Anyone who has been paying attention to hot-button issues in law enforcement is aware that the matter of incarcerated inmates with mental illnesses is one of them — and one of the most complex as well.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ ongoing proposal to build an expansive new facility to house and treat those prisoners is one response — and the mayor has come in for much praise for it, especially since he intends to proceed without asking for a tax increase, by accessing federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds received by the county at the height of the Covid epidemic.
And Sheriff Floyd Bonner had indicated lately that he was on the verge of issuing an RFP (request for proposal) to local medical facilities for establishing an inpatient treatment program for the most severely impaired, those inmates who have been formally adjudged by the courts to be incompetent to stand trial.
It is such inmates, languishing in jail as a de facto permanent population, who have been the source of numerous disturbances and highly publicized unsanitary behavior noted by the news media and would-be reformers alike. And they are a primary reason for Bonner’s recent decision to back away from supervising youthful offenders to focus on hard-core issues among adult offenders.
As it happens, Bonner is the custodian not only of such issues but of some $2.7 million in allocated and unspent funds for dealing with them, and in testimony last week at the county commission’s committee sessions had floated the idea of the aforementioned RFP.
That money, largely derived from a settlement from drug companies and manufacturers involved in the proliferation of opioids, was set aside by the county as a replacement of sorts for a similar sum originally budgeted in 2022 at the behest of former County Commissioner Van Turner for treatment of those inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial by reason of their impairment.
Much of that original outlay ended up, however, being routed into the coffers of the county’s specialty courts (tribunals focused on drugs, veterans, and, in the most general sense, those with mental health conditions). Some of it was destined for CAAP (Cocaine and Alcohol Awareness Program), where it could be put to useful ends, but not for the original purpose of inpatient treatment of the most seriously incapacitated inmates.
Meanwhile County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon sponsored a resolution that became a core part of the agenda at this commission’s regular public meeting Monday night. She apparently proposed routing another $500,000 to CAAP from the currently available funding stock of $2,700,000.
David Upton, a spokesperson for the original funding plan, which envisioned an inpatient program, made an impassioned plea to retain the $500,000 in the sheriff’s budget.
At one point in the commission’s discussion of the resolution, Commissioner Mick Wright allowed as how he was doing his best to comprehend the overriding issue but was having trouble understanding what funds were available and for what purpose.
He doubtless spoke for many who had difficulty following the money and the competing claimants for it. Ultimately the commission deferred voting on the resolution and will try to unravel the complications of the matter at its next meeting.
Shelby County officials are coming under fresh pressure to deal with education deficiencies in the juvenile-justice system, where advocates say not enough young people who are detained are regularly attending school or learning what they need to graduate.
A group of those advocates sent a letter this week to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, warning about the low rates of school attendance, and demanding improved conditions for youth in detention, beyond just their education.
The county’s Juvenile Court has known about the issues at the county’s Youth Justice and Education Center, and at the school inside, called Hope Academy. A consultant it worked with to identify issues facing youth in the facilities reported that just half of them were attending school each day, and that course offerings weren’t comprehensive enough to give students the classes they need to graduate, according to Stephanie Hill, the court’s chief administrative officer.
But the problems raised by the consultants, from BreakFree Education, can’t easily be solved without collaboration between the sheriff’s office, which oversees the detention center, and Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which operates the school.
Meanwhile, detention facilities in Tennessee have faced intense scrutiny for failing to provide appropriate care to young people. In detention centers like Shelby County’s, where detainees have not yet been tried, missed school days put students who are already facing challenges outside of class at a greater disadvantage for long-term success.
Cardell Orrin, who leads Stand for Children Tennessee, one of the organizations that signed the letter, said part of the issue with improving youth attendance at school is knowing which agency to approach.
“Whose responsibility is it, and then how are they held accountable?” Orrin told Chalkbeat.
In a reply to the organizations, Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon said that staffing issues at the facility have contributed to low school attendance rates of 50 percent to 60 percent, much lower than the court’s goal of 90 percent.
Bonner wrote in his own response that the 110 youth currently there were “far more than we had ever expected or planned for.” Instead, he said, 40 to 60 youth were expected to be in the facility.
Sugarmon called that “erroneous,” pointing out that the facility was newly built to accommodate some 140 youth. “It appears there are no physical facilities limits to school attendance,” he wrote.
The young people detained at the center are awaiting trial, and the number of students can vary day-to-day as trials progress.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools told Chalkbeat that it plans to keep working with the court and sheriff’s office to address concerns about Hope Academy. Marie Feagins, who took over as MSCS superintendent on Monday, toured the school last week, and said in a video interview that leaders should consider strengthening rehabilitative programs and expanding opportunities within the facility.
“When I think about education and the power thereof, it’s important to make sure that education, a quality education and experience, to the degree possible, is happening in all of our spaces and places,” she said, pledging to return often to speak with Hope Academy students.
Beyond the education issues, the advocacy groups said they wanted the sheriff to address complaints that youth aren’t allowed outdoors, and parents are being denied in-person visits with their children in detention.
They also said efforts to collect research that would improve programming for youth have been stymied by the sheriff’s office.
Shirley Bondon, the executive director of the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, is hoping to conduct research with the youth at the facility to help improve their access to effective diversion programs, as an alternative to detention, and also get a better understanding of what youth need.
“Part of that research requires me to talk to youth in detention and have them complete a survey and get their perspective about why crime occurs, and what resources they need to keep them out of trouble,” Bondon told Chalkbeat.
“We need to scale those programs, and those programs need more funding,” she added. “We also found that the programs often aren’t evidence-based and don’t collect the correct data.”
Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
A consortium of organizations want systemic changes in the youth justice system and have formally requested a meeting with Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner to address them.
The Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis (BCCM) announced on Wednesday that they, along with nine other organizations, delivered to Bonner seeking his help to develop a new plan to address issues they see in the system. The consortium includes Stand for Children – Tennessee, Gifts of Life Ministries, Whole Child Strategies, Just City, Shelby Countywide Juvenile Justice Consortium, The Equity Alliance, Memphis for All, Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), and Youth Justice Action Council (YJAC).
The biggest concern for the group is that the Shelby County Youth Justice and Education Center has not allowed in-person visitation for several years. they also said youth are not receiving an education that parallels mainstream public school; they are not allowed time outdoors; and research and advocacy organizations are not allowed time with detained youth.
The groups say the youth justice system should “balance accountability with rehabilitation,” and that those who are detained should “ receive appropriate care, education, and support during their involvement with the legal process.”
The wellbeing of detained youth is dependent on community collaboration, they said, and they are “eager” to develop a plan focused on “youth adolescent development and their strengths.”That plan should include data, research, and evidence-based practices, they said, something missing now.
“Unfortunately, some organizations gathering data and performing research have been denied access to youth in detention who have lived experiences that can inform the plan that will help youth avoid interaction with the justice system and prevent them from returning if they have already been involved,” the groups said.
A report from the Disability Rights TN and Youth Law Center says “logistical and cost barriers” often stop families from visiting their children while they’re detained. The advocacy consortium listed a variety of other reasons like transportation burdens and phone restrictions that also have proved to be hurdles to visitation.
“Parents literally cannot parent their children, not because they don’t want to, but because the juvenile justice system erects barriers that make it virtually impossible to do so,” the report said.
The report from the law center also says detained youth “ are not receiving an education that parallels mainstream public schools and holds them to the same academic standards.”
“Receiving appropriate education ensures that youth eligible to return to school after release will be prepared to succeed in mainstream public schools and will not be further marginalized,” the groups said. “Youth who do not return to public education should have the tools to pursue a productive life after detention. “
The organizations requested that Bonner respond with his availability by this week. It was unclear if the meeting has been scheduled.
Citing a new poll conducted last week by the Change Research firm, the People for Justice and Fairness (PJF), an activist group supporting Van Turner for mayor contends that “when Memphians learn about Van Turner, he surges to the top of the mayoral race.”
What that translates into is that Turner led, with a final figure of 23 percent, in a final tabulation of multi-stage polling. In that version, percentages for other leading candidates were: Floyd Bonner, 21; Paul Young, 21; Willie Herenton, 14.
Turner rose to the top once the poll results (a) included the category of “leaning” and (b) included a brief bio of the top candidates (the three aforementioned).
Some observers would call that a “push poll.” As defined in a previous article in this space about another candidate’s self-released poll: “Anyone familiar with political polling would be inclined to associate that procedure with what is called a ‘push poll’ — one which builds a desired outcome into the very form of the questioning. The idea is simple: The better the ‘biography,’ the better the poll numbers. And the skimpier or less positive the bio, the lower would be the numbers.”
Anecdotal evidence would also suggest that Turner’s campaign has made serious advances since gaining several recent prestige endorsements — from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Congressman Steve Cohen, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, and state Representative Justin J. Pearson. (Pearson has also made substantial financial contributions to Turner through a Political Action Committee.)
As indicated, the initial stage of the questionnaire totaled answers from respondents who had already made their final picks, and Paul Young led, with the previously mentioned 21 percent.
The numbers shifted when results from those respondents undecided but leaning toward specific candidates were added. Results were: Young, 22 percent; Bonner, 17 percent; Herenton, 16 percent; and Turner, 12 percent.
After the further addition of the bios, Turner ended up ahead, with the previously indicated lead of 23 percent.
The bios added for this third stage of polling were as follows below. (Readers can judge for themselves whether the bios, which seem to be posed fairy neutrally would tend to tilt the voting to a particular candidate.):
“Van Turner, esteemed attorney, Memphis NAACP president, and former Shelby County Commissioner, has a rich background in leadership and civil rights advocacy. He knows that to increase public safety we must fight crime at its roots with improved housing, bolstered education jobs, reliable infrastructure, and economic opportunity. Turner has the proven track record we need to keep Memphis safe.
“Paul Young, President and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission, seeks the mayoral office with a vision of improving public safety, bolstering the economy, and revitalizing neighborhoods. Young will use his business background to stimulate job creation, foster local entrepreneurship, and invest in youth. His mayoral agenda also emphasizes tackling blight and enhancing Memphis’s vibrant culture. Young aims to make Memphis a better place to live for all.
“Floyd Bonner, Shelby County Sheriff, will make fighting crime his #1 priority as Mayor of Memphis. Bonner plans to aggressively recruit more police officers, expand data and community policing, and hold accountable the people who threaten our community. Committed to making safety the backbone of prosperity, Bonner is ready to tackle the challenges facing Memphis.
“Now that you’ve read some more, if the general election for the Mayor were held today and the candidates were the following, who would you vote for?“
Factoring into the selection of those to be polled — according to the press release from PFJ, along with Stand for Children, and Movement for Justice — were aspects of “age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, region, and [preference in] the 2020 presidential vote.” The following rundown applies to that last aspect, the respondents’ presidential vote in 2020:
69% Joe Biden, the Democrat 22% Donald Trump, the Republican 1% Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian 0% Not registered/Too young/Ineligible 8% Did not vote
It should be noted that, of all the mayoral candidates, Turner, a former chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party, has identified himself most strongly with the Democratic Party and its goals.
The press release states, “With strong union backing and an undeniable momentum growing day by day, this people-powered campaign is poised to shape the future of Memphis to one that is bright for all.”
Sheriff Floyd Bonner at Wednesday's press conference. Photo by Jackson Baker.
Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk has decided to charge nine employees of the Shelby County Jail with second-degree murder in the death at 201 Poplar last year of inmate Gershon Freeman, the Memphis Flyer has learned, though the indictments so far remain sealed.
Ironically, the news from Nashville comes amid an ongoing investigation of Funk himself by state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti for illegal wiretapping of his employees and other offenses.
The case of Freeman was transferred to Funk’s jurisdiction earlier this year after Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy recused himself, suggesting that further handling of the case locally would be “inappropriate.” Funk got the case, which Sheriff Floyd Bonner said had been “passed on” by Mulroy.
Brice Timmons, one of several lawyers representing the Freeman family in legal proceedings, said it was done through “random selection.”
Bonner was at a hastily called Wednesday press conference at 201 Poplar to speak about the charges. In the wake of his press conference, Timmons said Bonner may have “broken the law” in trying to get ahead of what would inevitably become breaking news. Timmons noted that the indictments had not yet been unsealed (and would not be until Monday), and he implied that Bonner had leaked news of the indictment prematurely for political purposes.
At his press conference, Bonner had said the indictment itself was political and heaped scorn upon both Mulroy and Funk. Asked who might have a political stake in Funk’s action, Bonner — who is one of several candidates for mayor of Memphis in this year’s city election — said only, “You’ve seen the ads,” a cryptic answer. While several of his opponents have made references to jail deaths on Bonner’s watch, a particular TV spot devoted to the subject doesn’t come immediately to mind.
The Sheriff said he stood by his accused employees and said that none of them had done anything to cause Freeman’s death.
Freeman died last year after being booked at Shelby County Jail on charges of kidnapping and threatening his ex-girlfriend. He took his clothes off in his cell and manged to escape from it after being maced, triggering a prolonged chase of him by several deputies across two floors of the jail, during which there were violent physical efforts on numerous jailers’ part to subdue the escapee.
During the resultant mayhem, Freeman, who had been on mental-health watch at the jail, suffered cardiac arrest, collapsed, and died. Funk would later release a graphic video of the chase.
The family of Freeman subsequently filed suit against Sheriff Bonner and Shelby County government. The lawsuit noted a lack of formal structure for mental or behavioral health services despite having about 350 inmates with behavioral health issues.
The Freeman incident inevitably entered the political realm with Bonner running for mayor. The Sheriff has often been in the spotlight on account of the 40-odd deaths that have occurred on his watch in a jail whose health-and-welfare issues are serviced, via county contract, by WellPath. as he tirelessly points out.
Funk’s bombshell comes the very week that previously sealed evidence about alleged improprieties by Funk was released following a freedom-of-information suit by Nashville TV station WTVF.
August 21, 2023: Memphis, TN - Floyd Bonner portrait at his campaign headquarters.
Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Floyd Bonner, 64, believes in accountability. While discussing public safety with the Memphis Flyer and MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, the two-term sheriff spoke often of the importance of people being held accountable — parents, youth, gun toters. Yet the Orange Mound native seemed to resist the idea that he or his department’s policies might have some responsibility for the 44 inmate deaths that have occurred since he took office in 2018, calling any attribution “a very unfair portrayal of the hard-working men of the sheriff’s office and our jailers.”
That comment and Bonner’s campaign reflect his deep commitment to law enforcement workers and policing ideals. He didn’t criticize Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis; his most specific answers were about increasing the number of police officers (he’d like a larger sheriff’s force, too); he’d like to see longer sentences and tougher laws; he embraces the idea of curfews for youth. Still, the married father of two sons also believes the personal touch can be a route to crime prevention and intervention. If elected, he says, he’ll be out in the streets, talking to youth. “We can’t sit in the office and let parents or kids come to us,” he says. “We’ve got to get out in the neighborhoods to find out what we can do to help these kids be successful.”
The following Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity. This interview was conducted on Aug. 21, 2023.
The killing of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers obviously damaged the community’s trust in the police. What steps would you take to rebuild that trust?
Well, I think I agree with you — it damaged the trust with the community. I do not support a bad police officer, would not support a bad police officer. But it’s about being out in the community, talking with the public, getting them to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can work collectively to keep it from happening again. And so I think being accessible to the public, where they can actually ask one-on-one questions, and not always hashing it out through the media, but just being out there. So as sheriff, I’ve done that, and we’ll continue to do it.
How would you describe Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis’ performance as police chief?
Well, I think Chief Davis has had to learn the community and had to learn her agency. You know, I’ve been asked many times would I let her go if I was elected. I don’t think that’s fair. I think all city directors will be evaluated in my administration, and decisions will be made accordingly.
Was [her performance] worth an extra $50,000? (Davis received a sizable raise when a blanket pay increase for all MPD employees went into effect earlier this year.)
Well, that didn’t fall on my purview. I don’t know what the intention was to give her the extra $50,000. It was a 15 percent raise, so that’s what it equated to. So, I think that someone probably should have looked at the command staff, and I think it [the raise] was more for recruiting and frontline officers.
MPD has about 1,900 officers but says it needs 2,500. Do you agree 2,500 is the right number? If not, why not? And if so, how would you help add MPD officers?
I have 42 years experience. How would I go about doing our desk-to-duty plan? It’s taking some officers out of precincts, [taking] officers out of the public information office, and getting those officers back out on the streets. We have officers doing tasks that civilians could be doing — for instance, like fixing the SkyCop cameras.
In lieu of those officers out on patrol, it’s going to take two to three years to get to where the staffing levels need to be right now. We can’t wait that long. We don’t need the next mayor to need to have two to three years’ on-the-job training, trying to figure that out. So when you start talking about increasing the staffing levels, yes, desk to duty. But we can also do a better job in recruiting; you know, we need to look at states that have state income taxes or a high cost of living and entice those officers to move here to Memphis. We’ve got to do a better job of selling our city; we’ve got to work harder. Even when you start talking about our ad campaign, you know, the Best in Blue campaign has been around now for five or six years. It needs to be freshened up. We need to take a different approach, getting a professional management company to do those types of things for us. Let the professionals do what the professionals do.
Your proposed desk-to-duty transfer: How many people would that be?
We just have to take an overall look at the department, but we think it could be anywhere between 50 to 75 officers that we could actually put back out on the streets.
What would you say is the ideal number for the police force?
About 2,500 or 2,600.
August 21, 2023: Memphis, TN – Floyd Bonner sits for an interview at his campaign headquarters. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Currently, nearly 40 percent of the city of Memphis’ budget goes to police. Should residents expect that, under your administration, that share would go up, down, or stay the same?
We know that here in a couple of years, there’ll be a $50 million debt cliff* that will be re-occurring. So you know, there is money that will be coming to the city coffers to do different programs. Right now, even with the budget the way it is, you know, our police need more cars. We’re having officers that are having to wait for cars to come in so they can go out. So it’s some things in the police department that we need to fix. And right now, I can’t say that the budget would increase, but it’s certainly nice to stay where it’s at.
(*Editor’s note: The City of Memphis’ debt payments will fall by around $50 million in 2026.)
MPD is currently under a civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice, as you know. How do you plan to ensure that the Memphis Police Department treats all citizens fairly, which is what they’re going to be looking at?
This starts with the leadership. It starts at the top. But I welcome the DOJ investigation or anything where you have an outside second set of eyes to take a look at an organization to see if we are doing things the right way, or the systemic type of actions that need to be taken. So, we welcome the investigation. Now, the public needs to keep in mind also that it could take two to three years for them to come up with findings. And so, again, the next mayor needs to understand those findings and know how to make the proper adjustments in the police department.
Other than policing, per se, can you name three measures you would take to increase public safety?
We can always talk about intervention, first of all, to curb crime, to keep it from happening in the first place. But also with prevention. We need to provide jobs for our people, for young people, especially meaningful jobs. We talk about opportunity to youth, including the programs that are already in existence with the city. But we’ve got to ramp up these chances to get our young people involved, and we’ve got to hold parents accountable. And for the 20 percent, the ones that are committing the crime, we’ve got to have tougher rules. When you talk about the average time that a person convicted of aggravated assault is only five to seven years, we’ve got a close-up on loopholes in truth in sentencing. An aggravated assault is just a murder that didn’t get to happen.
What public safety solutions have you seen work in other cities that you might seek to implement here?
Well, I just read an article just the other day about curfews, juvenile curfews in D.C., as well as in Baltimore. They’re implementing curfews. And I think we’re missing an opportunity as well to enforce the curfew laws. I think it’s something that we really need to revisit. Again, it’s about holding parents accountable for their kids.
Some cities have tried to respond to mental health crises with first responders who aren’t police officers. Is that a solution you’re interested in exploring for Memphis? And if so, how would you fund it?
Mental health is a big concern for our public; we just received $2.7 million for our private pilot program to work with a hospital to take detainees that are already in the jail to get them the mental health evaluations they need, not only to get through the court system, but to get mental health evaluations and, hopefully, on the right track with medication that doctors deem necessary.
How do you plan to engage young people to help them avoid gangs and criminal activity?
Well, it’s all about intervention and prevention. At the sheriff’s office, we have a Crime Prevention Unit that offers over 40 different programs for our youth, but as the mayor, the mayor has to be accessible to juveniles. I grew up in Orange Mound and Westwood; a lot of the kids that are getting in trouble look like me. I can relate to those kids. And I think it would help just being a visible mayor being out and about and trying to talk to these kids. We have the conversations with the kids that are excelling, but I mean, we got to have conversations with kids in the neighborhood.
Any particular plans for doing that on a regular basis?
We can’t sit in the office and let parents or kids come to us. We’ve got to get out in the neighborhoods to find out what we can do to help these kids be successful.
Memphis always ranks poorly in its number of roadway deaths. Is there a way to make our streets safer without relying solely on increased enforcement by police?
I think you look at what some cities are doing with their traffic plans or roundabouts that you’re starting to see just a little bit in Memphis. I have relatives that live in the suburbs in Annapolis, where they have that, for example. But you’ve seen a lot of roundabouts, now, traffic patterns, changing, you know, you increase traffic enforcement, attention to red lights and things like that. We’re gonna have to take a long hard look at traffic patterns.
August 21, 2023: Memphis, TN – Floyd Bonner at his campaign headquarters. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Give me a realistic change you can facilitate to help reduce car theft and property theft.
My wife and I’ve raised two sons in this community. We were responsible for their actions and where they were, but these young people that are out there that are breaking in cars, we’ve got to get down to the root problem of that. That could be a food issue, it could be a homeless issue. We’ve got to find out what those issues are, and then change the trajectory of those kids.
Are you one of those who blames the state legislature for worsening gun problems with legislation that’s passed up there?
I think it did. I mean, I’d sit at a table with Gov. [Bill] Lee and talk to him about constitutional carry and what it means to this community. Urban areas are different from rural areas. And I don’t think an urban area in the state of Tennessee was happy with the change in the law. We had a permit system that was working; I even suggested to the governor to give it to the citizens for free. What we were trying to get done is a mixture of background checks, going to classes, learning how to operate a handgun. And I keep reading reports where citizens are shooting themselves, saying that they were cleaning their weapon and, you know, the gun went off. When you look at the kind of things that have happened since they did away with the permit, I mean, we all can say gun violence is really going up here and in the state of Tennessee.
Now, that also happens because people are carrying guns in their cars, and they’re leaving guns in their car. So when we start talking about deaths from motor vehicles, most of the time it’s not the change that you might leave in your ashtray these kids and young people are looking for, it’s weapons, even though they can buy a weapon now because the state law has changed, to where an 18-year-old can buy a gun. But many of these guns are illegal weapons.
Well, the guns are here, they’re on the street. What’s your best idea for getting them off the street?
Aggressive policing first of all. We’ve got to hold people accountable. But also we’ve got to change the mindset whereby we don’t have conflict resolution anymore in schools or anywhere. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen with the churches and pastors, community organizations that are willing to step up now and really get the message out as to how serious this is in our city. Because a lot of time our youth don’t understand the consequences of pulling the trigger on a weapon. So when you talk about trying to get them to get those guns out of their hands, then we’ve got to find a way to talk to them and get them to understand that violence is never the answer to anything, but also holding them, again, responsible and accountable for their actions.
You’ve mentioned your interest in a curfew. As specifically as possible, what kind of curfew would you imagine would work?
Well, the curfew that’s already on the books. But we gotta find those social services, agencies that would be willing to partner with us to handle juveniles. What you’re asking is for a parent or responsible person or guardian to come pick that child up. So many times I hear parents say, ‘Well, I didn’t know. I didn’t know where my child was. My child told me that they were at this place, and they actually wound up at this other place.’So again, you know, it’s about holding parents accountable, holding juveniles accountable. I think getting young people off the streets late at night, especially in the Beale Street area, which as we all know, is an adult entertainment center. A 15-year-old don’t need to be down on Beale Street after midnight.
At the opening of your campaign headquarters, you said we’ve got to unhandcuff the police officers and let the police do what the police need to do. What does that mean?
Well, that means we’ve got to show support to the police. I think some of the ordinances that were passed in talking with MPD officers, they feel demoralized. They feel like they can’t police. They feel like they’re being restricted …
(Editor’s note: Among other things, the city council ordinance directs police not to stop cars for low-level offenses, bans the use of unmarked cars and plainclothes officers from routine traffic stops, and mandates regularly reported data on traffic stops, arrests, and complaints.)
By the restrictions on pre-emptive steps taken by the city council? Which are now being considered by the county, you know …
Yes, yes, I do know. But if you read the orders, the county is only requesting, they’re not telling me that I have to do that. But we need things in place that when those kinds of things [police-involved killings such as Tyre Nichols’] happen, and they should never happen, but you have policy and procedure as well as the law, and what we saw with the five officers that were involved with that Tyre Nichols thing. I was in a forum just last week with the Chamber; their description was ‘five rogue officers.’ So if you’re saying five rogue officers, you’re not saying the entire police department, but you must have policy and procedures. And we saw it work effectively, those officers were immediately fired. And now they’re going through the justice system.
The assistant U.S. attorney says that it has received information indicating that the MPD may be using an approach to street enforcement that can result in violations of federal law, including racially discriminatory stops of Black people for minor violations? I think a lot of people are curious about racial profiling, as well. Is that a real problem?
I don’t know if there’s a real problem. But when you talk about a city that’s 65 percent or 60 percent African-American, policing is about data, where the crime is occurring, when it’s occurring and not necessarily who’s committing it. But you try to put yourself in those places where crime is occurring. So I don’t necessarily think it’s racial profiling. But with that higher percentage of African Americans, there is the possibility that more African Americans are going to be arrested … People in South Memphis want to feel safe, just like people in East Memphis and Germantown want to feel safe. So you let the data lead you to where the crime has occurred.
There’s been a lot of concern about the number of jail deaths that have occurred during your tenure. Is it fair to attribute the rise in such deaths to policies in the sheriff’s department? And can the number be reduced?
Now, when you start talking about jail deaths, there are people who were charged with DUI, were involved in an accident, but never came to jail. They died in the hospital. People come to jail with heart conditions. A lot of times, the people that come to jail, they’re not in the healthiest condition in the first place. These people, maybe, have never seen a doctor before. We’ve had kidney issues, people dying in the hospital under medical supervision. But it triggers on our account because they were an inmate at the jail, and they did not make bond. I had a case where one person was dying of cancer. He was in the last stages of cancer. We all knew that he was going down, and we talked to the jury about releasing him. But he died of cancer at Methodist University. And so we get tagged again. I think it is unfair what other candidates are saying, what other media outlets are saying, because no one ever asked us to go into detail about what’s actually going on in the jail.
There are 244 jails in the state of Tennessee, and only 41 or 42 report jail deaths. We self report; we’re [in] a small percentage that do [report jail deaths]. I think even Congress said that the DOJ needed to do a better job with getting jail death reports from all around the country. We don’t try to hide anything.
(Editor’s note:TheCommercial Appealreported that it began asking the sheriff’s office to release details of deaths in custody in 2020, but that it was only after a change in state law in 2022 requiring records to be kept and available for the public that the office provided a list.)
A recently announced plan to control crime Downtown envisions the sheriff’s department joining MPD and maintaining a blockade of sorts on vehicular traffic on weekend nights. Did you personally sign off on that plan?
I talked with Chief Davis last week several times about it but no, I did not sign off on it. There’s some other things that need to be done because when you push the traffic out and you keep it away from Downtown, you see what happens. Last weekend, kids went to Union and Pauline and shut down two businesses, the Burger King as well as the Exxon right there, because it was a gathering spot. So we’ve got to do more than just protect Downtown. Downtown is the front door to our city. But there are other areas in town that we cannot forget about.
If you are elected mayor, to what extent would you welcome direct participation by the sheriff’s department in the activities of the MPD?
That’s another misconception by the public, that the sheriff’s office doesn’t work inside the city limits. I still have a narcotics unit that does probably 95 percent of their work inside the city limits. Our gang unit does probably 95 percent of their work inside the city limits. Every day, our Fugitive Apprehension team, they’re working inside the city limits of Memphis.
When you start talking about us doing more, we are doing a lot. We are a full-service law enforcement office; we have to respond to calls in unincorporated Shelby County, as well as serve in 54 courtrooms.
I wish I had a force of 1,500. I think if I’m elected as mayor, we need the highway patrol down here on a permanent basis. We need them to come down here and be a constant presence on all of our state routes as well as the interstates. We need constant partnering with everyone that’s available.
MEMPHIS, TN - July 26, 2023: Ten of the nineteen candidates currently running for Memphis Mayor attended the Memphis Mayoral Forum hosted by the City of Memphis Office of Youth Services, Memphis Youth City Council, and Memphis Ambassadors Program at Christian Brothers University. (Photo: Brad Vest for MLK50)
As we approach one of the most momentous mayoral elections in Memphis’ history, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and the Memphis Flyer have partnered on a unique experiment. With public safety on the minds of the voters, we polled our readers to find out what questions they would ask the mayoral candidates, if they had a chance.
We received more than 130 responses, which our editorial teams boiled down into a set of common questions. Then, we chose the four leading candidates, based on a combination of polling and fundraising data.
Below are some highlights from Floyd Bonner, Willie Herenton, Van Turner, and Paul Young’s responses to your questions.
If you would like to see the candidates’ complete answers, the expanded interviews, edited for length and clarity, can be found on both memphisflyer.com and MLK50.com.
The killing of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers damaged the community’s trust in police. What steps would you take to rebuild that trust?
BONNER: It’s about being out in the community, talking with the public, getting them to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can work collectively to keep it from happening again.
Floyd Bonner (Photo: Andrea Morales for MLK50)
HERENTON: I’m going to bring back Blue CRUSH. … You’ve got to have specialized police units, but they’ve got to be well-trained. They’ve got to be appropriately selected. And you gotta have accountability. … What happened in the Tyre Nichols situation? They had a group of officers that didn’t have extensive tenure as police officers, and they lacked supervision. I would have an organizational structure with a chain of command providing appropriate oversight.
Willie Herenton (Photo: Andrea Morales for MLK50)
TURNER: We will have to make sure that the training and the leadership is appropriately in place to ensure this does not occur again. We need to get back to some of the community policing that we used to have when I was growing up in Whitehaven. … We had a relationship where, if we saw something, we said something, and we were not afraid to contact the authorities or law enforcement.
Van Turner (Photo: Brandon Dill for MLK50)
YOUNG: I think that the ordinances that were passed at City Council were a step in the right direction.
Paul Young (Photo: Brandon Dill for MLK50)
How would you describe Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis’ performance as police chief?
YOUNG: I think she’s done a good job. Obviously the incident with Tyre Nichols and the SCORPION unit and what appears to be a lack of oversight is something that she has to own. I think she has owned the mistakes and tried to do the things necessary to right the course, and that’s what leadership is about. … The visceral hate that we’re seeing in our community between residents and officers is something that only goes away when you build relationships, and the chief has to be the tip of the spear when it comes to making that happen.
BONNER: I’ve been asked many times, would I let her go if I was elected? I don’t think that’s fair. All city directors will be evaluated in my administration, and decisions will be made accordingly.
HERENTON: In all probability, she would not have been my choice. … From what I’ve read in the press and from what I’ve heard, there were some troubling issues in her past that I probably would have had to carefully weigh. If I could have identified an individual that had the competency level that I could trust with that leadership role, I would have selected from within.
TURNER: I thought she was good as far as being transparent on the release of the Tyre Nichols tape, and the reprimand and termination of those five officers. I think perhaps there’s some room for growth and accountability as it relates to the use of this tactical squad being used for just a mere traffic stop and not for something that it was organized to do: to take down maybe a drug operation, to go after the heavily armed bad guys that were going to have AR-15 rifles and shoot back. … To deploy a team like the team that was deployed in the death of Tyre Nichols was a failure of leadership. She should be held accountable for this even occurring.
MPD has about 1,900 officers, but says it needs 2,500. Do you agree 2,500 is the right number? If not, why not? If so, how would you look to help?
HERENTON: It’s going to be very difficult reaching that 2,500 goal because I will implement the highest standards. I think they’ve lowered the standards, which is troubling to me.
TURNER: I think 2,500 first responders is the right answer. I don’t know if they necessarily all have to be rank-and-file police officers. … We need a full complement of first responders, but I would suggest that perhaps 200 to 250 of those first responders should be comprised of specialty units and of specialty officers who can emphasize de-escalation, address mental health issues, address nonviolent, nonthreatening traffic stops, and address some of the domestic [violence] issues that we see. We really have to look at a comprehensive strategy to resolve crime more effectively in the community.
YOUNG: I agree. I don’t know that many people would disagree. … Just like we have training programs in high schools for the trades, we could introduce them to public safety careers. I think we obviously should continue to recruit from other cities. I want our officers to be the highest paid officers in the region. I want them to feel like the big dog: When you work in Memphis, you’re on the premier force. You’re going to have the most resources, you’re going to have the best equipment, and you’re going to have all the support that you need.
BONNER: It’s going to take two to three years to get to where the staffing levels need to be right now. We can’t wait that long. … How would I go about doing our desk-to-duty plan? It’s taking some officers out of precincts, out of the public information office, and getting those officers back out on the streets. We have officers doing tasks that civilians could be doing — for instance, fixing the SkyCop cameras.
Currently, nearly 40 percent of the city of Memphis’ budget goes to police. Should residents expect that, under your administration, that share would go up, down, or stay the same?
TURNER: My budget would likely be the same if you look at the whole spectrum of public safety. But I would like to increase the budget as it relates to prevention and investments in disinvested communities, disinvested youth, disinvested community centers. I think that’s where we really have to pour a robust allocation of our investments into because what we’re doing now is not working.
BONNER: Right now, even with the budget the way it is, our police need more cars. … So there’s some things in the police department that we need to fix. … I can’t say that the budget would increase, but it’s certainly nice to stay where it’s at.
YOUNG: You would see incremental increases as a result of increasing the number of staff, but I don’t see it going up significantly or going down significantly. In order to truly make our community safe, we have to find ways to make additional investments in public safety that’s not necessarily MPD.
MPD is currently under a civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice. How do you plan to ensure that the Memphis Police Department treats all citizens fairly?
HERENTON: It is clear to me that we need to fix the culture of MPD. I’m committed to doing that. I know exactly how to get the culture straightened out and to make sure that we have transparency. We’ll have accountability, and we’ll have constitutional policing.
TURNER: We go to each community — and I mean each and every community — and we listen. … We focus on training and we make sure that our most senior officers are being utilized more than what they’re being utilized now. There were no senior officers [there] the night of the murder of Tyre Nichols, that was a misstep and a problem. … Third, we have to focus on recruiting the right individuals with the correct temperament, the right mind to serve and protect.
What public safety solutions have you seen work in other cities that you would seek to implement here?
YOUNG: Pittsburgh re-trained their officers on how to engage on police stops. They talk about the weather and make small talk to disarm. They do that to reduce the likelihood of a negative encounter. In Omaha, they put together a coalition of people from different agencies focused on holistic public safety. They’re using data to identify the young people that need other interventions, and they have a host of programs that are able to engage those young people when they’ve been identified.
Some cities have tried to respond to mental health crises with first responders who aren’t police officers. Is that a solution you’re interested in exploring for Memphis?
HERENTON: A lot of individuals out here have all kinds of mental disabilities that the policemen, if they’re not well trained, don’t know how to recognize. You have to broaden the training because they are running into some mental health issues that need to be addressed.
TURNER: I think that there’s a role for individuals who have that type of expertise to be used by law enforcement and by fire. Oftentimes, EMTs are first on the scene and there are issues that they have to address which concern mental illness. And they’re not equipped to do so. … We need a unit that will do it, that will travel with fire and police and make sure that mental health issues don’t result in death.
YOUNG: I’ve talked to people that have done it. The challenge you find is that when you have individuals responding to an intense scene or somebody’s having a mental health episode, with the proliferation of guns in our community, you still need a trained officer. Can we send mental health workers out with officers? Yes. Sending them out alone? No, I don’t think that’s wise.
How do you plan to engage with young people, to help them avoid gangs and criminal activity?
BONNER: It’s all about intervention and prevention. At the sheriff’s office, we have a Crime Prevention Unit that offers over 40 different programs for our youth. … We can’t sit in the office and let parents or kids come to us. We’ve got to get out in the neighborhoods to find out what we can do to help these kids be successful.
TURNER: A kid that joins a gang is looking for love, looking for acceptance, looking for protection, looking for a community. They find that in the gang because it’s not at home, it’s not at church, it’s not on the football team. You really have to disrupt that pattern of the gangs preying on these vulnerable youth because once they get ahold of them, it’s hard for them to let go, and it’s hard for that young person to get out of it. So we have to step in before the gangs get to them and provide that positive community for them. That’s why [I like] the Boys & Girls Club; it’s a positive community.
Memphis always ranks poorly in the number of roadway deaths. How would you help make our streets safer without relying solely on increased MPD enforcement?
YOUNG: We need drivers to be informed that the public right of way isn’t just for cars. It’s for people. People walk, they bike, and they drive cars. We need public service announcements that remind people that they have to share the roads. We also should be exploring design solutions.
BONNER: You increase traffic enforcement, attention to red lights, and things like that. We’re gonna have to take a long hard look at traffic patterns.
HERENTON: I’ve never seen the level of reckless driving, inappropriate driving behavior, as I’m seeing on the expressway and streets. I’m so happy to see the increased level of Highway Patrol in our city. I will support that 100 percent — to increase the presence of highway patrolmen. They do it right.
As mayor, what is a measure you would take to reduce car break-ins and theft?
TURNER: Part of addressing the issues is to not only require a permit to have a gun on your person, but require permits to have guns in your cars. Many times, they’re looking for guns and other valuables. … The uptick occurred when we allowed guns in cars without a permit, and every law enforcement person in the state was against what the assembly was doing. … You disrupt how they make money off of what they’re doing. You use good detective work, good policing to break up the chop shops.
BONNER: My wife and I’ve raised two sons in this community. We were responsible for their actions and where they were, but these young people that are out there that are breaking in cars, we’ve got to get down to the root problem of that. That could be a food issue; it could be a homeless issue. We’ve got to find out what those issues are, and then change the trajectory of those kids.
YOUNG: I had an opportunity to sit on a town hall panel with NLE Choppa a few months ago, and there was a young person who said he liked stealing cars. I asked why. He said, “I’m bored and I need some money.” Those are things we should be solving for! We have to find ways to engage youth, have them earn money, and have fun.
HERENTON: There’s some brands of cars that are [more] susceptible to car thieves than others. In fact, I think I read that our current mayor was joining with some other mayors who’re talking about suing automakers who make cars so easy to be stolen.
As mayor, what is a measure you would take to help get guns off the street?
BONNER: Aggressive policing, first of all. We’ve got to hold people accountable. But also, we’ve got to change the mindset whereby we don’t have conflict resolution anymore in the schools or anywhere. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen with the churches and pastors, community organizations that are willing to step up now and really get the message out as to how serious this is in our city. Because a lot of time our youth don’t understand the consequences of pulling the trigger on a weapon. So when you talk about trying to get those guns out of their hands, we’ve got to find a way to talk to them and get them to understand that violence is never the answer to anything, but also holding them, again, responsible and accountable for their actions.
HERENTON: I think that the legislative body in Tennessee is going to have to exercise more accountability and responsibility as we look at gun violence and gun control. So I’m for a lot of the reform measures, but within the powers of the executive branch, which the mayor is in. We just have to operate within the confines of the Constitution and state legislature.
TURNER: Obviously, talking to the Tennessee General Assembly won’t work. When the states have failed us in the past, we’ve turned to the federal government. As a civil rights attorney, that’s what I’ll do. I will support litigation to make sure that we at least put all the issues on the table. … I will seek an injunction in federal court, and I know what would likely happen. But the important thing is that we will create a record. We will have experts who will have testimony. We’ll get all those folks on the stand who’ve been ill-affected by gun violence. And then we’ll take that record to the U.S. Congress and we’ll ask for the United States Congress and for the president to give us relief. We’ve had a ban on assault weapons before. It can happen again. We should not give up on this issue.
YOUNG: Gun buyback programs — making sure people are turning those things in. And making sure we address illegal guns. When people commit crimes with those types of weapons, we should make sure there’s a higher penalty.
Van Turner speaks at his
weekend HQ opening. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
We have reached a point in the mayoral contest that, if not yet the stretch drive itself, is about to get there.
The candidates with money are beginning to spend it on TV ads (Floyd Bonner, Paul Young, Van Turner, and J.W. Gibson all had fresh spots running last week) and yard signs (certain well-traveled thruways — think South Parkway and Walnut Grove, as two examples — are sprouting them like mushrooms). And, be advised, slickly printed mail-outs, in which the aspirants view themselves with pride and unlucky opponents with alarm, will soon be filling up your mailbox.
They’ve already gotten busy doing what, in athletic contexts, is called trash-talking. They’ve all done their calculations and have determined who among their adversaries can safely be ignored and who needs to be cut down to size.
Examples: Two weeks ago, when businessman Gibson opened his campaign headquarters, he not only boasted his own native-son credentials but was the beneficiary of a question voiced out loud by a key supporter, Reverend LaSimba Gray: “Mr. Gibson, you didn’t have to move to Memphis to run for mayor, did you?”
Gibson himself may or may not have been in on that one, but he certainly beamed to hear it said. The jibe was clearly aimed at two Gibson opponents, Bonner and Turner, both recently residents of the outer county, who had to weather a short-lived mandate from the Election Commission which, before being struck down in court, required of mayoral candidates a long-term presence within the city limits.
And on more than one occasion of late, candidate Michelle McKissack has called attention to the matter of what she — and various others — consider an undue number of inmate deaths in the county jail on Sheriff Bonner’s watch. The issue seems likely to keep on bedeviling Bonner, who, coincidentally or not, is widely considered a frontrunner in the race.
Candidate Turner, who until recently headed the local NAACP and is a former Democratic Party chair, has been making the most of his ideological convictions, and, at his weekend headquarters opening, publicly lamented what he saw as the apostasy of fellow Democrats Paul Young, the Downtown Memphis Commission CEO, and Bonner, both high-odds contenders with plenty of late-campaign cash.
“How you vote and what you’ve done in the past makes a difference,” said Turner. “We have one candidate who voted Republican at a time when we needed everybody in this country to support Hillary [Clinton]. Because we did not support Hillary we have a renegade Supreme Court. … I appreciate what Mr. Young has done in the city, but he was wrong on that. You have to be committed to this call and not work the other side and compromise.”
Turner’s reference was to Young’s past decision to vote in three Republican primaries, including the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
And Turner continued: “Another candidate, Mr. Floyd Bonner, has been supported by the Republican Party.” He likely was referencing the 2022 county election when Bonner, the Democratic nominee, was unopposed by the GOP and endorsed by key local Republicans.
The upshot, according to Turner: “We cannot allow this opportunity to take Memphis forward to take us back. We need progressives working for this city and working to make the city better.” “… And working to help me win,” was the unspoken quiet part.
Floyd Bonner, here receiving Sheriff of the Year award last week from Tennessee Sheriffs’
Association, is one of several mayoral candidates hopeful of getting GOP votes in October. (Photo: Courtesy Floyd Bonner)
UPDATED: As is generally known, Memphis city elections are not subject to partisan voting. There are no primaries allowing our local Republicans and Democrats to nominate a candidate to carry the party banner.
Nor, in the case of citywide office (mayor or council super districts 8 and 9), does there exist machinery for a runoff election when no candidate for those offices commands a majority of the general election vote.
There are runoff circumstances for districts 1 through 7, each of them a single district contributing to the pastiche of city government, by electing, in effect, a council member to serve a smaller geographical area or neighborhood.
The aforementioned super districts encompass the entire city. Each of them, in theory, represents a half of the city’s population — the western half being predominantly Black, as of 1991, when the first super-district lines were drawn, the eastern half being largely white. (Though population has meanwhile shifted, those distinctions are still more or less accurate.)
Runoffs are prohibited in the super districts as well as in mayoral elections in the city at large because, in the Solomonic judgment of the late U.S. District Judge Jerome Turner, who devised this electoral system in response to citizen litigation, that’s how things should be divided in order to recognize demographic realities while at the same time discouraging efforts to exploit them.
Each citizen of Memphis gets to vote for four council members, one representing the single district of their residence, the other three representing the half of the city in which their race is predominant. Runoffs are permitted in the smaller single districts, where racial factors do not loom either divisive or decisive, while they are prohibited in the larger areas, where, in theory, voters of one race could rather easily league together to elect one of their own (as whites commonly did in the historic past).
Mayoral elections are winner-takes-all, and Willie Herenton’s victory in 1991 as the first elected Black mayor is regarded as having been a vindication of the system.
Got all that?
Yes, it’s a hodgepodge, but it’s what we’ve still got, even though Blacks, a minority then, are a majority now. And, in fact, race is irrelevant in the 2023 mayor’s race, there being no white candidate still participating with even a ghost of a chance of winning.
Political party is the major remaining “it” factor, and the failure of either party to call for primary voting in city elections has more or less nullified it as a direct determinant of the outcome.
But, with the withdrawal last week from the mayoral race of white Republican candidates Frank Colvett and George Flinn, speculation has become rampant as to who, among the nominal Democrats still in the race, might inherit the vote of the city’s Republicans.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner, whose law-and-order posture is expected to appeal to the city’s conservatives?
Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young, who has several prior Republican primary votes on his record in non-city elections?
Businessman J.W. Gibson, who once was a member of the local Republican steering committee?
Only NAACP president Van Turner and former Mayor Herenton, among serious candidates, are exempt from such speculation, both regarded as being dyed-in-the-wool Democrats.
In a close election, the disposition of the Republican vote, estimated to be 24 percent of the total, could be crucial.
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.
