Tag: city of Memphis

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Journalist Sues City for Body-Cam Footage of “Taser Face”

CREDIT: Marc Perrusquia/Twitter

Marc Perrusquia/Twitter

A Memphis journalist is suing the city of Memphis for access to body-camera footage from a Memphis Police Department (MPD) officer.

Newspaper veteran Marc Perrusquia teamed with the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) in the suit filed Monday in Shelby County Chancery Court. In the suit, Perrusquia claims the city’s refusal to release the footage violates the Tennessee Public Records Act.

“The city of Memphis’ refusal to release the bodycam footage requested by our client raises serious transparency concerns,” said Paul McAdoo, the Reporters Committee’s Local Legal Initiative attorney in Tennessee. “Public access to police bodycam footage is a crucial aspect of police accountability.”

Perrusquia, who leads the Institute of Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis, first asked for the body-cam footage in July 2020, according to the RCFP. He sought footage from three separate incidents of alleged use of excessive force by MPD officer Colin Berryhill. The officer earned the nickname “Taser Face” for multiple uses of his electroshock Taser gun, according to Perrusquia’s July 2020 story about Berryhill in The Daily Memphian.

City leaders denied Perrusquia’s request for the footage because “no responsive records exist at this time due to an administrative investigation.” According to the RCFP, this came despite the fact that the city said in a publicly released case summary that the investigation had been closed.

McAdoo, Perrusquia’s attorney, wrote to the city’s chief legal counsel, Jennifer Sink requesting the body-cam footage, the RCFP said. Sink said in a phone call that the records were exempt from disclosure because an internal MPD investigation could lead to criminal charges against Berryhill.

Perrusquia’s legal argument that there is no exemption for such adminstrative investigations and no body-camera-specific exemption apply. The suit also charges that since there’s no pending criminal action against the officer, the records aren’t exempt under state law.

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MEMernet: Snowplow Edition

CREDIT: Memphis International Airport/Instagram

Memphis International Airport/Instagram

Your up-North friends have made fun of you by now.

They ask, “where are your snowplows? We say, “we don’t have any.” It’s not even a laugh, really, it’s a guffaw. Then, we explain that we do have trucks with plows on them. They snort.

MEMernet: Snowplow Edition

Then, we explain that we never get snow like this and keeping snowplows around just isn’t a prudent way to spend precious tax money. Then, they look at us like the high school senior who spent his college money on a sports car.

Well, the collective “we” may not have snowplows but you can bet your bottom share of FedEx Corp. that Memphis International Airport has snowplows. Here’s one at work Thursday morning. (Watch this to the end for a satisfying thump of snow.)

MEMernet: Snowplow Edition (2)

Here’s the whole squad of airport snowplows at work Tuesday.
 

MEMernet: Snowplow Edition (3)

Wonder what it’s like driving one of those bad boys?

MEMernet: Snowplow Edition (4)

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Leaders Aim to Cut Food Waste by 2030

CREDIT: Kroger

Kroger

Justin Fox Burks

Food waste is in the crosshairs of city officials and local environmental leaders with a plan to reduce it by 50 percent by 2030.

The Memphis Food Waste Project is led by the nonprofit Clean Memphis and joined by a coalition of private and public partners, including the City of Memphis, the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Sustainability and Resilience, Memphis Transformed, Project Green Fork, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Compost Fairy, Epicenter, Kroger, the Mid-South Food Bank, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Together, the groups will push to reduce food waste to save money, improve the environment, and help ensure fewer Memphians go hungry.

Clean Memphis executive director Janet Boscarino said food waste and packaging now comprise 30 percent of landfill volume. It also produces the most methane gas (the most harmful gas), she said. These reductions will aid city leaders to meet goals detailed in the Memphis Area Climate Action Plan.

“The City of Memphis can service as a leader in developing a more sustainable food systems approach, reducing wasted food, and the resulting wasted labor, land, and money, as well as increased pollutants by supporting waste diversion and generating useful products such as finished compost with this diverted food waste,” reads a December proclamation from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Justin Fox Burks

Dirty work: the BFI landfill near Millington

Food waste can be diverted from restaurants, hospitality providers, and other food producers in the city, according to the proclamation. Food from those sources has “great rescue potential” for food “that would otherwise go to waste.” The food could be retrieved and donated to those in need, Strickland said in the proclamation.

Boscarino said the United States spends $218 billion (or about 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product) growing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. She said the waste numbers are staggering given that one in eight Americans are food insecure — lack reliable access to food because of money and other concerns — and that one in five Memphians are food insecure.

Waste occurs along nearly every stop in the food supply chain here, Boscarino said. Some food spoils as farmers can’t move it to market quickly enough. Some food is tossed as it may not meet cosmetic standards, even though it has the same taste or nutritional value. Food continues to spoil as it moves through the supply chain to grocery stores, restaurants, and hospitality venues, she said. But the largest food-waste sector “by far,” she said, is in homes.

“We over-purchase, we don’t store things rights, we don’t eat leftovers, we don’t use all parts of the food, and we’re not composting at a level we need to,” Boscarino said.

To combat all of this, Project Green Fork will be working with restaurants, hospitality venues like hotels, and event spaces like FedExForum to donate their food and avoid waste. Memphis Food Waste Project members will educate residents on how to more sustainably shop for groceries, how to store food, how to freeze food, and how to “fall in love with leftovers,” Boscarino said.

Test your food waste knowledge with an online quiz at www.cleanmemphis.org.

Read Strickland’s proclamation here:
[pdf-1]

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Mask Up Mane and Covid Stories

Just do it

Posted to Facebook by City of Memphis

Maskless man

A door-to-door salesman riding a “unicycle, motorized contraption” around Cooper-Young sparked a novel-worthy mystery on Nextdoor last week. He wore no mask, seemed to be selling bug/termite services, had no cards for identification, and was just generally “sketchy,” according to Nextdoor users.

Speculation had it that he and his co-workers were from Texas, staying and partying hard at an apartment complex in Germantown, and working for a Mormon-owned company based in Provo, Utah.

“Mormons! Texans! A unicyclist! Pest control party animals! Maybe all this will be fodder for a novelist amongst us. Meanwhile I hope they mask up or, better, leave us alone,” wrote one Nextdoor user.

COVID Stories

Posted to YouTube by Project 1
Collaborative Arts

A YouTube series launched last week that lets Memphis creatives share stories of loss, love, laughter, and more in the COVID-19 world.

Bridging the Distance: A Series, is presented by Project 1 Collaborative Arts with support by the UAC.

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Curfew Lifted in Memphis

Curfew Lifted in Memphis

In maybe the briefest of news briefs of all time, the city of Memphis announced Monday morning that … well, you can read it up there, but “Memphis curfew has been lifted.”

We’ll watch for more details on this today and update this story as we get them.

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Lawyer Tells Judge City is Violating Local News Organization’s First Amendment Rights

Memphis City Hall

A national media rights organization told a federal judge this week that the city may be violating a federal consent decree in its treatment of local news organization MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Jon McCalla Monday, alleging that by refusing to add MLK50 to its media contact list, the city is violating the 1978 Kendrick Consent Decree, MLK50 reported Tuesday.

McCalla was the judge in the 2018 police surveillance case, in which he ruled that the city had violated the consent decree by using social media and other tactics to surveil activists. Now, McCalla, and a monitoring team he appointed, is overseeing the city and police department’s adherence to the decree, which prevents the police department from gathering intelligence in ways that violate people’s First Amendment rights.

According to the letter sent by Paul McAdoo, Tennessee’s staff attorney for the Reporter’s Committee Local Legal Initiative, the city “has refused MLK50’s repeated requests to add Ms. [Wendi] Thomas, and MLK50’s managing editor, Deborah Douglas, to the city’s media advisory lists, which is inconsistent with the city’s obligations under the Kendrick Consent Decree.”

[pullquote-1]

The letter then highlights a section of the decree that instructs the city not to “disrupt, discredit, interfere with, or otherwise harass any person exercising First Amendment rights.”

The next section of the decree instructs the city not to “engage in any action for the purpose of, or reasonably having the effect of deterring any person from exercising First Amendment rights.”

McAdoo writes that the city has interfered with MLK50’s First Amendment rights and attempted to deter journalists from exercising those rights “by refusing to add them to the city’s media advisory lists.”

Lawyer Tells Judge City is Violating Local News Organization’s First Amendment Rights

According to the letter, Thomas, the founder, editor, and publisher of MLK50, was on the city’s media list until January 2019, but learned she had been removed in fall 2019. Since then, Thomas, along with managing editor Douglass has asked the city to re-add MLK50 to the list, but the “city refused to do so.”

“The city’s refusal is motivated by its perception that MLK50’s coverage of it is somehow unfair or not objective,” McAdoo writes. “Such content- and viewpoint-discrimination, however, runs afoul of the First Amendment … Not having the same access to information available to other members of the media whom the city has included on its media advisory list interferes with MLK50 and its journalists’ First Amendment rights and is done to deter their coverage of the city, both of which are violations of the Kendrick consent decree.”

The city did not immediately respond to the Flyer‘s request for comment.

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News The Fly-By

Checking In: Displaced Actor Finds Work, Purpose Serving the Underserved

CREDIT: Jackie Murray/Facebook

Jackie Murray/Facebook

Murray as Tubman, left, and in a promo photo, right.

They probably don’t know they’re talking with Harriet Tubman.

When some Memphis Housing Authority (MHA) residents get a check-in call from the city of Memphis, they will hear the clear, energetic voice of Jackie Murray. They may not know, however, that she honed that voice on the stage.

Before the virus hit, Murray had come back to Memphis, singing and acting at theaters around town. She’s been performing her one-woman show “Harriet Tubman: One Woman’s Journey,” which Murray wrote, across the Mid-South since 2012.

Right up until stay-at-home orders came down, Murray had been hosting African-American tours of Memphis for A Tour of Possibilities. Even though tourists kept signing up for the tours (one couple from New York came to Memphis just for the tour and ended up spreading coronavirus all over the country, she said), Murray eventually found herself out of work.

Murray’s boss shot her an article about job opportunities with the city of Memphis, a partnership with Vaco. The consulting and staffing firm quickly organized a remote call center in Memphis staffed primarily from workers in the hospitality and restaurant sector, said Kirk Johnson, managing partner of Vaco in Memphis.

The effort is funded by a grant through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis and targets MHA residents, a typically underserved and unemployed segment of the Memphis population.

Murray passed the screening and started work with the call center. On the job, she calls these residents, asks them how they’re doing, probes them for any COVID-19 symptoms, reminds them to take preventive measures, and tells them what resources are available to them.

When Murray calls these residents, they may not know her famous stage voice. But, she says, they always appreciate her lending an ear. — Toby Sells

Memphis Flyer: Sounds like the program came along at just the right time for you.

Jackie Murray: It’s been very helpful, especially now. You know, I have to pay my rent and I have to eat. Even though it’s not a lot of money nor is it a lot of hours, at least it’s something, and I appreciate that.

I also appreciate the fact that I’m helping others through this. One of my mottos with my art and my artistic abilities is that I want to make a difference through the arts. That means I love to help people. I love to be out in the community. I volunteer often and I just try to make a positive difference, spread good vibes.

MF: Yes, and you’re serving a population that can really use it right now.

JM: I can reach out to some of the residents, some that are a little underserved at this time and give them at least a little information.

Sometimes during these calls, some people want to open up and talk about what they’re going through. A lot of people are alone right now, like myself. I’m single. I live alone. So, it gives them an ear. Even if it is for a couple of minutes, they get to vent a little bit about what they’re going through.

Luckily, with the folks that I’ve been speaking with, nobody had any symptoms of COVID-19, which is great.

MF: Before we go, do you have any idea when we may see Harriet Tubman back on stage?

JM: I have been getting a few requests to do a live stream. My biggest hurdle for that is finding a space where I can do it, someplace big enough to do it.

I am proud to set up a camera and all of that, but I don’t want to do it at home. I want to be able to give people that experience. But I don’t want it to look like, you know, let me go over here and sit on my couch.

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New Fund Helps Nonprofits Help Those Impacted by Coronavirus

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Community Foundation of Greater Memphis CEO Bob Fockler and Executive Vice President Sutton Mora Hayes

A new fund launched Wednesday to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak in Shelby County.

The Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response fund was seeded with a $250,000 donation from the Nike Foundation. The fund is a joint effort by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, city of Memphis, Shelby County government, United Way of the Mid-South, and Momentum Nonprofit Partners/Mid-South Philanthropy Network.

The response fund will provide flexible funding to nonprofit organizations working with impacted community members dealing with the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas, and Northern Mississippi.

“This is an unprecedented event in our community, and we don’t know how the next weeks and months will play out,” said Robert Fockler, president of the Community Foundation. “This fund allows people and institutions to support a safety net for vulnerable populations and those most affected by the threat to their health, wellbeing, and economic sustainability.”
[pullquote-1] The first phase of these rapid-response grants will address the following:

• The economic impact of reduced and lost work because of the novel coronavirus outbreak

• Immediate needs of economically vulnerable populations caused by closures and cancellations related to COVID-19

• Increased demand for medical information and support

• Fear and confusion about the outbreak among the region’s most vulnerable residents.

Representatives from the partnership agencies will award grants based on the amount of funds received. They anticipate the first round of grants being allocated in the next few weeks.

To donate online and learn more about the grant, visit cfgm.org/COVID.

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Coronavirus: Mayor Strickland Issues Declaration of Emergency

City of Memphis

Strickland

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland issued a declaration of emergency Tuesday afternoon, to better facilitate the city’s response to the coronavirus, he said in a news release.

The order will allow the city to seek emergency federal and state funding and will allow city officials to buy emergency supplies in a more streamlined way.

Here’s Strickland’s statement about the declaration in full:

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on the City, I am issuing a declaration of emergency for the city of Memphis effective immediately. This declaration allows the city and its departments and agencies to seek any and all necessary federal and state funding to facilitate the response to the emergency.

“Additionally, all required procedures and formalities as to procurements on behalf of the city are hereby suspended for purchased of equipment, materials, supplies and services needed for emergency management purposes.

“As you may have seen, the (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention – CDC) is now recommending that all social events of 10 or more people be postponed or canceled over the next 15 days. I am urging event organizers locally to follow that guidance.
City of Memphis

“I know many of you are concerned about getting your groceries, and making sure you have everything you need. I am asking that when you do grocery shop, please only get what you need. There is no need to hoard.
[pullquote-1] This morning I spoke with several of our local grocers, and they all have plenty of food and supplies in store or on the way. It’s just a matter of having time to get shelves restocked. We ask that you be patient, and if you have elderly family, friends or neighbors, please go to the store for them.

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18th, libraries and community centers will be closed until further notice. Parks and golf courses will remain open. However, we are cancelling all extracurricular activities (i.e. Play Your Park) at our parks. The closing of our community centers will not affect food delivery to (Shelby County Schools) students while their schools are closed or MIFA delivery to seniors.
[pullquote-2] While our facilities are closed, citizens that are members of city of Memphis senior centers can continue to receive a daily meal from their respective centers. Members that are registered to receive MIFA meals can opt to pick up their meal from the center in which they attend or have it delivered if they use our van service.

Members at all other senior centers will have the option to pick up their meal at their respective center for their regular nominal fee.

Additionally, our LINC211 telephone lines will be up and running seven days a week with augmented hours. Those hours are: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

During this time, we strongly encourage you to continue to-go orders and support our local restaurants and their staffs. To help with this, we have decided to provide on-street parking relief exclusively for food delivery vehicles at various restaurant locations Downtown and Midtown where parking meters are installed.

Until further notice, we are relaxing enforcement at metered parking spaces, allowing on-street parking at no charge in front of restaurants. Please note that all restricted parking areas will remain in effect during this time to ensure public safety.”

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Group Explores Review of City Charter


Does the city of Memphis Charter need a modern overhaul?

That’s what one group, Ranked Choice Tennessee (RCT), is looking to determine with the help of the public.

The city of Memphis Charter operates like the city’s constitution, creating a framework for the government. It influences how the city operates, makes decisions, and spends money.

The charter, which was established in 1968 and later modified in 2008, consists of 81 articles, ranging in topic from public amusement to public health.

On Friday, RCT will hold a public meeting, where Carlos Ochoa, communication director of the group, said context about what the charter is and why it should be reviewed will be discussed.

“The charter is like our city’s constitution,” Ochoa said. “It tells us how our tax dollars are spent, how decisions about changes to our neighborhoods are made and the power of our elected officials. Our charter was written in 1968 and many people believe it’s time to review it for opportunities to modernize it.”

Ochoa noted that the need to review the charter “doesn’t mean anything is wrong with it. We might have the best, up-to-date charter in the world, but if we don’t, the people of Memphis should have the right to know what could be changed.”

Those are interested in seeing the charter reviewed will be invited to sign a petition to create a Charter Review Commission, who would review the charter for a year before recommending amendments. If a commission is formed, RCV anticipates that any amendments proposed by the group would be on the 2022 ballot for citizens to vote on.

Ochoa said Friday’s meeting will touch on the “potentials and limits” of that process. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wonder Cowork Create (340 B Monroe Avenue).

[pullquote-1]

New York City is currently in the process of amending its charter. Last summer, the New York City Council voted to create the Charter Revision Commission to review and propose changes to the city’s charter.

After sixteen months of reviewing the charter with input from the public, the commission’s five proposed amendments to the charter were left up to voters during the city election last week.

The questions on the ballot related to ranked choice voting, the city’s civilian complaint review board, ethics and governance, the city budget, and land use. Each of the five items were approved by voters, based on unofficial election results.

The commission said these changes will be the “most comprehensive revisions” to the charter since 1989.