Tag: council

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Herenton on State of the City

As promised, Mayor Willie Herenton reopened his civic hymnal on Wednesday to the verse marked “consolidation” and suggested that this time others might join him.

“I favor metropolitan consolidation inclusive of schools,” said Herenton, making his annual “state of the city” address to the Kiwanis Club meeting at The Peabody.

The venue was fairly small and so was the crowd, probably under 200 people. They gave the fifth-term mayor a couple of warm standing ovations. Whether that indicated the spirit of the season or support for consolidation remains to be seen.

Herenton said he sees promise in the new membership of the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission along with Gov. Phil Bredesen and county mayor A C Wharton.

“Thank God for the new county commission,” he said. “We’ve got some people over there with some new energy and some courage.” He did not name names.

He said he will ask state legislators to, in effect, change the rules on consolidation so that approval from both city and county voters in separate elections is not a prerequisite. Several years before Herenton became mayor in 1991, consolidation votes passed in the city but failed in the county, where signs that say “county schools” and “no city taxes” are still a staple of new subdivisions just outside the borders of Memphis.

As he has on many occasions, Herenton said consolidated government would be more efficient and cost taxpayers less money.

“It pains me to see the waste in schools,” said the former superintendent.

It apparently pains Bredesen too. The governor has shown impatience with Memphis “reform” programs and indicated that a state takeover is possible if Memphis doesn’t do better. Herenton mentioned changing the governing structure of the school system but did not specifically call for abolishing the school board or appointing a new one, as he has on other occasions.

Meeting with reporters after his speech, Herenton said consolidation can only happen with support from key business leaders and other politicians. He said the “economics of government will become so tight” that such supporters will eventually come around.

The sticking points are that Memphis has a higher tax rate than suburbs and unincorporated areas in Shelby County and the Shelby County schools, with more affluent students and fewer poor students, outperform city schools on standardized tests. But Memphis accounts for about 70 percent of the population of Shelby County. By Herenton’s lights, a suburban minority is dictating the rules of the game to the urban majority.

On other subjects, Herenton said Memphis is “financially strong” with a reserve fund of more than $60 million. Memphis, he said, is “on the national radar screen” because of FedEx Forum, AutoZone Park, and other attractions. And he said crime “trend lines” are going “in the right direction” but 500 more police officers are still needed. He will announce new anti-blight measures next week.

Responding to a question from the audience about the lack of a “wow” factor on the riverfront, Herenton said he is open to the possibility of razing The Pyramid if a deal with Bass Pro falls through.

“We could get the wow,” he said. “I still want the wow.”

Herenton seemed to be in a good mood, and there were no real zingers for the press or anyone else with the exception of, “For those of you who want to sit on the sidelines and be critical, we’re not going to be mad at you, we’re just going to pray for you.”

Reaction to the consolidation proposal among Kiwanis members was guarded. Businessman Sam Cantor said he is unconditionally for it but does not expect it to happen in the next four years.

Businessman Calvin Anderson is also for it and says it “can happen” if Herenton can take himself out of the equation, recruit allies, and present a reasonably united Shelby County legislative delegation in Nashville. Greg Duckett, former city chief administrative officer under Dick Hackett, said consolidation needs to happen but he stopped short of saying it will.

“Significant strides to making it happen can occur in the next four years,” he said.

Jim Strickland, sworn in Tuesday as a new member of the City Council, said he supports full consolidation but is willing to compromise on schools if necessary.

He said he is “not sure” if Herenton can muster enough support among suburban mayors and state lawmakers to make any headway.

Consolidation by charter surrender does not appear to be an option, which doesn’t mean it won’t keep coming up for discussion. In 2002, the state attorney general’s office issued an opinion that said “the General Assembly may not revoke the charter, the Memphis City Council is not authorized to surrender the city charter, and no statute authorizes the Memphis city charter to be revoked by a referendum election of the voters.”

Herenton, who was reelected with just 42 percent of the vote, made his speech against a backdrop of glum economic news, locally and nationally. Oil hit the $100-a-barrel mark, the stock of local economic bastions FedEx and First Horizon and others plunged with the Dow Jones Average, the Memphis Grizzlies and Memphis Redbirds are struggling at the gate, and foreclosures are expected to soar this year.

“In order to do all these things our economy must remain strong,” the mayor said.

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Politics Politics Feature

A Conciliatory Mayor Herenton and His New Council Take the Oath

CREDIT: courtesy WMC-TV

Despite advance forecasts on CNN that Memphis would be in
for severe weather on Monday, such was not the case. They probably should have
checked with our mayor. The weather outside was mild and sunny, as was the
weather inside at the Cannon Center, where Willie Herenton, flanked by his
doting 86-year-old mother, took the oath of office for a fifth time and said, “I
pledge to you to start afresh.”

That meant dispensing with “old baggage,” Herenton said, after sounding a note
that was both Lincolnian and Biblical: “Somewhere I read, ‘A city – or a house –
divided against itself cannot stand.’ God help us all.”

The reference to the Almighty was anything but perfunctory. It was vintage
turn-of-the-year Herenton. As he had on previous New Year’s occasions, the mayor
left no doubt about the nature of his political sanction. “God always chooses
the individuals to lead His people,” he said, and vowed, “Here am I. Send me,
Lord.”

Tinged as that was with the grandiosity of yesteryear, it was, in context, good
enough for new council chairman Scott McCormick, who, in follow-up remarks, said
a thank-you to God himself, and responded in kind to the moderate portions of
the mayor’s address. “He now has an approachable council,” said McCormick. “The
roots of mistrust are behind us.”

And, who knows, it may be true. After all, as McCormick noted, it was a new
council, with nine new members out of the 13, and, of the four remaining, none
were among those who had made a point of tangling with the mayor.

There were omens of another sort, of course – for those who wanted to look for
them. There were, for example, ambiguous words from Shelby County Mayor A C
Wharton, who was drafted from the audience by moderator Mearl Purvis to formally
introduce Herenton.

Buried in the middle of Wharton’s otherwise friendly and flattering sentiments
(from “your country cousin,” as the county mayor styled himself) was this sentiment addressed both to Herenton and to the audience at large: “The last time I checked, Midtown was in
Shelby County, Boxtown was in Shelby County, Memphis was in Shelby
County….”

Whatever the meta-message of that, it had the sound of simple friendly teasing.

And there was another vaguely suggestive verbal thread. In each of the oaths
taken by Herenton, by the 13 council members, and by city court clerk Thomas
Long was an archaic-sounding passage pledging that the sayer would “faithfully
demean myself” in accordance with the proprieties and “in office will not become
interested, directly or indirectly” in any proposition which could lead to
personal profit.

All well and good, but, applying that first verb in its current lay sense, too
many members of the former council had been charged in court with conduct that
society – and the lawbooks – might regard as “demeaning,” and too many had
developed a personal “interest” in the issues they were asked to vote on.

Still, it is a new council, it’s a new year, and it’s certainly a good
time to “start afresh,” as Mayor Herenton said. So go ahead: Hold your breath.

And, hey, for what it’s worth, the temperature did drop down into the 30’s a scant few hours after the swearing-in.

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News

Thompson to Feds: This Is No Game

Less than an hour after pleading not guilty to federal corruption charges Wednesday, former county commissioner Bruce Thompson, who is a competitive tennis player, took a few swings at the style and substance of the government’s case.

“This is not a game,” Thompson said in media appearance in attorney Leslie Ballin’s office. “This is my life. This is my freedom that is on the line here.”

That was a swipe at FBI Special Agent in Charge My Harrison who said Tuesday, “Same game, different name,” after the indictment was handed up.

The phrase proved irresistible to print and broadcast media outlets, and Thompson said he resented it. He said his case has nothing in common with Tennessee Waltz, that he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, that he plans to go to trial, and that he expects to be found innocent.

“I have done nothing wrong, as I have said from the beginning,” said Thompson, who was a commissioner from 2002-2006.

The indictment alleges that Thompson extorted $263,000 from H&M Construction by “falsely representing” that he could influence school board members to award the company a $46 million contract, and that the company would stand little chance without his influence.

Thompson, 48, left the media appearance without taking questions.

He and Ballin made it clear that part of their defense will hang on an opinion issued by Shelby County Attorney Brian Kuhn in a memorandum in 2004. The opinion, which was actually given twice in slightly different form in February and again in August, was requested by Thompson.

“In my opinion, it would not be a conflict of interest for you to act as a consultant for a large public company in aiding them to try to get business and/or contracts with the Memphis City Schools or the Shelby County Schools,” Kuhn wrote.

The opinion does not say whether or not it would be legal. Ballin told reporters that if he had been asking for the opinion as an attorney he would have gotten Kuhn to be specific about the legality as well as the conflict of interest question.

Ballin said the dollar amounts reported as being paid to Thompson in the indictment are accurate. But he disputed the part of the indictment that involves Thompson in the payment of $7,000 in apparent campaign contributions or other payments to school board members via minority contractor Kirby Salton.

Ballin said that $263,000 would be a reasonable fee — roughly one half of one percent of the contract — for helping H&M get the business. He said Thompson had other consulting clients at the time, but he declined to name them.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla. Ballin said he thinks it could go to trial as early as next February.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Thompson formally entered a plea of not guilty in a brief appearance at the federal building. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the four counts on which he was indicted.

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Rickey Peete Gets 51-month Prison Sentence

Same courtroom, same defendant, same charge.

Former Memphis City Councilman Rickey Peete, who pleaded guilty to accepting $14,500 in bribes while in office in 2006, was sentenced to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Samuel Mays.

That was the upper end of the 41-51 month sentencing range in the guidelines, and Mays said he was influenced by “the serious and repetitive nature of this offense.” Peete, 52, was convicted of bribery in 1989 when he was a first-term councilman.

“Honest representation is the basis of a free society,” said Mays, who told Peete he found it “really painful” to have to send him to prison.

“I don’t sentence many evil people,” said Mays. “I sentence good people who do stupid and illegal things.”

Peete, a Morehouse College graduate with a master’s degree, was reelected to the council in 1995 after serving 30 months in prison. He was a Memphis school board member before going on the council.

Choking up at times, Peete spoke on his own behalf.

“I am humiliated, remorseful, and ashamed of my actions which have brought me to this time and place,” he said.

He apologized to his family, friends, constituents, and fellow citizens.

“I accept responsibility for my error in judgment,” he said.

Peete took $14,500 from lobbyist Joe Cooper for his support on a billboard issue. Cooper was working undercover and Peete was taped and recorded. His deception and willingness to take multiple bribes worked against him and showed that he had not learned his lesson from his previous conviction, said assistant U.S. Attorney Vivian Donelson. She said Peete was more concerned about getting caught than serving his constituents honorably.

Three people spoke on Peete’s behalf: Alma Morris, Rev. Melvin Wade, and Virginia Anderson. They said Peete was especially helpful to children and senior citizens in his council super-district.

“We need him back in the community,” said Anderson.

Under council rules, Peete cannot run again. No date was set for him to report to prison. He will be in minimum security and will be as close to Memphis as possible.