Tag: executive order

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Parents Can Now Opt Child Out of School Mask Mandate

Parents in Tennessee will now be able to decide if their child wears a mask to school, regardless of their districts’ guidelines, after Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday. 

“A student’s parent or guardian shall have the right to opt out of any order or requirement for a student in Kindergarten through 12th grade to wear a face covering at school, on a school bus, or at a school function,” the order reads. 

Parents who want to opt their child out of the mandate must notify the local school district or school personnel, according to the order.  

“No one cares more about the health and well-being of a child than a parent,” Lee tweeted. “Districts will make the decisions they believe are best for their students, but parents are the authority and ultimate decision-makers for their individual child’s health and well-being.”

Lee also announced that he will not be calling a special legislative session to address school mask mandates across the state, as requested by Republican members of the Tennessee General Assembly last week. 

In a statement, Lee acknowledged that hospitals are “struggling under the weight of COVID,”  but that those hospitals are filled with adults. 

“Requiring parents to make their children wear masks to solve an adult problem is in my view wrong,” Lee said. 

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, there were 43 pediatric patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 as of Sunday. Of those patients, 16 were in the ICU and eight were on ventilators.

Memphis-area legislators were quick to speak out against the executive order. Rep. Antonio Parkinson called the order “irresponsible.” 

“The goal is to stop the spread of the virus in Tennessee,” Parkinson said. “The executive order in no way will curb the spread of the virus. As a matter of fact, it may accelerate the spread of Covid-19 in our state.”

Senator Raumesh Akbari said of the executive order that she “could not disagree with this more.”

“Hospitals across Tennessee are at or near capacity,” Akbari tweeted. “Some hospitals’ pediatric cases doubled in the course of a week. Masks are such a little thing that can protect our kids and teachers. Kids can’t get vaccinated and should be protected at all costs.” 

Rep. London Lamar tweeted that she is “so scared” the decision will lead to more pediatric Covid-19 cases.  

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Lawmakers Urge Lee for Mask Mandate

Tennessee General Assembly

Clockwise from top left Rep. London Lamar, Rep. Vincent Dixie, Senator Brenda Gilmore, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem.

Governor Bill Lee

A group of Democratic Tennessee lawmakers urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to issue a mask mandate immediately.

Lee announced Sunday that new social gathering restrictions would be put in place for the state of Tennessee. He signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings, some sporting events, and funerals are exempt from the order.

Lee has still not implemented a mask mandate despite pleas from healthcare workers and local lawmakers. Though Tennessee is a hotspot for virus growth, Lee has refused to order a mask mandate and refused again on Sunday, calling such mandates a “heavily politicized issue.”


In a virtual news conference Monday, Tennessee state Senator Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) spoke about how COVID-19 has hit Black and brown communities hardest. 

Gilmore

“COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate but institutionalized bias toward Black and brown people is causing a high rate for African Americans and Latinos, not only in Tennessee but across this country,” she said. “It’s ravaging people of color. Approximately 60 percent of the people who have died are African Americans and Latinas. It doesn’t mean that we’re more susceptible to get this virus. It just means that when we’re infected, we are most likely to die from it.”

State Rep. London Lamar (D- Memphis) said, ”[Lee] made this a political issue when he decided not to implement a mask mandate and further our ability to kill more Tennesseans by not putting in his mandate and forcing us to protect one another. 

Lamar

On the executive order, Lamar stated, “that’s not enough, we wouldn’t have to do that if we would have implemented a mass mandate, a long time ago,” she went on to say that she is tired of going to funerals during the holidays.

“I’ve never been in the shoes of our governor, Governor Lee,” said State Rep. Yussuf Hakim (D-Chattanooga), “but I believe it’s been laid out clearly that there’s great harm being done to the average citizen in the state of Tennessee. When you talk about us being the worst in the world, that means to me that you have to take exceptional actions to mitigate such circumstances.”

Hakim

Legislators on the call said that the Tennessee economy would not have been threatened if Lee had acted sooner.

”It is our fault that the Tennessee economy is suffering?” Lamar said. “Because businesses wouldn’t have to limit operations businesses and could still be functioning the way they’re functioning in other states if we implement simple tactics like mask mandates,” said Lamar. “We are killing our own economy, because we are not acting with leadership and courage and responsibility. We have over $1 billion in a fund that would be could be used to help families during this difficult time.”

They cited several republican politicians who also supported stronger measures to protect Tennesseans, like Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, and former U.S. Senator Bill Frist.

Dixie

“Let’s take the power; let’s lead by example,” said state Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville). “I would like for us to increase testing even though we have a vaccine. I think the approach that Governor Lee seems to be taking is the survival of the fittest.”

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President Trump Bans Social Media Apps TikTok and WeChat

CREDIT: Kon Karampelas

Kon Karampelas

Late Thursday evening, President Donald Trump issued two executive orders banning social media apps TikTok and WeChat from operating in the United States in 45 days.

President Trump Bans Social Media Apps TikTok and WeChat

Under the ban, transactions between American companies and citizens and the Chinese tech giant Tencent would be prohibited if they are not sold to American companies under the allotted time.

The executive orders do not state what ownership percentage or global markets would have to be given to American companies to pause the ban. The Trump administration has also stated that any deal would have to include a “substantial amount of money” coming to the U.S. Treasury.

The Trump administration had been critical of the apps, stating that their data collection process could put Americans at risk despite numerous experts citing their data collection practices were on par with the industry standard.

Nonetheless, in his executive orders, President Trump stated that the apps could “allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information — potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

President Trump had initially set a deadline of Sept. 15 for when ByteDance, owner of TikTok, would need to sell the social media app to an American-owned company. Microsoft has been in talks of acquiring TikTok’s business in certain markets, specifically the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but has shown little interest in their other markets.

The move leaves a lot in the air as Tencent is also the owner of some of the largest U.S.-based game developers in the world. The company retains full ownership of Riot Games, developers of popular games League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, and Valorant; 40 percent ownership of Epic Games, developers of the popular shooter Fortnite; and 5 percent ownership of Activision Blizzard, the parent company of the developers of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Destiny 2.

Though White House officials confirmed that the initial wave of bans will not affect video game companies owned by Tencent, potential Chinese retaliation and subsequent executive orders could put them at risk.

President Trump Bans Social Media Apps TikTok and WeChat (2)

TikTok released a statement following the announcement where it expressed confusion and shock at the decision.

“For nearly a year, we have sought to engage with the US government in good faith to provide a constructive solution to the concerns that have been expressed. What we encountered instead was that the Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”

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County Stay-At-Home Order Extended, New Grocery Hours for Seniors

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has extended his stay-at-home order for an additional seven days and has mandated grocery stores provide special hours for certain shoppers.

The order extension came after a phone call with Harris and the mayors of Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Memphis, Millington, Lakeland, and Germantown. The order has to be renewed every seven days.

“We are working every day on confronting the most significant public health event in our community in 100 years,” Harris said in a statement. “This week, all of the mayors in Shelby County agreed to renew our respective executive orders as we continue to work to flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19.”

Harris has also included new hours for seniors and others to the order. All essential grocery stores must now provide at least one hour of controlled access to shoppers 55 and older and to those who have serious underlying medical conditions.

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3.0 Executive Order Marks Fourth Since Strickland Took Office

Tuesday’s executive order adopting the Memphis 3.0 plan was Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s fourth since he took office in 2016.

An executive order provides mayoral direction to the heads of all the city’s divisions regarding operations and day-to-day business, Dan Springer, the city’s deputy director of media affairs, said.

So far, Strickland’s orders have dealt with ethics, data, sexual assault, and, most recently, the Memphis 3.0 comprehensive planning document.

Here’s a snapshot of the other three orders:

The mayor’s first executive order came about five months after he took office, when he signed an order on ethics, rescinding a 2009 order.

The order instructed city employees not to accept gifts, money, or favors from residents. It also discouraged city employees from using information obtained on the job to make a profit, as well as prevented employees from entering into or benefiting from contracts with the city or its agencies.

Then in June of that year, Strickland issued his second executive order. This one related to the city’s sexual assault task force. Through the order, the mayor directed the task force to “continue their work to raise awareness about sexual assault and violence.”

Strickland instructed the task force to test every kit in the city’s inventory, investigate leads and examine all cases coming from the kits, improve victim support, prosecute the suspects, and “continue the dialogue in Memphis about sexual assault and domestic violence, including a deliberate effort to get information in the hands of victims and survivors who need it most.”

In February 2018, the mayor signed an order creating adopting an open data policy. The move created the Memphis Open Data program and the Data Governance Committee.

As a result, data related to public safety, neighborhoods, jobs, government, and youth is available through the open data portal on the city’s website.

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Strickland Adopts Memphis 3.0, Hopeful Council Will Follow Suit

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

Mayor Strickland signs an executive order adopting the Memphis 3.0 plan


After much delay and despite opposition, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland signed an executive order Tuesday adopting the Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive plan.

The Memphis City Council has delayed approving the plan for weeks, as opposition rose from one North Memphis neighborhood group.That group, led by Carnita Atwater, president of the New Chicago Community Development Corporation, filed a lawsuit last week, delaying the council’s vote again.

The lawsuit claims that the plan violates some residents’ constitutional rights and that it’s not inclusive. Strickland said Tuesday that he does not know if the city has submitted a response to the lawsuit.


Despite the pending litigation, Strickland moved forward with adopting the plan Tuesday morning, signing the executive order at The Works Community Development Corp. headquarters in South Memphis. He said that the adoption of Memphis 3.0 is “way past due,” as the city has not had a comprehensive plan in nearly 40 years.

“Memphis 3.0 will provide a much-needed road map for our growth,” Strickland said. “As we have seen for far too long, growth without a plan creates urban sprawl, a lack of cohesive land use, and puts tremendous strain on limited infrastructure. With this plan, we will move forward with a collective voice on how we want our city to look years into the future.”

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Strickland said Tuesday’s move “cements that Memphis 3.0 will be used in every agency and every division of government” except land use. The Memphis City Council must approve the plan in order for it to impact land use.

“This order doesn’t override the council’s authority,” Strickland said. “This order only applies to the administration side. The council still controls land use and we ask them to approve it.”

The mayor said he anticipates the city council approving the plan.

“The economic renaissance that we see in Memphis in many neighborhoods is not being felt in every neighborhood,” Strickland said. “This plan is a roadmap for growth and investment in all neighborhoods throughout the city and that’s why it needs to be celebrated.

Roshun Austin, executive director of The Works, contributed to the plan and supports its adoption. She sat next to the mayor as he signed the order.

“We have not had a comprehensive plan since 1981,” Austin said. “What that speaks to is a continuation of four decades of urban sprawl and white flight. I understand the experiences of many people that are opposed to the adoption of the plan.

Maya Smith

Carnita Atwater protests the Memphis 3.0 plan

“There’s truth to that. There is federal policy and local policy that has devastated African-American communities … This is not that. The comprehensive plan helps to guide our future in Memphis and make real investments back into very distressed neighborhoods.”

Meanwhile, outside of the building Atwater and about five other protesters rallied against the plan, holding signs that read “Just say no to 3.0” and shouting “No justice, no peace.”

“No matter what he signed today, you still have a $10 billion lawsuit,” Atwater said. “The lawsuit isn’t going anywhere.”

When asked what he thought about the protesters outside, Strickland said he’s glad “they are exercising their right to protest.”

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Mayor Strickland to Implement 3.0 Plan by Executive Order

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland will implement his much-delayed Memphis 3.0 plan Tuesday morning by executive order, according to a statement from his office Monday evening.

Strickland began working on the plan soon after taking office. That work included gathering opinions and priorities about the city’s future from thousands from across the city at dozens of events. The plan is to serve as a long-range planning document for the city.

Implementing the plan ran into delays, however, as Memphis City Council members mulled the plan for weeks. The council delayed yet another vote on 3.0 last week after a new lawsuit was filed by a group that argues the plan does not do enough for African-American neighborhoods. (See our story links below for more details.)

In a news advisory issued Monday evening, Strickland announced he will implement the plan via executive order Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.

Here’s what Strickland’s office said about the move:  

“Over the course of two years, at hundreds of community meetings and events more than 15,000 Memphians let their voices be heard in the process of creating a long-range development plan for our city.

“After much thought and deliberation, Mayor Strickland will sign an executive order implementing Memphis 3.0.”

The signing event is planned for Tuesday, May 14th, 9 a.m.; The Works, Inc. (1471 Genesis Circle).