Tag: City Council

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Election 2023: Last Gasp

Fatigue clearly shows on the faces of these mayoral candidates at a late forum — (l to r) Floyd Bonner, J.W. Gibson, James Harvey, Michelle McKissack, and Paul Young. (Photo: Jackson Baker)

As would be indicated by the collaborative content shared by the Flyer and MLK50 in this joint issue, public safety has clearly been the predominant topic in the 2023 Memphis mayoral race.

The four leading mayoral candidates have been quoted at length on the matter, but all the candidates have weighed in repeatedly on crime, its consequences, and methods for dealing with it.

Proposals have ranged from the obvious — more community policing and upgrading the MPD — to an ambitious call for a “crime summit” to a somewhat fringey proposal by one candidate to negotiate directly with gangs, presumably so as to cut deals with them.

Uniquely, this is the first mayoral contest in Memphis history in which all of the 17 candidates, including those acknowledged to be serious prospects for winning, are African-American.

That fact — which reflects the demographic nature of Memphis itself — coupled with what several polls have indicated is an extremely close contest, suggests that a revision may be overdue for the judicial settlement of 1991, which prohibited runoff voting in the mayor’s race. At the time, it was feared that a runoff would invite stacked opposition from whites to preclude a Black from winning.

In what amounted that year to a two-man winner-take-all race with a token third opponent, former schools superintendent Willie Herenton won a hairs-breadth victory over incumbent Dick Hackett, inaugurating a new era of Black prominence in city government. 

Since then, only a plurality — like the one achieved by white councilman Jim Strickland in a multi-candidate race in 2015 — has been necessary for one to be elected mayor. (Strickland would be reelected with a majority over two opponents in 2019.)

But if racial factors in citywide elections (and countrywide ones, for that matter) have largely become irrelevant, the unspoken barrier to female candidates — the so-called “glass ceiling” — remains unbroken. The 2023 mayoral field includes two well-credentialed women, state House Democratic leader Karen Camper and Memphis-Shelby City Schools board member Michelle McKissack. Both have had their moments, particularly in a pair of televised forums last week, but neither ranks high in the latest mayoral polls.

All the polls anyone has seen so far are unofficial, of course, but all have shown former Mayor Herenton either the leader outright or in the near vicinity of the lead.

Some of Herenton’s potential vote derives from the historical memory of Memphians, especially inner-city ones, but he may also be gaining adherents because of his hard-line position on crime, the theme of the day, and his stated resolve to bring back the data-based policing methods of Blue CRUSH, instituted during his own last couple of terms.

The public-safety issue is paramount also in the mayoral campaign of Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who boasts a 42-year record in law enforcement and his ability to deal with the issue “from Day One” of his inauguration.

Most reckonings by political observers see a hotly contested three-way race between Herenton, Bonner, and Paul Young, the Downtown Memphis Commission CEO, who hasn’t been off the clock, campaign-wise, since he announced his intention to run roughly a year ago. Young has accomplished some impressive fundraising and leads all other candidates in that respect, with Bonner a reasonably close second.

Former County Commissioner Van Turner, a former Democratic chairman who led the local NAACP in recent years and was prominent in the effort to remove Confederate statues from Downtown, had some early stumbles but has come on somewhat of late, especially in the wake of recent endorsements from labor organizations and from County Mayor Lee Harris, DA Steve Mulroy, Congressman Steve Cohen, and the current political star of stars, state Representative Justin Pearson, who received international attention for his prominence in anti-gun protests during the spring legislative session.

Reportedly, Pearson, via independent expenditures licensed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, is about to endow the cause with $100,000 for a last-minute ad blitz aimed at rousing local Democrats.

Like candidates Camper and McKissack, self-funding businessman/philanthropist J.W. Gibson did well in public forums last week, but in his case, as in theirs, it could be a case of too little, too late.

District 5 candidate Meggan Kiel at a meet and greet (Photo: Jackson Baker)

If female candidates are struggling in the mayoral race, they are more than holding their own in city council races. Indeed, it is theoretically possible for the council races to end with a female majority of one serving. And in tight multi-candidate races in districts one through seven, a runoff provision will mandate a majority winner and provide a second chance for some.

In council District One, incumbent Rhonda Logan is heavily favored over opponent Kymberly Kelley.

There are six candidates vying in council District Two, including Jerri Green, a former legislative candidate and current policy advisor to County Mayor Harris; ex-councilman and former Plough Foundation director Scott McCormick; and business consultant Marvin White.

District 2 council candidate Jerri Green campaigning for the legislature in 2021 (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Jerri Green (Photo: Kelly Roberts)

There are no fewer than three female candidates in council District Three — longtime activist Pearl Eva Walker, Kawanias “Kaye” McNeary, and Towanna C. Murphy — contending with veteran political figure Ricky Dixon and the Rev. James Kirkwood, a former ranking officer in the Memphis Police Department. 

District 3 council candidate Pearl Walker at Sidney Chism’s summer picnic event (Photo: Jackson Baker)

The two candidates in council District Four are not only both women, but both are also veterans of prior service on the council. Teri Dockery served as an interim council member during a vacancy, and Jana Swearengen-Washington is the incumbent. 

District Five boasts a trio of candidates, one of whom, Luke Hatler, is still a student at White Station High School. The other two candidates — Meggan Wurzburg Kiel and Philip Spinosa — are locked into a serious and costly mano-a-mano in which each candidate has raised resources of more than $100,000.

Seeking return to council is Scott McCormick (r), here with state Representative Mark White and campaign treasurer Nick Scully. (Photo: Jackson Baker)

Kiel, though a novice candidate for office, is no stranger to civic affairs. She was one of the founders of the progressive activist group MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope). Her opponent, Spinosa, is no newcomer, either. Elected to the council in 2015, he served part of a term and resigned to head up the Chairman’s Circle on the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce. He now works in logistics.

In one sense, the contest is a battle of initialized groups: MICAH vs. CAISSA, the latter being a PR group catering to centrist and right-of-center candidacies. There have been no direct encounters between the two candidates, and potentially volatile issues have largely been on the back burner, but Spinosa in a TV ad has accused Kiel of wanting to defund the police, a charge she has vehemently denied.

District Six is currently being served by incumbent Councilman Edmund Ford Sr., who is heavily favored over opponents Keith D. Austin II and Larry Hunter. 

Anyone looking at the crowded roster of District Seven candidates might assume it to be an available open seat, but, in fact, incumbent Michalyn Easter-Thomas is in good shape to repeat. The superfluity of challengers owes mainly to what was a lingering prospect that her status as an employee of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, an adjunct of city government, might cause her to be declared ineligible. Among those taking a shot at the seat are Edward Douglas, Jimmy Hassan, Jarrett “JP” Parks, Dee Reed, Austin Rowe, and Larry Springfield.

All of the candidates in the council district races just discussed, even those who are distinct underdogs, might be nursing hopes of winning in the runoff stage of the election, which does not exist for the mayor’s race nor for the Super District 8 and Super District 9 seats.

These are winner-take-all, and there are no second chances for second-place finishers.

In two of them — 8-1, held by JB Smiley, and 9-3, occupied by Jeff Warren — there are no other candidates besides the incumbent. And in two others, the incumbents — Chase Carlisle in 9-1 and Ford Canale in 9-2 — have opponents, newcomers Benji Smith in 9-1 and Brandon Washington in 9-2, with only remote chances of winning.

Super District 8, Position 2, is actually an open seat, though Marion LaTroy A-Williams is a perennial, and Davin D. Clemons is considered something of a fringe candidate. Janika White, who was runner-up to Steve Mulroy in the 2023 Democratic primary for district attorney general, is virtually a sure winner, having been hand-picked essentially by current incumbent Cheyenne Johnson, who opted out of a reelection effort.

The other Super District seat, for Position 3, is an open seat as well and boasts a genuine contest involving six contenders — the foremost ones being entertainer-activist Jerred Price, former District 7 incumbent Berlin Boyd, and consultant Brian Harris. Also in the race are Lucille Catron, Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Damon Curry Morris, and Paul Randolph Jr. 

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Politics Politics Feature

Same Plot, New Faces

Prospective council candidate Jerri Green (Photo: Community Legal Center)

As of last week, the City Council — after lengthy deliberations that ran way past the May 22nd date for pulling candidate petitions — finally mustered enough votes to declare district lines for the forthcoming city election.

And, basically, it’s a case of Meet the New Lines, Same as the Old Lines.

Which is to say, the council districts for the October 5th election conform to the same map that was redrawn for a special election in District 4 last November. Then-incumbent Councilwoman Jamita Swearengen had resigned the District 4 seat after winning election as Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk. She was succeeded by her sister, Jana Swearengen-Washington, who won the special election.

Shot down during the council’s regular meeting last week was a proposed new map that had garnered significant support and would have made major alterations, especially on the city’s eastern perimeter, where District 5, an area largely white in population that bridges Midtown and East Memphis, would have been reshaped to become even more accommodating to whites, including conservatives, while adjoining District 2 would have become Cordova-based and majority-Black.

The new plan was put forth by Darrick Harris, a community member of the council’s ad hoc reapportionment committee. A late-breaking shift of previously undecided council members against it left the old map in place when Councilman Chase Carlisle subsequently moved for “same night minutes,” a parliamentary device which sped up the process of formalizing the vote.

Some supporters of the defeated new map were outraged by the outcome. One of them was Lexie Carter, chair of the Shelby County Democratic Party. Carter had anticipated the creation of a specifically Cordova district in the manner of last year’s County Commission reapportionment. She indicated that she intended to file a protest at the council’s meeting next week, when, reportedly, the body will consider a final tweaking of boundaries.

Carter also defended her action and that of the local Democratic executive committee in recently withdrawing from what had been the party’s long-running litigation against several proprietors of sample ballots at election time, especially those who used the word “Democratic” or party images on their products.

“Let’s face it, that has always been part of the process,” she said of the balloters, who traditionally have charged fees of candidates wishing positions on their sample ballots, which were widely distributed, especially in the inner city.

• Meanwhile, the list of claimants to the District 2 seat continues to grow. Former Councilman Scott McCormick has drawn a petition for it, and Jerri Green, senior policy advisor to County Mayor Lee Harris, has confirmed her interest in the seat. Green, a Democrat, gave Republican state Representative Mark White a close run in 2020 for the District 83 state House seat.

Davin Clemons, a former Memphis policeman and the co-founder of Tri-State Black Pride, will apparently once again be an opponent of incumbent Councilman Edmund Ford Sr., having drawn a petition for Ford’s District 6 seat. Clemons ran against Ford in 2019 with the endorsement of Harris and said this week he hopes to have the county mayor’s support again this year.

As was the case four years ago, that race will likely reflect to some degree the ever-simmering antagonism between Mayor Harris and County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., the councilman’s son.

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Politics Politics Feature

POLITICS: Decisions, Decisions …

Mayoral candidate J.W. Gibson at last weekend’s Sidney Chism picnic (Photo: Jackson Baker)

Businessman J.W. Gibson is reportedly getting ready to retool his mayoral campaign with help from veteran political consultant Susan Adler Thorp. Polls indicate that Gibson’s campaign has never really gotten off the ground. Nor has his initial slogan suggesting that Memphis needs a “new tune.”

And the professional respect Gibson enjoys as a result of his long-term philanthropic and developmental activities has not been general enough to have earned him much name recognition with the public. Despite a distinguished and vaguely mayoral appearance, he has also struggled to stand out at the many collective forums and meet-and-greets he has been a presence at.

With just under four months left before election day, Gibson, who has abundant private resources, could still make an impact, but only if he finds a viable message and can popularize it. Almost uniquely in the crowded mayoral field, he has expressed openness to the idea of a possible property tax increase.

• Among observers who are closely following the mayoral race, there is a difference of opinion as to whether there are three main contenders so far — Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young, and NAACP president and former County Commissioner Van Turner — or four —those three, plus former longtime Mayor Willie Herenton.

Everyone acknowledges that Herenton, who has led at least one unofficial poll, has a dependable voting bloc, based on his long mayoral tenure and, especially, his precedent-establishing 1991 victory as the city’s first elected Black chief executive. Some wonder if his budget, expected to be minimal, will allow for a serious stretch run.

Bonner and Young won’t have such worries. Both have cash-on-hand holdings in the vicinity of half a million dollars. And Turner, whose purse at this point is roughly a third of that amount, has a long-established base of dependable supporters.

• As has long been expected, former City Councilman Berlin Boyd has pulled a petition to run for the open Super District 8, Position 3, seat held for the past two terms by Council Chairman Martavius Jones, who is term-limited.

Boyd’s name had also turned up on the petition list for Super District 8, Position 1 — something the once and possibly future councilman attributes to an error by one of his staff members. Boyd says he never had any intention of running against the 8-1 incumbent, JB Smiley, a friend, and he has done the paperwork to nullify that prospect. (He also denies a previously published report that he might take another crack at District 7, currently occupied by Michalyn Easter-Thomas, who in 2019 ousted then-incumbent Boyd in a runoff.)

Boyd has, however, considered the “back-up” idea of running for Super District 8, Position 2, a seat being eyed by several others, who take seriously a rumor that incumbent Cheyenne Johnson will not end up being a candidate for re-election. But, he says, “I’m 99 percent sure I’ll be running for Position 3.” Eight other people have so far pulled petitions for Position 3.

• The aforementioned Smiley is one of four current holders of super district seats who, as of early this week, did not yet have declared opposition. The other fortunate ones were Chase Carlisle in Super District 9, Position 1, Ford Canale in 9-2, and Jeff Warren in 9-3.

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Politics Politics Feature

Three on a Match

Activist Jerred Price (right) conducted a monster fundraiser at IBIS restaurant last week, and numerous supporters showed up for the event, which was broken up into a meet-and-greet and a concert, in which Price delivered his patented tribute to Elton John. With Price here are Thurston Smith (left) and Regina Morrison Newman (center). (Photo: Courtesy Jerred Price)

Although the Memphis city election of 2023 won’t take place until October, candidates are already fully extended in an effort to get their campaigns (and especially their fundraising needs) established and in order. This has been especially the case regarding the race for mayor, but it is evident in selected council races as well.

One of those races is the one for Super District 8, Position 3, which the term-limited Martavius Jones, currently the council chairman, is scheduled to vacate at year’s end. The District 8 position is one of the six at-large districts permitted by a judicial consent decree dating from the 1990s. In essence, a line was drawn bisecting the city, dividing Super District 8, a majority-Black district, from Super District 9, a majority-white area.

Each of the super districts has three positions, and there are six Super District seats altogether. Unlike the case of the seven smaller regular districts, runoffs are not permitted for the Super District races. They are winner-take-all.

Three candidacies are already fully launched for Super District 8, Position 3. The candidates are shown here.

Business consultant and community activist Brian Harris (center, with tie) hosted a campaign event for fellow Overton High School alumni (classes of 1995-1999) last Sunday at Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe on Union Avenue. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
FedEx executive and former City Councilman Berlin Boyd (here in a vintage photo with erstwhile council colleague Bill Boyd) is seeking a return to the council, where he served as a representative from District 7 from 2011 until his defeat by current Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas in 2019. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
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Politics Politics Feature

Giving It Another Try

Photo: Juan Moyano | Dreamstime.com

One of the best-known lines in American literature was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who famously opined, “There are no second acts in American lives.”

Well, there are. And one of those lives belongs to former City Councilman Philip Spinosa, who — after a stint with the Chairman’s Circle of the Greater Memphis Chamber and another spell with Prestigious Logistics, a company he founded — intends to run again for the council, presumably in District 5.

As a council member representing District 9-2 from 2015 to 2019, Spinosa concerned himself with issues of economic growth and crime and sponsored such legislation as the Neighborhood Sentinel Program, which established surveillance cameras in various neighborhoods and proved so crucial in the ongoing case involving the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of a police unit.

In addition to his prior service, Spinosa has the kind of economic connections that would ensure more than adequate financing for his campaign — a fact which will not be lost on potential opponents, who at the moment include well-known activist Meggan Wurzburg Kiel and restaurateur Nick Scott. Others known to be considering a race in District 5 include Anna Vergos Blair, daughter of former councilman and restaurateur John Vergos, and activist/entrepreneur John Marek.

Marek, who is also considering a race for Position 1 in Super-District 9, professes exasperation with the city council’s continuing delay in determining district lines for the forthcoming city election. Some of that hesitation apparently has to do with the view of some members that a 1990s judicial consent decree requires a charter amendment for certain outcomes, including one calling for single-member districts exclusively.

(At present, seven council positions are elected by a single district, and another six are elected in Memphis’ two “super districts,” each comprising approximately half the city’s population. Runoffs are permitted in the single districts, but not in the super districts.)

Two other former council members are apparently going to attempt returns to the city’s legislative body. Berlin Boyd, who served in District 7 and lost a runoff in 2019 to current seat-holder Michalyn Easter-Thomas, is considering a run for the Super District 8-3 seat being vacated by the term-limited Martavius Jones. And Scott McCormick, who represented Super District 9-1 in the first decade of this century, contemplates a race for District 2, now represented by mayoral contender Frank Colvett.

• Developer Chance Carlisle, whose brother Chase represents Council District 9-1, had strongly considered a race for mayor before deciding against it, but he still intends to have a major influence on public policy. His instrument for doing so will be via the medium of a soon-to-be-created political action committee (PAC).

Still to be named, the PAC will have a strong pro-business slant, said Carlisle, who recently was at loggerheads with city government over Mayor Jim Strickland’s reluctance to support further public financing for a proposed grand hotel on the riverfront.

The new PAC will support candidates in this year’s city election and will avoid any kind of partisan inflection, said Carlisle, who acknowledged that the recent announcement for mayor by Councilman Colvett, a well-known Republican, was a factor in his own decision not to run for mayor. That, plus another candidacy by former Mayor Willie Herenton, also recently announced, had the effect of creating possible cleavages in the electorate, said Carlisle.

“This election shouldn’t be about either political party or race,” said Carlisle, who stressed that affordable housing and better mass transit were two of the city’s most important unmet needs.

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Skaters, Clowns, and a Dashiki

Posted to Twitter by Tony Hawk

Memphis on the internet.

Tony and Tyre

Legendary pro skater Tony Hawk announced on Twitter last week that half the sales of a photo of himself and pro BMX rider Rick Thorne will go to the Tyre Nichols Fund. The fund will build a skate park in Nichols’ memory.

“He was a talented skater among other admirable traits,” Hawk tweeted. “Let’s keep his legacy alive.”

City Clowncil

Posted to Reddit by u/12frets

Performers with the UniverSoul Circus attended last week’s Memphis City Council meeting. But u/Sho_nuff_ wondered, “Why are the city council members sitting in the back row?”

Headline h/t to Shea Flinn.

Dashiki Shake-up

Posted to Twitter by Justin Pearson

Newly elected state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) induced ulcers in Nashville last week.

“We literally just got on the state House floor and already a white supremacist has attacked my wearing of my Dashiki,” Pearson tweeted. “Resistance and subversion to the status quo ought to make some people uncomfortable. Thank you to every Black Ancestor who made this opportunity possible!”

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Politics Politics Feature

Roadblock in Memphis Mayor’s Race?

Michelle Robinson McKissack (Photo: Facebook)

Complications have already set in regarding next year’s race for Memphis mayor, inasmuch as a ruling by Federal Judge John Fowlkes about a residential requirement in the city of Mason could affect the legality of races in Memphis, which has similar residential requirements. Neither would-be contestants Van Turner or Floyd Bonner at the moment has a Memphis residence.

And sexist talk by candidate Joe Brown at a weekend forum would seem to make it necessary that either Karen Camper or Michelle McKissack or both follow through with their mayoral plans.

Meanwhile, not the least interesting item on the November 8th election ballot is an amendment removing a restriction against ministers of the cloth holding office in the legislature. Given long-standing sentiment for dividing church and state, this one will doubtless require of voters some serious meditation — prayer, even.

Three other amendments are of more-than-usual interest. One, the “Right-to-Work” amendment would enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution the state’s existing bar against mandatory union membership. Business wants it. Labor doesn’t. Another amendment provides for the house speaker to assume the office of governor temporarily during an emergency. And another amendment abolishes explicitly the practice of slavery in any form.

Other matters of interest on the ballot include a governor’s race pitting GOP incumbent Bill Lee against Democratic hopeful Jason B. Martin and a whole squadron of Independents.

Of other competitive races, 8th District Republican Congressman David Kustoff and 9th District Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen face Lynnette Williams (D) and Charlotte Bergmann (R), respectively, plus a bevy of Independents in each case.

The state Senate District 31 seat is contested by well-heeled Republican Brent Taylor and Democrat Ruby Powell-Dennis. The district is heavily Republican but has been run close by Democrats.

Democrat London Lamar is favored in state Senate District 33 over Republican Frederick Tappan and Independent Hastina Robinson.

A special circumstance prevails in state House District 86, where Democrat Barbara Cooper, recently deceased, is pitted against Independent Michael Porter. If Porter should finish first, he wins the seat. If Cooper ends up ahead, the Election Commission will call a special election and permit new candidates to file.

State House District 95 sees GOP incumbent Kevin Vaughan challenged by Democrat Patricia Causey, and in state House District 97 incumbent Republican John Gillespie also has a Democratic challenger, Toniko S. Harris.

Memphis has a special election for City Council, District 4. Contestants are LaTonia Blankenship, Barry Ford, DeWayne Jackson, and Jana Swearengen-Washington. A vacancy exists for Municipal Court judge, as well. Vying for that position are Patience “Missy” Branham, Latonya Sue Burrow, John Cameron, Varonica R. Cooper, Lynnette Hall-Lewis, Latrena Davis Ingram, William “Bill” Larsha, Christine Stephens, and Carolyn Watkins.

Bartlett has a full slate of candidates in that city’s municipal election. For mayor: Steven Brent Hammonds, John Lackey, David Parsons, and Kevin Quinn. For alderman, position 1: Casper Briggs, Harold Brad King, Jimmy D. Norman, and Victor Read. For alderman, position 2: Robert Griffin, Stephen Spencer, Thomas Stephen Jr., and Brandon S. Weise. Paul Kaiser and David Reaves vie for position 3. Aislinn McEwen and Bryan Woodruff are contesting school board, position 4.

Collierville has aldermanic races, too. In position 1, William Boone vies with Maureen J. Fraser. In position 2, Jewel Jordan and Billy Patton compete. In position 4, the contestants are Emily Fulmer and Missy Marshall. Wanda Chism and Alissa Fowler are competing for school board, position 2. Position 4 on the board is sought by Keri Blair, Chelsea Glass, Heath Hudspeth, and Jeremy Smith.

Contested positions in Germantown are for alderman, position 1, with Manjit Kaur and Scott Sanders running. Daniel Chatham and Jeffrey Chipman are competing for school board, position 2, and Angela Rickman Griffith and Carrie Schween are vying for school board, position 4.

In Lakeland, Michele Dial and Connie McCarter are competing for commissioner, and Keith Acton, Laura Harrison, and Deborah Thomas are running for school board.

Millington has competitive races for alderman, position 3, with Chris Ford and Tom Stephens; school board, position 3, with Brian McGovern and Gregory L. Ritter; and school board, position 6, with Mandy Compton and Larry C. Jackson.

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Amid Shortage, Bill Filed to Allow Tennessee Police and Firefighters to Live Outside of Area of Employment

Tennessee first responders would no longer have to live in the city in which they work, if bill SB-29 passes. Presented by State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown), this bill would allow Tennessee to recruit talent from a much larger pool. Tennessee has already faced a police officer deficit, and Kelsey hopes that this will give a much-needed reprieve.

“This is a public safety bill. It will enable us to hire more police officers, which will help us fight our rising crime rates,” said Kelsey. “This bill will support our police and fire officers who keep us safe by allowing them to live where they choose.”

In Memphis, major violent crime rates are up 9 percent, and the city suffered from a record of over 300 homicides in 2020. In addition, a recent analysis by Drs. Richard Janikowski and Phyllis Betts of Strategic City Solutions revealed that the Memphis Police Department is understaffed by several hundred officers. In December, the Memphis City Council adopted a resolution acknowledging that the city is over 400 officers short of its hiring goal. “This bill addresses the needs of our local law enforcement and emergency services agencies, ensuring they have one of the most valuable resources — sufficient personnel — to protect our citizens and keep our communities safe,” said Representative Jerome Moon (R-Maryville), who is sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives. “Removing residency requirements will greatly expand the pool of highly qualified applicants.”

The measure has received broad support from legislators and community leaders throughout Shelby County.

“I strongly lend my support to this common-sense legislation,” said Senator Paul Rose (R-Covington). “Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel across our state are on the front lines protecting us every day. They need the support of all citizens and legislators, and I believe when this legislation is passed, the leadership of these departments will be enabled to hire the staff they desperately need.”

Lawmakers also hope that they will see a significant decrease in violent crime across the city.

“Reducing violent crime, public safety and safe streets are the No. 1 priority of the residents of Memphis,” said Representative Mark White (R-Memphis). “This legislation enables Memphis to have a fully staffed law enforcement agency to give us those safer streets.”

“Now more than ever, Memphis is in need of police officers to protect our community,” said Representative Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington). This piece of legislation will give more qualified men and women the opportunity to serve their neighbors and keep Memphis safe.”

In addition to increasing public safety, this measure will also save taxpayer dollars. Last fiscal year, the City of Memphis spent over $25 million on overtime pay for officers.

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Memphis City Council Members Approve CARES Act Funding

Memphis City Council reallocated $9.9 million of the city’s remaining CARES Act funding Tuesday but some disagreed on a residency requirement for some business owners.

The Trump Administration issued an extension on the funding, which was supposed to end December 2020, to the end of 2021. So, the city has more time to distribute the money to businesses, first responders, education, and more.

Shirley Ford, chief financial officer for the city of Memphis, asked to approve reallocation of that $9.9 million. Some of this money would be used for testing and administering the COVID-19 vaccine, while $2 million would go to hazard pay for level one employees from January through March.

An additional $1.2 million would be set for a stabilization grant for 78 business applications that includes some restaurants and other small businesses. She also asked for approval for $1 million to be added for an emergency relief program to be allocated through the vendor of council members’ choice.

“We approved $500,000 of the CARES Act funding that was allocated to businesses that may be located in Memphis but their owners reside outside of the city,” said council member Martavius Jones. “Of this $1.2 million and of the 78 applicants, are there any restrictions as to where the business owner lives?”

Ken Moody, special assistant to Mayor Jim Strickland, said the grant was for anyone who owned a business in the city of Memphis, no matter where they live. The previous CARES Act allocation to businesses limited grants to $120,000 for business owners who lived outside Memphis. Jones wanted to keep it that way in the current round of grant-making.

Only a total of 10 percent of the Memphis City CARES Act funding could go to counties outside of the city limits. This would mean that business owners who live in Shelby County would receive a fraction of that which those who live within Memphis city limits would. However, Shelby County received its own CARES Act funding for which they can apply.

Council member Chase Carlisle said this logic sounded “arbitrary.”

“The idea is to keep businesses open … it’s like we’re gonna punish someone because they don’t live here,” Carlisle said. “This program isn’t enriching somebody, it’s literally allowing them to keep their doors open so they can employ people in Memphis. So, where the owner resides has no impact on the restaurant operations for the retail operations in which we may employ people.”

Jones rebutted, “I was not elected by anybody outside of the city of Memphis. “So, my first priority will always be — and I will never make any apologies for advocating for — Memphis.”

Council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas supported Jones, noting it was a move to continue the process the council had already approved. Council member Dr. Jeff Warren worried it may hurt businesses and that “what was good for us then may not be good for us now.”

“It just makes sense to give it to them because we don’t have data … if that’s 40 percent people living outside of Memphis or 5 percent,” Warren said. “But we do know that they’re employing Memphians who are paying taxes.”

The committee voted against Jones’ grant-making procedure and the full council approved the overall reallocation of the $9.9 million in CARES Act funding.

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Drag Racing and Mufflers Drive the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee

The public safety and homeland security committee of the city council convened on Tuesday to discuss a myriad of public issues related to automobile ordinances in the city.

First on the docket was a resolution to accept and appropriate Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds for a backup generator at the Office of Emergency. The resolution passed with 7 yes votes and 6 abstains. The resolution will allow the movement of $238,500.

A majority of the committee’s time was spent discussing items two and three on the docket, an ordinance that would punish non-driver participation in drag racing, and an ordinance that would add fines and fees for muffler violations in the city. J. Ford Canale sponsored both ordinances.

Canale addressed the council citing a rise in “drag racing and reckless driving exhibitions” as proof of the need for a city-wide ordinance against passengers in drag racing. The three suggested ordinances are follow-ups to a bill that was filed by Senator Brian Kelsey at the start of the month to deter drag racing statewide. Through the city ordinance, the violation for being in the car with someone found to be drag racing or participating in reckless driving would elevate from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, equating in a shift from a maximum $50 fine to a maximum $2,500 fine.

“I think that we have all had our fair share of complaints from our constituents about the drag racing issue across the city,” Canale said. “No district, no neighborhood is immune to this. It’s dangerous, it’s reckless, it’s gonna cost lives if it continues, and generally, it’s just a public nuisance.”

Canale was frank in his criticism of reckless drivers in the city and appealed to his fellow council members to listen to their constituents before debate took place.

“I’m willing to bet all 13 of us have received numerous emails of complaining about drag racing, reckless driving, and also loud noises emitting from vehicles disrupting everyone’s quality of life. It’s not only dangerous to other drivers on the street, it’s dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists.”

 In 2020, 52 pedestrians have been struck and killed in Memphis, and there have been over 32,000 traffic crashes in the city.

Though most of the council was in favor of the ordinance, Councilman Martavius Jones questioned the fairness of levying fines against someone that was not directly involved in the act of drag racing.

“That’s problematic if I’m just sitting in the passenger seat. I realize that [the driver] is jeopardizing my life and there should be something that I say about that but for me, to ticketed and cited for that I do have some concerns about that part being included in,” Jones said.

The ordinance passed with 12 votes and one abstention.

Councilman Canale’s second ordinance, which would fine those found to be operating cars with tainted mufflers, was vastly more decisive. The debate began with Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas raised scrutiny on the price of the fine and whether the law would be fairly enforced by the Memphis Police Department (MPD) in the city.

“[Officers] would just be going off of supposed sounds and supposed sights to make the decision to pull somebody over to look at their muffler?” asked Councilwoman Easter-Thomas to the MPD representative Paul Wright.

Though Wright assured Easter-Thomas that MPD would be able to accurately distinguish those using modified mufflers, Easter-Thomas was not convinced.

“I understand the intent, Councilman Canale, from citizens who may have called from noise, but as we are a metropolitan city. We’re not gonna be free from noise. I’m having trouble because it just seems as though this will increase pulling over, let me make an assumption and say, Black and brown men in the city.”

Canale countered arguing that the MPD has decibel readers as well as the knowledge to decipher the difference between modified and correctly functioning mufflers.

“This is not an attempt to pull anybody over,” said Canale, “but we all know there is a distinct difference between somebody that has a muffler cutout, that has cut their muffler off, and someone that operates with a normal compliant muffler system.”

Councilman Jones also brought up concerns around the ordinance citing that some cars maybe have disproportionately loud mufflers that could lead to Memphians with said cars being pulled over at higher rates.

“You can tune what or how loud an exhaust may be. As I’m reading this I can have a factory automobile but if I happen to have a sports car or a Mustang or a Charger or a Camaro my muffler is still in good working order but I still run the risk,” Jones said. “I may not have altered my automobile what so ever besides the adjusting what the sound of the exhaust is but am I subject to being pulled over for that?”

Councilman Chase Carlisle took a neutral stance in the debate ultimately siding with but Canale and Easter-Thomas.

“I want to be able to hold people accountable,” said Carlisle, “but sending someone that had a broken muffler or rusted-out muffler or didn’t have the money to fix it, then a court appearance and they get assessed $250 in court fees is a little problematic.”

The ordinance did not pass in a 6-5 vote with two abstentions. The council will meet in the new year to follow up on the ordinances that passed.