward parking.

• Special parking permits will be issued to some residents who live around the Overton Square entertainment district but not as many as originally thought. 

The move to start a special parking permit program there surfaced in April. Residents complained to Memphis City Council Chairman Jim Strickland that Overton Square visitors were blocking their driveways and alleys with their cars and sometimes even parking in their yards. 

The program was approved by the council in August. Petitions were sent to neighbors in the proposed new parking district, an area bound by Cox Street on the east, Morrison Street on the west, Union Avenue on the south, and Jefferson Avenue on the north. A section of Lee Place North was also included. 

If at least 75 percents of residents on the individual streets approve permit parking for their street, they would be placed in the special parking district and permits would be issued to them. 

In all, only 10 permits will be issued to residents on a section of Monroe Avenue between Cooper and Cox. The council approved those permits on an unannounced agenda item during its last meeting of 2014.  

“Basically, [Restaurant] Iris agreed to pay for half of the first-year of permits for 10 permitees who live on the street,” said councilmember Kemp Conrad. “The neighbors … and Iris have agreed to basically split the north side of Monroe in the middle of the street.”

• The moratorium on forcing residents to fix their sidewalks was extended in late December.

City officials began enforcing a long-standing rule last year to make homeowners either fix their sidewalks or be hauled into Environmental Court. 

The council passed a two-month moratorium on the enforcement of the rule in May. Once that expired, a six-month moratorium was approved. 

The council approved its latest moratorium to last either six months or until the Wharton administration officials could propose a viable alternative. City engineer John Cameron said he and his office are working on the project and should present an alternative to the council in the first two months of 2015.

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News The Fly-By

Memphis Rape Kit Fight Gets New Ally

Memphis law enforcement got a new national ally last week in its fight to clear the city’s backlog of untested rape kits while leaders here promised survivors they’d keep that fight alive.

Memphis Police Department (MPD) Deputy Chief Jim Harvey said last Thursday that the city still needs about $3.7 million to complete its rape kit testing project. 

The day before that, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced a new, $35 million fund to help cities like Memphis clear their backlogs. That fund will be the largest single donation to help clear the nation’s rape kit backlog, which the Department of Justice says includes more than 400,000 untested kits.  

The announcement from New York City came as a surprise to Memphis leaders even though Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance name-dropped Memphis in his national news conference announcing the fund.      

“What stands in the way of identifying the scope [of the untested rape kit backlog] across the country and then having local law enforcement testing them is, quite simply, money,” Vance said.  

The new funds come from money forfeited from national banks that violated U.S. sanctions in aiding rogue regimes across the world, Vance said, specifically pointing to Libya and Sudan.

Applications for the new funds will br available in the spring, and when they are, Memphis will be at the table, said Doug McGowen, director of the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team. Meanwhile, McGowen said the city will “leave no stone unturned” to find the resources to test the city’s rape kits. 

McGowen and Harvey both spoke last week in one of a series of events called “Sexual Assault Survivor Services: A Community Conversation.” 

The open meetings were mandated in an executive order by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton. He said during the meeting last week that rape is “a cancer that has to be wiped out.” He vowed to the small group gathered at First Baptist Church on Broad Avenue that he’d keep the process transparent.   

“If we find more, you’ll hear about them, as embarrassing as that may be,” Wharton said. “Hopefully, we’ve gotten all of them. But if not, and we find more, we’re not going to sweep it under the rug. We’re going to come right out and tell you that we found some more.”

Harvey likened the situation here to the Titanic. The Memphis media has portrayed it as a sinking ship, he said, but “we’ve sent the cameras down, and we’re pulling treasure out of the Titanic.” Clues are the treasures he said will lead his agency to arrest “hard-core criminals,” whose crimes likely go beyond rape.

“These are violent criminals,” he said. “It’s not about sex. It’s about violence.  So, if we can get one of these guys off the street, then we’ve stopped them from committing any number of other crimes.” 

Meanwhile, Congress is sitting on a $51.2 billion spending bill that includes $41 million for “a new community-based sexual assault response reform initiative.” Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) secured $5 million for the sexual assault program that appeared in versions of the bill that got approvals from House and Senate committees.   

The reform program would include funds for testing rape kits but also for the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault crimes, training law enforcement officers, and victim services. The program is intended to improve law enforcement’s response to sexual assault and services to victims.

A budget vote, which includes the rape kit funding, is one of several issues before the lame-duck Congress this week. The government faces another shutdown unless lawmakers can pass a budget or a stop-gap measure by December 11th.