Tag: Government

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Facebook Inc. Faces Multi-State Lawsuit

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

On Wednesday, December 9th, Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III brought Tennessee into a bipartisan national coalition of 48 attorneys general filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook Inc. stifles competition to protect its business interests, classifying the multi-billion-dollar company as a monopoly. Specifically, the coalition argues that Facebook Inc. has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, in addition to multiple violations of Section 7 in the Clayton Act.

Throughout the lawsuit, the bipartisan coalition alleges that Facebook illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner, while cutting services to smaller rival platforms in an attempt to deprive their competitions users of benefits. The lawsuit also alleges that the tech giant reduced privacy protection and services during its rapid rise as a way of creating barriers for newer tech companies attempting to enter the market.

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“This vast coalition of Democrats and Republicans agree — Facebook’s unlawful behavior is reducing choice, stifling innovation, and degrading privacy protections,” said General Slatery. “This lawsuit stands up for millions of Americans and small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook.”

Facebook Inc.’s business strategies have been criticized by others in the past. Though Facebook has operated as a “free” personal social networking service since 2004, they have been known to use a variety of methods to forge what their founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and controlling shareholder Mark Zuckerberg calls a “competitive moat” around the company. Methods have included outright buying smaller rivals and tucking them under the Facebook name or the suppression of third-party developers from utilizing the Facebook platform.

One of the key problems pointed to in the lawsuit is the alleged overarching reach that the tech giant has over its competition’s advertising opportunities and its users’ personal data. The bipartisan coalition argues that, through Facebook’s rapid acquisition of smaller rivals and dominance over advertising, the site is able to make decisions about what content users see and what users don’t see while also using users’ personal data to further their business interests. They also argue that the elimination of potential rivals has created a system in which no group can compete with Facebook.

Through the lawsuit, the coalition plans to halt Facebook Inc.’s expansion by restraining the company from making further acquisitions valued at or in excess of $10 million without first notifying the states included in the lawsuit and to divestiture or restructure what the coalition of state attorney generals are calling “illegally acquired companies” and current Facebook assets or business lines.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also filed a lawsuit in coordination with the bi-partisan coalition levying their own set of charges. The full coalition lawsuit can be read here.

Categories
Cover Feature News

2020 Vision

There’s no turning back now. The decade’s in the rearview, and our eyes are set on what’s to come in 2020 — in politics, sports, film, music, and more. Happy New Year, Memphis!

CannaBeat

Medical cannabis died in Tennessee in April. Well, a bill that would have allowed it did anyway.

But the sponsor of that bill, Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), told The Daily Memphian in June that he intended to bring the bill back to the Tennessee General Assembly in 2020. The strategy to pass it may change, he said. He and House sponsor Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro) plan to reroute the bill through the legislative process, avoiding committees with members unfriendly to medical cannabis.

Terry, chairman of the House Health committee, issued a formal invitation to actor Michael J. Fox in December to appear before the committee during the 2020 session to talk about his foundation’s work to support expanding research on medical cannabis.

A September poll of influential Tennesseans found that many across the state were in favor of loosening cannabis laws. “In Memphis and Nashville, clear majorities favor making it completely legal for both medicinal and recreational use [57 percent and 58 percent respectively],” according to the Power Poll. About 29 percent of those polled in Memphis thought cannabis should be legal for medical purposes. Only 15 percent thought it should not be legalized at all.

There will be one major change for the possibility of cannabis legislation in 2020. In November, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would legalize marijuana on the federal level. — Toby Sells

Gaydar

When lawmakers return to Nashville in 2020, they’ll also consider a slate of bills against the LGBTQ+ community called the “Slate of Hate” by the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP).

The recurring anti-transgender student bathroom bill would give state legal support to public school districts that experiment with anti-transgender student policies. An adoption discrimination bill would make private adoption/foster care agencies eligible for tax dollars, even if those agencies decide to turn away potential parents because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious views.

A business license bill would prevent local governments from favoring businesses with inclusive policies in their contracting. The so-called “God-Given Marriage Initiative” may emerge here in 2020. It would end marriage licensing and replace it with a man and a woman registering their marriage contract with the state. — TS

A rendering of the MRPP-helmed redesign of Tom Lee Park

Memphis in May/ Tom Lee Park

The sounds of music and the smell of barbecue will again rise from Tom Lee Park in May 2020.

It’s one stipulation of the mediation between the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) and Memphis in May International Festival (MIM). The mediation ended in December, closing months of talks between the two groups over a redesign of the park proposed by MRPP in February. MIM officials feared the new design would not allow enough space for its festivals in the park.

The festivals will be moved to another location in 2021, however. Tom Lee will close after the festivals in 2020 for the construction of the park’s many new features. — TS

Marc Pegan

Avant-garde jazz ensemble The Dopolarians

Music

Shopping around for a New Year’s resolution? Here’s one that will have a ripple effect: Get out to see more live music. Compared to the late 20th century, this is a veritable Golden Age of venues and performers for Memphis. And the list keeps growing.

Consider New Year’s Eve at what may be both the newest and the oldest club in town, Hernando’s Hide-A-Way. Co-owner Dale Watson and his Lone Stars often hold court there, as they will on the last night of the year, recording a live album to boot. But there are plenty of other national acts already taking advantage of this mid-sized venue, intimate yet spacious, swanky yet country.

Piper Ferguso

Booker T. Jones

If 2019 was the year that Crosstown Theater reached cruising altitude and the Green Room at Crosstown really came into its own, the year to come looks to continue that upswing. At the former space, January 18th will witness a homecoming show of sorts for the great Booker T. Jones. Those who saw him speak at Stax in November got a taste of his new album; now Memphians can hear that album and more, live and in the moment. As a perfect contrast, acclaimed avant-garde jazz ensemble The Dopolarians, boasting two Memphis-associated players and some elder legends of the genre, will play the Green Room on February 7th.

In the classical realm, watch for the remainder of the Iris Orchestra’s season at both GPAC and the Brooks Museum, starting with their performance of “Spoonfuls,” pianist Conrad Tao’s new work in honor of Memphis’ bicentennial, on January 25th. Meanwhile at the Cannon Center, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra will feature Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and a Marimba Concerto by Abe, among other works, as they continue their season from January through April.

The city’s newest club, The Lounge at 3rd & Court, promises to be the jazz viper den that many in the city have longed for, often featuring guitar great Joe Restivo and band. And then there are the unsurpassed standby clubs for rock, country, and jazz, which continue to feature original music: Bar DKDC, Lafayette’s Music Room, Wild Bill’s, B-Side, Hi Tone, Minglewood Hall, Murphy’s, Lamplighter, Blue Monkey, and many others, including the ever-reliable Beale Street. Get out there and keep it alive! — Alex Greene

The Memphis City Council moves into 2020 with six new members

City Council

The Memphis City Council will move into 2020 with six new members. This is the first time five African-American women will sit on the council together. Councilwoman Patrice Robsinson will chair the group in 2020, with Frank Colvett Jr. serving as vice chairman.

Jeff Warren, Rhonda Logan, Chase Carlisle, Edmund Ford Sr., Michalyn Easter-Thomas, and J.B. Smiley Jr. will join the council next year.

“We’re going to make a better Memphis as a team,” Robinson said of the new council.

After approving Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) rate hikes for water and gas at its last meeting of the year, the council will return to the issue of electric rate hikes in 2020. Beginning in July, MLGW customers’ bills will go up $2.23 if no rate increase is approved for electric.

MLGW proposed increasing electric rates by a total of $9 for the average customer. The council voted this move down, prompting the MLGW board to reconsider their proposal. The council will consider MLGW’s new proposed increase once the utility’s board comes up with the new numbers. — Maya Smith

Bikes

Next year the city is slated to add about 20 miles of new bike facilities, says Nicholas Oyler, the city’s bikeway and pedestrian program manager. One new bike facility will be the completion of the Hampline in early 2020. This is a project nine years in the making that will connect the Shelby Farms Greenline to Overton Park.

In other bike news, the city will get 500 new federally funded bike racks primarily located near existing bus stops to “encourage synergy between using transit and bicycling for the last- and first-mile connections,” Oyler says. — MS

Police Surveillance

Later this year, U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla will decide what to do with the 1978 Kendrick consent decree that prevents police surveillance by the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

McCalla ruled last year that the city and MPD had violated the decree and imposed sanctions. Since then, a court-appointed monitor team has been working with the police department on improving its adherence to the decree and developing policies and procedures related to the decree. At a final evidentiary hearing scheduled for June, the court will decide if the decree should be modified, and, if so, how.

In the meantime, the monitor team and MPD are in the process of finalizing updated social media and training policies for MPD, which are subject to the court’s approval. Additionally, the monitor team will organize focus groups in early 2020 to hear more from the community on the consent decree. — MS

Larry Kuzniewski

Coach Penny Hardaway points the way to Tiger victory

Sports

The new year — new decade — in Memphis sports will be unlike any we’ve seen before. Such is the case every year, of course, as the sports world remains among life’s few truly unscripted delights. Perhaps, even without the recently departed James Wiseman, the Tigers will will make a deep NCAA tournament run. Perhaps Ja Morant returns to full health and dribble-drives his way to the NBA’s Rookie of the Year trophy. Perhaps the University of Memphis football team finds a way to top its 2019 season. Okay, let’s be realistic …

Penny Hardaway’s Tigers will regain center stage with conference play, his program seeking a first American Athletic Conference championship. The nation’s top freshman class — prior to Wiseman’s departure — will find its biggest test come tournament time in March. (Memphis hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2014.)

The Ja and Jaren era is upon us with Grizzlies basketball, Mr. Morant and Mr. Jackson having become the faces of a franchise now climbing back toward playoff relevance in a Western Conference top-heavy with superstars, most notably those playing for the two Los Angeles franchises. Still shy of his 21st birthday, Morant could become only the second Grizzly to earn top-rookie honors (and the first since Pau Gasol raised the hardware in 2002).

Spring could bring one of the top prospects in baseball to AutoZone Park. Outfielder Dylan Carlson earned the St. Louis Cardinals’ Minor League Player of the Year honor for 2019, primarily for his performance at Double-A Springfield. The 21-year-old slugger will compete for a spot on the Cardinals’ major-league roster in March but will more than likely fine-tune his swing in Memphis with the Redbirds before making his big-league debut.

901 FC will take the pitch (pardon the pun) at AutoZone Park for its second season in the USL Championship. The Bluff City’s new soccer outfit went 9-18-7 in its first season, making up in fan-base passion what it may have lacked in finishing ability. With the likes of Louisville City FC and Birmingham Legion FC to catch in the standings, regional rivalries are already growing, gas to the fire for the local futbol faithful.

As for football, American style, the Memphis Tigers will have to follow-up on the finest season in program history, one that ended with an American Athletic Conference championship and an appearance in the prestigious Cotton Bowl. A new coach will be on the sideline, Mike Norvell having taken his stellar four-year mark (38-15) to Florida State. Star running back Kenneth Gainwell will return to spark the offense, which suggests winning won’t be a thing of the past at the Liberty Bowl. Since 2014, the Tigers are 35-5 at home.— Frank Murtaugh

Jackson Baker

Bill Lee

Politics

It may well be that, as politics takes its course in 2020, the nation’s currently beleaguered president, Donald J. Trump, will survive a vote of confidence this year, as, locally, Mayor Jim Strickland did at the city polls in 2019 and Governor Bill Lee’s program probably will with the legislature. But advance polling always had Strickland comfortably ahead of his rivals, and a just-concluded Vanderbilt University poll of state voters has given first-termer Lee a 62-percent approval rating. Trump, uniquely, has never been over the 50-percent mark — not even in 2016, when Hillary Clinton actually out-polled him nationally. Trump’s only sure win would seem to be in the GOP-dominated Senate, over the sudden-death matter of impeachment.

And Republican numerical domination, not popular demand nor irresistible logic, will empower the Governor’s prospects in the General Assembly. But not necessarily. It is famously (or infamously) true that Lee’s controversial bill to permit private school vouchers (or “education savings accounts,” in the euphemism of the day) passed by a single vote in the state House and only by means of highly devious wheeling and dealing and overtime arm-twisting on the part of the since-disgraced GOP Speaker Glen Casada, who was later forced into resigning. The new Republican Speaker, Cameron Sexton, is a sworn foe of vouchers and has indicated that, at the very least, he’d like to delay the onset of ESAs, which are due to be imposed (take that, you blue bailiwicks!) only on Shelby and Davidson Counties.

In the long run, Democrats are hoping for a swing of the electoral pendulum that could bring them more of the incremental suburban vote gains that got them close to a couple of major legislative upsets in Shelby County in 2018. The expected large Democratic vote in the presidential election will be helpful in that regard. The timing of vouchers, health care, and the question of freeing up TANF (temporary assistance for needy families) will be on the agenda in Nashville, as will, very likely, the return of the “fetal heartbeat” anti-abortion measure.

A U.S. Senate race will be on the statewide marquee, with primary races in both major parties. The Republican winner will be heavily favored. In city politics, it will be interesting to see if the development community’s hold on the Council will be loosened by the addition of some of the grassroots winners from the October election. In Shelby County politics, Mayor Lee Harris is on again/off again on solidarity with the County Commission. It is universally assumed that he is looking ahead to a future-tense congressional race, but in the meantime he has seemingly (and sensibly) committed himself to some center-left populism focused on wage equity and minority/women-owned business enterprises advances.

Former Shelby County Democratic chairman Corey Strong will meanwhile take a crack at the 9th district Congressional seat now held by long-running Democratic monolith Steve Cohen. — Jackson Baker

Film

No doubt the biggest story in the Memphis film scene for 2020 will be the opening of the new Indie Memphis Cinema. Just before 2019’s annual film festival, Malco Theaters struck a deal with the nonprofit to turn over operation of one of the screens at Studio on the Square in Midtown’s Overton Square.

Malco will be renovating the aging Studio to bring it up to the standards set by Malco Powerhouse (read: new seats and a greatly expanded food and drink program) this winter and spring. Then, Indie Memphis will begin daily showings of the acclaimed films from the festival circuit and repertory offerings that have populated their increasingly popular weekly screenings.

This will be a sea change for film fans in Memphis. The Malco Ridgeway Cinema Grill has built a steady audience with sophisticated, non-blockbuster offerings in East Memphis, but this new arrangement will mark the beginning of a true art house in the Bluff City. The seeds of Indie Memphis were sown in the mid-1990s with an effort to build such a theater in Midtown before morphing into a festival, so this new cinema is the realization of a long-term dream.

2020 will be the year the mainstream industry fully faces Disney’s market dominance. Since the acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the House of Mouse is now set to control almost half of the total global box office. Their slate for 2020 is a mixed bag. In February, Fox Searchlight drops Wendy, a retelling of the Peter Pan story from the heroine’s POV, and 20th will offer an adaption of Call of the Wild with Harrison Ford that looks promising. March begins with Pixar’s urban fantasy Onward and ends with the live-action remake of Mulan, which looks to have slightly more reason to exist than the flaccid Aladdin. In April, Marvel takes a mulligan on the last X-Men film with The New Mutants, then the long-anticipated Black Widow premieres on May Day. Pixar’s second film of the year is Soul in June, a musical by Inside Out director Pete Docter. In the fall, expect Marvel’s The Eternals and Disney Animation’s Raya and the Last Dragon.

Studios not named Disney also have anticipated offerings. Robert Downey Jr. will talk to animals in his first post-Iron Man role as Dr. Doolittle in January, which will go up against Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Bad Boys for Life. In February, Warner Brothers will again attempt to make a watchable DC comic book movie with the Margo Robbie-led Birds of Prey, and the cringeworthy Sonic the Hedgehog will face a horror adaptation of Fantasy Island from Blumhouse. In March, Paramount will try to replicate a sleeper hit with A Quiet Place Part II. Daniel Craig will strap on the Walther PPK for the last time as James Bond in No Time to Die. June is stacked with the return of Diana Prince in Wonder Woman 1984, Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, and the Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned musical In the Heights. In July is Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which will reunite the original cast, and the Kristen Wiig road trip comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

Speaking of reuniting the original cast, in August, Bill and Ted Face the Music brings back Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as the Wyld Stallyns. Edgar Winter takes a swing at psychological horror with Last Night in Soho. In October, Kenneth Branagh does Death on the Nile, and Jamie Lee Curtis returns for Halloween Kills. The biggest film weekend of the year looks to be the titanic matchup on December 18th, when Dennis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic Dune, Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, Columbia’s adaptation of the Uncharted game franchise, and Memphis’ own Craig Brewer directing Eddie Murphy in Coming 2 America battle for box office supremacy. See you at the movies. — Chris McCoy

P/K/M Architects

Rendering of the proposed new South of Beale

Food

There’s no doubt that big things are going to happen in 2020, and many of us — myself included — may find ourselves stress-eating or self-medicating with food. With that said, Memphis foodies have a lot to look forward to in the year ahead, including more French food, riverfront views, and even a brand-new brewery. Cheers!

Out east, the fine dining establishment Erling Jensen: The Restaurant will undergo an expansion in early 2020, more than doubling the size of its bar menu and dining room. East Memphis will also welcome a new crab restaurant when The Juicy Crab opens a new location in a 7,200-square-foot space in the Eastgate Shopping Center.

In the suburbs, Slim Chickens plans to open a second location in Collierville in late spring at the corner of Poplar and Maynard Way, and Wing Guru is expanding to new locations in Collierville and Hernando, Mississippi. Their current locations can be found on Mt. Moriah in Memphis and on Stage Road in Bartlett.

Downtown, Memphis’ newest brewery, Soul & Spirits Brewery, will open in the Uptown neighborhood at 845 N. Main. Owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Blair Perry and Ryan Allen, the brewery will likely focus on traditional German-style beers “inspired by the diverse music culture of Memphis” (per their Facebook page).

South of Beale, Memphis’ first gastropub, will move to a new location. The new venue, located on the first floor of the old Ambassador building, will open in the spring at 345 S. Main.

Memphis chefs Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer will bring a taste of Europe Downtown when Bishop, in the Central Station Hotel, has its grand opening in January. After a soft launch in December, the French restaurant will be fully open in January serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Also Downtown, One Beale finally broke ground in 2019 and has a projected completion date in 2020. Besides apartments and hotels, the massive development project will include a new riverfront restaurant and a rooftop whiskey bar with indoor and outdoor seating.

As that project comes closer to completion, another project will begin: Construction on Union Row is projected to start in 2020, and the plans include a few new restaurants and a hotel overlooking AutoZone Park.

In keeping with the Downtown hotel boom, Memphis’ first Aloft Hotel will also open at 161 Jefferson in the summer of 2020. The hotel will include a full-service restaurant and the brand’s signature WXYZ bar. — Lorna Field

Categories
Special Sections

Government

Note: All area codes are 901

GENERAL INFORMATION

ALL EMERGENCIES: 911

CORRECT TIME AND WEATHER: 526-5261.

GENERAL INFORMATION: 415-2700 (LINC, Memphis/Shelby County Public Library’s information and referral system).

WEATHER: 544-0399, National Weather Service.
srh.noaa.gov/meg.

HOTLINES

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: 454-1414, memphis-aa.org

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU: 759-1300, midsouth.bbb.org

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: 543-7120

COCAINE ANONYMOUS: 725-5010. 800-662-4357,
ca.org/phones.html

DEAF INTERPRETING: 577-3783

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: 458-1515,
mscema.org

EMERGENCY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE: 577-9400,
samhsa.gov (Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration).

FAMILY LINK / RUNAWAY SHELTER: 725-6911 or
youthvillages.org, 276-SAFE

FRIENDS FOR LIFE / AIDS SWITCHBOARD: 278-2437,
friendsforlifecorp.org

POISON EMERGENCIES: 528-6048, 800-288-9999 (TN only), 800-222-1222. aapcc.org (American Association of Poison Control Centers)

RAPE CRISIS / MEMPHIS SEXUAL ASSAULT RESOURCE CENTER: 272-2020, rainn.org (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).

SUICIDE AND CRISIS INTERVENTION: 274-7477,
mhsanctuary.com/suicide/

TEEN DRUG HOTLINE: 527-3784.

VETERANS COUNSELING CENTER: 544-0173, va.gov/rcs/

YWCA ABUSED WOMEN’S HOTLINE: 725-4277,
memphisywca.org

CLEAN-UP/SANITATION

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: 576-6722. For new garbage service: 576-6851, cityofmemphis.org

COMMUNITY SERVICES

AGING COMMISSION OF THE MID-SOUTH (formerly Delta Area Agency on Aging): 324-6333, agingcommission.org

CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING: 726-6404, mcil.org/mcil

CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOODS: 636-6592

METROPOLITAN INTER-FAITH ASSOCIATION (MIFA): 527-0208, mifa.org

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT SECURITY: 800-344-8337
tennessee.gov/labor-wfd/esdiv.html

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION: 544-0115, eeoc.gov

CITY GOVERNMENT

CITY GOVERNMENT INFORMATION: 576-6500,
cityofmemphis.org

PUBLIC SERVICES INFORMATION: 576-6564

CITY COUNCIL OFFICE: 576-6786

CITY MAYOR’S OFFICE: 576-6000

CITY TREASURER/TAXES: 576-6306

COMPLAINTS/MAYOR’S CITIZEN SERVICE CENTER: 576-6500

PARK SERVICES (FORMERLY PARK COMMISSION): 576-4200

PUBLIC WORKS: 576-6742

COUNTY GOVERNMENT

INFORMATION: 545-5000, shelbycountytn.gov

COMPLAINTS/COUNTY ASSISTANCE CENTER: 545-4584

COUNTY ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY: 379-7303,
assessor.shelby.tn.us/content.

COUNTY COMMISSION: 545-4301

COUNTY MAYOR’S OFFICE: 545-4500

COUNTY TRUSTEE/TAXES: 521-1829, shelbycountytrustee.com

JUVENILE COURT: 405-8400
PUBLIC SERVICE: 576-6564

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION: 333-3520. fda.gov

HEAD START: 922-0700, tnheadstart.org

HEALTH DEPARTMENT: 544-7600

HUMAN SERVICES: 576-6503, cityofmemphis.org

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: 800-772-1213, ssa.gov

TENNCARE: 800-342-3145, tennessee.gov/tenncare/

HOUSING/REGULATIONS

BUILDING PERMITS: 379-4200

HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: 576-7300

HOUSING AUTHORITY: 544-1100

LANDMARKS COMMISSION: 576-7191

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT: 576-6619

OTHER AGENCIES/ORGANIZATIONS

ARTSMEMPHIS: 578-2787,
artsmemphis.org

CENTER CITY COMMISSION: 575-0540,
downtownmemphis.com

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MEMPHIS REGIONAL: 543-3500, memphischamber.com

CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU, MEMPHIS: 543-5300. memphistravel.com

COUNTY ARCHIVES, SHELBY COUNTY: 545-4356,
memphislibrary.org/history/archiv1.htm
CORPS OF ENGINEERS: 785-6055, mvm.usace.army.mil

ELECTION COMMISSION: 545-2600, shelbyvote.com

FBI: 747-4300, memphis.fbi.gov

HEALTH & PEST CONTROL: 324-5547, gmapca.com

IRS: 800-829-3676, irs.gov

JURY COMMISSION, SHELBY COUNTY: 545-4065

LIBRARIES, MEMPHIS & SHELBY COUNTY: 415-2700,
memphislibrary.lib.tn.us

PASSPORT OFFICE: 521-2559

POST OFFICE: 800-275-8777 (customer affairs)

VETERANS AFFAIRS: 523-8990,
www1.va.gov/directory/guide/facility

VISITOR INFORMATION: 543-5333

VOTER REGISTRATION: 545-4136, shelbyvote.com/

PETS/ANIMALS

ANIMAL PROTECTION ASSOCIATION: 324-3202,
spaymemphis.com

FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE: 327-7631,
fws.gov/southeast/maps/tn.html

MEMPHIS ANIMAL SHELTER: 362-5310,
petfinder.org/shelters/TN111.html

MEMPHIS HUMANE SOCIETY: 272-1753, memphishumane.org/

TENNESSEE WILDLIFE RESOURCE AGENCY: 800-372-3928, state.tn.us/twra/

WILDLIFE REHABILITATION (Exotic Animal Rescue League): 756-5556.

PUBLIC SAFETY

MEMPHIS FIRE DEPARTMENT FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAMS: 320-5650, uc.memphis.edu/fire_course_info.htm

MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT

INFORMATION: 545-2677, memphispolice.org

CRIME STOPPERS: 528-2274, crimestopmem.org/

JAIL: 545-5660, 201 Poplar

SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT

INFORMATION: 545-4537, shelby-sheriff.org/

JAIL: 377-4500, Shelby County Correction Center

TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL

DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS: 543-6526,
tennessee.gov/safety/thp/districtfour.htm

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS: 416-5300,
memphis-schools.k12.tn.us

SHELBY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION: 321-2500,
scsk12.org/SCS/pages/brdtoc.html

TRANSPORTATION

AIRPORT AUTHORITY: 922-8000, Memphis International Airport. Call individual airlines for ticket and passenger information.
memphisairport.org

COAST GUARD — LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER: 544-3912,
uscg.mil/

DRIVER’S LICENSE: 543-7920 (various branches in Shelby County), tennessee.gov/safety/driverlicense/dllocation.htm

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: 291-3480, faa.gov/

MEMPHIS AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY (MATA): 722-7100,
matatransit.com/

MATA BUS SCHEDULES: 274-6282, matatransit.com/

MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION: 528-2904

MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION: 576-4244

TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS: 545-5400

UTILITIES

GARBAGE PICK-UP/SANITATION: 576-6508

MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS & WATER: 820-7878 or 544-6549,
mlgw.com

TELEPHONE SERVICE, BELLSOUTH, RESIDENTIAL:
888-757-6500.

TELEPHONE REPAIR, BELLSOUTH, RESIDENTIAL: 877-737-2478

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY: 785-8408, tva.gov/

Volunteer Coordinating Organizations

Metropolitan Inter-Faith Organization (MIFA)

MIFA is a community-service organization founded in 1968 that addresses needs in the Memphis community. Its 14 programs tackle homelessness, education, nutrition, and legal and financial concerns for more than 60,000 people each year. MIFA’s programs give individuals a chance to live independently with hope and dignity. MIFA depends on support from the community for volunteer time, leadership, and donations. (527-0208, mifa.org)

Volunteer Memphis

Volunteer Memphis’ goal is to connect people with opportunities to serve. Volunteer Memphis develops, promotes, and supports volunteerism in the Memphis area. Special programs include the corporate volunteer program, summer volunteer programs for teens, and group volunteering for single adults. The organization publishes a monthly calendar of volunteer activities, and its Web site has a searchable database of volunteer opportunities with more than 250 local agencies. (523-2425, volunteermemphis.org)

Animals

Memphis Shelby County Humane Society

Your landlord or spouse doesn’t approve of pets? Just an animal lover at heart? Assist the Humane Society, which rescues injured and abused animals, by helping groom, feed, and exercise dogs and cats. (937-3900, memphishumane.org)

Children

Court Appointed Special Advocates

A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a trained community volunteer appointed by a court to represent the best interests of abused or neglected children whose placement is being determined by the court. With the support of a program director and staff social workers, volunteers make an in-depth investigation into a child’s case, produce a written report, and make recommendations to the judge or referee on the child’s behalf. (405-8422, memphiscasa.org)

Exchange Club Family Center

The Exchange Club Family Center provides prevention, therapeutic intervention, and educational and support programs for children and families who are dealing with the traumatic effects of child abuse and domestic violence. Volunteers are needed for child care, administrative tasks, and special projects. (276-2200, exchangeclub.net)

Youth Villages

Youth Villages is the Mid-South’s largest provider of treatment and care for troubled children and their families. Volunteers serve as mentors, tutor in academics or job skills, assist with special projects or fund-raising efforts, provide administrative assistance, and teach a talent or skill. (251-4821,
youthvillages.org)

Disability Services

Clovernook Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Clovernook Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired works to foster independence and promote the highest quality of life among those who are blind or visually impaired.  Volunteers are needed to help transport clients, perform administrative duties, help with fund-raising events, and perform a wide array of meaningful tasks. (523-9590, clovernook.org)

Memphis Center for Independent Living

The Memphis Center for Independent Living is a disability rights and advocacy organization. Volunteers are needed to make phone calls, prepare a quarterly newsletter, and assist the staff, most of whom have disabilities. (726-6404, mcil.org)

Mid-South Association for Retarded Citizens (Mid-South Arc)

The purpose of Mid-South Association for Retarded Citizens is to empower people with developmental disabilities and mental retardation to achieve their full potential. The Arc has a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, including advocacy, case management, job readiness instructors, mentors, and Family Support Service program staff. (327-2473, arcmidsouth.net)

Raymond Skinner Recreation Center

The Raymond Skinner Recreation Center is a community-based facility offering programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an opportunity to participate in public leisure services and recreation. Volunteers can get involved in a variety of special programs, such as the Reach-Out and after-school programs, and are also needed for the summer camp and weekly Friday-night dances. (272-2528)

WYPL Talking Library

WYPL FM 89.3 provides the visually impaired and physically handicapped in Shelby County timely access to the news and other printed information over the radio. Volunteers read magazine and newspaper stories on the air. (415-2752, memphislibrary.org/wypl)

Health Services

Church Health Center / Hope and Healing

The Church Health Center provides health care for
uninsured working people and their families. All types of
health professionals are needed to staff the clinic on a volunteer basis during evenings and Saturdays. (272-7170, churchhealthcenter.org)

Crisis Center of Memphis

Volunteers receive training on how to respond and provide support to runaways and abused persons, as well as how to handle overdoses, loneliness, and other crises. The Crisis Center is a 24-hour crisis hot line, supported by Memphis Family Services, Inc. (274-7477)

Friends for Life — Aloysius Home

Friends for Life provides information about AIDS and support services for those with AIDS and their families. Opportunities for volunteers include cooking, serving, cleaning up after the Feast for Friends, a bimonthly client dinner, and filling client orders from the food pantry. (272-0855, friendsforlifecorp.org)

Hope House

Hope House is the only agency in Tennessee that provides much-needed day care and social services to the growing number of children and their families impacted by HIV/AIDS. Hope House assists with activities, recreation, companionship, and emotional support for affected children and their parents. Volunteers and interns are needed in a variety of tasks, including classroom assistance, mentoring, administrative work, and fund-raising. (272-2702 ext. 216 or ext. 206, hopehousedaycare.org)

National Foundation for Transplants

The National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) assists those needing a transplant to create a future of hope. NFT provides financial assistance, fund-raising expertise, and advocacy to organ and tissue transplant patients nationwide. Volunteer opportunities include general office work and help in planning and carrying out local fund-raising events. (684-1697, transplants.org)

Hunger and Homelessness

Calvary Street Ministry

This ministry works with the homeless to help them discover the tools they need to become positive contributors to society. The ministry provides an alcohol and drug program and a drop-in center for the mentally ill. Volunteers are needed to visit and interact with people at the drop-in center with programs like board games, activities, and arts and crafts. Volunteers are also needed on weekday mornings to interview the homeless.
(543-0372, calvaryjc.org)

The Food Bank

The Food Bank provides food and other grocery items to over 300 charitable feeding programs in 32 counties throughout the Mid-South. The Food Bank runs three Kids Cafe sites and the Prepared and Perishable Food Recovery Program and in addition sponsors the Feed the Need program in local grocery stores. Volunteers are needed to assist with special events, serve at Kids Cafe sites, sort and pack food items, and perform clerical duties. (527-0841, memphisfoodbank.org)

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis

Habitat builds homes for families who could not otherwise afford them. Interns and volunteers help with fund-raising, construction, and clerical work and participate in other activities. (761-4771 ext. 215, memphishabitat.com)

Literacy and Education

Memphis Literacy Council

Volunteers are needed to help with the Council’s adult-learning program. Volunteers can teach classes, work in the computer lab, and pair with students for private tutoring. Tutor-training workshops are held once a month. (327-6000, memphisliteracycouncil.org)

Neighborhood Christian Center

The center focuses on tutor and mentor programs for children K-12 in low-income neighborhoods. Volunteers are needed to assist with tasks such as sorting clothes, data entry, telephone calls, filing, and assistance with special events. (881-6013, ncclife.org)

Shelby County Prison — Division of Corrections

The Shelby County Division of Corrections encourages the rehabilitative process for incarcerated men and women. Through a variety of volunteer programs, inmates are provided with the essential tools to prevent them from being repeatedly incarcerated. (377-4573)

Streets Ministry

Streets Ministry provides services such as tutoring, Bible study, weekend and summer camps, computer training, and religious education to children and adolescents from low-income neighborhoods. (525-7380, streetsministries.org)

Senior Services

Alzheimer’s Adult Day Services, Inc.

This adult day services program for Alzheimer’s patients provides a safe and stimulating social environment for participants in an effort to help maintain a maximum level of functioning. Volunteers assist clients with daily group activities and provide one-on-one interaction as needed. (372-4585, alzheimersdayservices.org)

St. Peter Villa

St. Peter Villa is a nonprofit nursing home and rehabilitation center that is nonsectarian but supported by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. Friendly faces are needed to visit with or “adopt” residents, many of whom have no family or friends nearby. Volunteers can also help by assisting with daily
activities, donating gifts, and preparing welcome baskets.
(276-2021, stpetervilla.org)

Related Stories…

The Magic 2008-Ball

Calendar 2008

Arts Listings

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Entertainment Listings

Health Listings

Media Listings

Recreation Listings

Shopping Listings

The Magic 2008-Ball

Calendar 2008

Arts Listings

Education Listings

Entertainment Listings

Health Listings

Media Listings

Recreation Listings

Shopping Listings

Categories
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.

Categories
News News Feature

Predictions for 2008: a Quiz

CREDIT: image: utoledo.edu

A do-it-yourself quiz for Memphis prognosticators and Flyer readers.

1. The current buzz phrase most likely to be forgotten a year from now will be (a) Aerotropolis (b) political consultant (c) Blue Crush (d) monetize.

2. The next big deal for Memphis that will show tangible progress in 2008 will be (a) Biotech zone on the site of old Baptist Hospital downtown (b) makeover of Sears Crosstown (c) Fairgrounds (d) Shelby Farms.

3. The Memphis sports surprise of 2008 will be (a) highly-rated Tiger basketball team falls short of Final Four once again (b) a new hunting and fishing alliance (c) University of Memphis football team wins eight games (d) the Grizzlies playoff run.

4. The Memphis attraction that will suffer the biggest attendance drop in 2008 will be (a) Graceland (b) Tiger football (c) Memphis Redbirds (d) Grizzlies.

5. The 2007 news headliner most likely to be forgotten one year from today will be (a) indicted former commissioner Bruce Thompson (b) “sex-plot” diva Gwendolyn Smith (c) strip club owner Ralph Lunati (d) indicted former MLGW CEO Joseph Lee.

6. Which of the following people is most likely to have another 15 minutes of fame in 2008? (a) Mary Winkler (b) Rickey Peete (c) Roscoe Dixon (d) John Ford.

7. The share price of FedEx, which hit a 52-week low of $94 in December, will be how much a year from now? (a) $85 or less (b) $95 (c) $105 (d) $115 or more.

8. Local governments will make ends meet by (a) raising property taxes (b) implementing a payroll tax on commuters (c) cutting services (d) layoffs.

9. The downtown big deal that will go away in 2008 will be (a) Beale Street Landing boat dock (b) Gene Carlisle’s high-rise hotel and condos (c) Bass Pro in The Pyramid (d) the COGIC convention.

10. The government-by-referendum idea that will pass in 2008 will be (a) term limits for city politicians (b) no property-tax increase without a referendum (c) both (d) neither one.

11. The next superintendent and top leadership of the Memphis City Schools will have a background in (a) education and Teach For America (b) the military (c) big business (d) Memphis or Tennessee politics and government.

12. Facing public loss of confidence and financial pressure, the Memphis City Schools will close or schedule the closing of how many schools in 2008? (a) none (b) five or less (c) five to ten (d) more than ten.

13. A final decision will be made in 2008 to put the football stadium for the University of Memphis (a) on the main campus (b) on the South Campus (c) build a new stadium at fairgrounds (d) renovate the existing stadium at Fairgrounds.

14. The big news out of the federal building in 2008 will be (a) major new indictments of public figures related to political corruption (b) no major new indictments of public figures related to political corruption (c) a courtroom defeat for prosecutors (d) reversal of Judge Bernice Donald’s desegregation order for county schools.

15. The news with the biggest negative impact on ordinary Memphians in 2008 will be (a) sky-high MLGW bills (b) rising violent-crime rate (c) $4-a-gallon gasoline (d) massive foreclosures and falling housing values.

16. Who is most likely to leave their job in 2008 for whatever reason? (a) Tommy West (b) My Harrison (c) John Calipari (d) Willie Herenton.

My answers: 1, b; 2, a; 3, a; 4, d; 5, b; 6, a; 7, d; 8, d; 9, d; 10, d; 11, a; 12, b; 13, d; 14, a and d; 15, c. 16, b.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

POLITICS: Odds and Ends from 2007

Most Unlikely Sanctification Rite: the ceremony of praise heaped by various legal authorities on Darrell Catron, whose felonious behavior while serving as an aide in the Juvenile Court clerk’s office some years back led to a cascade of further criminal activity and to the wreckage of several careers.

Catron, who got his walking papers at year’s end via an 18-month probation, was credited with having helped the feds haul in a passel of other predators on the public purse and, indeed, with making the entire Tennessee Waltz sting possible.

Catron’s prize: a Golden Stool. (Well, okay, it may look like gold, but it doesn’t smell like it.)

Most Unexpected Appellation: the term “maverick” used as a descriptor for county commissioner Steve Mulroy in a December Commercial Appeal profile.

That was something of an eyebrow-raiser, given Mulroy’s undeviating party-line votes on commission issues and the U of M law professor’s eloquent and detailed rationales on behalf of the Democratic majority, statements which often have the ring of Supreme Court majority opinions.

Can “maverick” also mean “team player”?

The CA‘s prize: a dictionary of antonyms.

Most Unsurprising Outcome: the reelection victory of Mayor Willie Herenton over two major opponents, City Council member Carol Chumney and former MLGW president Herman Morris.

It was elementary mathematics that Herenton’s base was large enough, after 16 years’ service, to withstand such a divided challenge — especially given the obvious imperfections in the campaigns of Chumney, who never managed to transcend the role of fault-finder, and Morris, who could not escape his dignified cocoon long enough to bond with any sector of the electorate.

Herenton’s prize: Well … you know what the prize is.

Most Promising Outcome: the sea change in the composition of the Memphis City Council, via an election which saw nine newbies chosen to serve along with four veterans at a time when almost everybody foresees a necessary change of course — maybe even in the long-deferred direction of consolidation.

Their prize: celebrity, in exchange for the irreversible surrender of their privacy.

Most Unexpected (and Most Overlooked) Passing of the Baton: the withdrawal from the presidential race of Republican congressman Tom Tancredo (whose candidacy almost no one had noticed) and the subsequent claim by Memphis presidential candidate David F. Diamond (whose candidacy even fewer people had noticed) that Coloradan Tancredo’s downfall had begun with his failure at a nationally televised debate to understand a call-in question from Diamond.

The Memphian had asked: “Do you have a plan to solve the shortage of organs donated for transplant?” Tancredo drew a blank, accusing the questioner of being a mad cloner.

Diamond’s prize: the Tancredo body part of his choice.

Second Most Unexpected Passing of the Baton: the failure thus far of University of Memphis grad/ex-Senator/ex-actor Fred Thompson to make a dent in the presidential race despite the biggest advance ballyhoo of any candidate in recent memory, followed by the rapid rise of ex-Arkansas governor/ex-Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee.

As a sort of consolation prize, sometime abortion-rights lawyer Thompson picked up some key endorsements, of the kind longtime pro-lifer Huckabee might have expected, from various right-to-life organizations. Go figure.

Huckabee’s prize: an Academy Award nomination for his current ability to upstage the rigid fundamentalism of his preacherly past.

Most Unanticipated Reversal of Fortune: the decline of former media cynosure Harold Ford Jr. into relative anonymity, despite ex-Senate candidate Ford’s acquisition during the year of the leadership of the Democratic Leadership Council, a post at Merrill Lynch, and various other perches and perks that should have kept him front and center.

Possible reasons for his back-benching: the absence from the airwaves of disgraced radio/TV host Don Imus, a longtime Ford cheerleader; the advent of 9th District congressman Steve Cohen, whose nonstop media presence has put that of predecessor Ford in the shade.

Ford’s consolation prize: Guess what? Imus is back.

Till we meet again, holiday happily!

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

MAD AS HELL: Will Our Long National Nightmare End?

Let the crystal ball drop in Times Square. It’s time to
ring in 2008, the year when the seeds of change are finally in the air. Hang
up your Bush-Out-of-Office Countdown calendars and let the optimism swell! Oh
sure, it’s not a new dawn, a new day, or a new life just yet — we’ve got to
put up with The Decider’s war and destruction for another year, but just
visualizing his farewell smirk as Air Force One, headed for Crawford, waits on
the tarmac makes me want to guzzle the bubbly in anticipation of ringing out
the surrealistic experience of living in America during the reign of Dubya.

Although only seven years, it seems a lifetime has passed
since the Bush coronation of 2001. A foreboding, hard rain fell on that cold,
dark January day. Hundreds, maybe thousands, came to protest, but were
cordoned off, never to be seen. The nation was witnessing the consummate
inside job performed by masterful minions and lackeys of a crafty and corrupt
political family. President Poppy Bush had appointed the Supreme Court
justices to do the selecting. Governor Brother Jebby had made sure the votes
in Florida were certified without being totally counted. And media consultant
cousin Johnny (Ellis), who was responsible for projecting state results for
FOX News on election night, had made sure, after challenging the other
networks to follow suit, that FOX was the first to call Florida a win for his
cuz. The fix was in and the American people had been denied a true and
legitimate leader.

On that fateful Inaugural day, a place called “Murrika”
was born — a landscape where cowboy dictators on a mission from God ride
roughshod over the Constitution on their way to The Apocalypse. Murrika
(alternatively, Ah-Murrika) — a land where might is right and
peacemakers inherit not the earth, but a world of war and poverty. The new
Murrican millennium actually had it origins in Orwell’s 1984, where war
is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.

The last seven years of governance have been more
despotic than democratic. Bush, who promised to be a compassionate uniter, has
presided over one of the meanest, most contemptible, and divisive
administrations in history. Among scores of hilariously idiotic massacres of
the English language now known as Bushisms, the President accused Americans of
“misunderestimating” him.

True enough, in 2001 most could not have estimated the
level of arrogance, hypocrisy, and bullheaded certitude that would become the
hallmark of his persona. Certainly, we could not have imagined a President who
would repeatedly display nothing more than utter contempt for the will of the
people. It would have been a challenge to envision the magnitude of miserable
failings both foreign and domestic, which would lead to the ruinous
consequences of an endless war, record numbers dead at home and abroad, a
weakened Constitution, a faltering economy with a devalued currency and
massive, unprecedented debt, and a very ugly reputation as the world’s bully.

But a year from now, an election will have taken place
and the Murrikan alternate universe will be fading away. Although it will be a
monumental task to restore peace and prosperity, there will be no more Shock
and Awe, Axis of Evil, and Gathering Threats. There will be no more Evil
Doers, Cake Walks and Slam Dunks. No more Missions Accomplished, Big
Times and Turdblossoms. And finally — finally! — no more War on Turr and
Nucular presence in the world! America will once again become the nation, not
the homeland. At last, the shameful and embarrassing “I’ll Pretend to Tell
the Truth While You Pretend to Believe Me” regime of George W. Bush will end.

In the immortal words of President Gerald R. Ford, at the
close of another calamitous Republican Presidency, “My fellow Americans, our
long national nightmare is over.” Give or take another 365 days, we can
celebrate the same. Join a campaign, make a difference, and have a Happy New
Year!

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

It’s Secular

The office of the president is a secular office in a secular government. There is not a word in the Constitution that authorizes the president or anyone else in the federal government to make a religious decision.

Why then are both voters and candidates wasting their time talking about religion? The personal religious beliefs of the candidates should be considered irrelevant. Furthermore, people should not forget that there are a lot more professors of religion than practitioners. What a person claims to believe and how that person leads his or her life are often quite different.

Laws are, in the final analysis, words on paper. They cannot and do not control human behavior. If they could, there would be no crimes. Americans, especially politicians, have developed the bad habit of thinking that there ought to be a law to cover every conceivable human action. Consequently, there are so many laws today that no human being can possibly know what they all are. This defeats one of the useful purposes of laws, which is to educate the public.

As for religion, people should recognize that all the world’s religions have failed to eliminate sin, and therefore no one should expect the government to do that. Christianity in particular is based on the twin concepts of sin and forgiveness. Governments are better at finding sin than at forgiving.

Religion has a legitimate role in our society. George Washington said religion is the best way known to instill virtue in masses of people. That is job enough for religion, and religion should stay out of politics as an organization. Religious individuals, of course, have the same rights and duties as any other citizen.

Religion itself has enough problems to solve. Christian Zionists, for example, are a heretical cult without any biblical foundation and with a political agenda. Other Christians have perverted the religion into a weekly course on how to be rich and happy. Christianity, in fact, teaches that it is easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Militant Christianity is a contradiction in terms.

If you are trying to find someone actually practicing Christianity, whom would you choose — a preacher with a six-figure salary, a limousine, and a private jet or, say, an actor like Brad Pitt, who has committed $5 million of his own money to build homes for people in New Orleans’ 9th Ward?

In judging human affairs, always look for actions, not words. What a person says tells you nothing reliable; what a person does gives you a better clue as to what kind of a person he or she is. At the same time, don’t forget the dual nature of human beings.

One can find faults with all religions. One should not forget, however, that the same can be said of all secular philosophies, ideologies, and institutions. Nothing human is or ever will be perfect.

As for the presidential candidates, people should be asking not what these people claim to believe about God, but what have they actually done? How do their lives measure up to their speeches? Do they demonstrate a belief in and a concern for the Constitution? Do they have a wide knowledge of the world as it truly is? Are they catering to special interests? Are they independent thinkers or followers?

The presidential race is, after all, a search for a secular leader, not for a pope or ayatollah. The United States is in deep trouble politically, financially, and economically. It will take a smart, sane, and courageous person to get us out. Opportunists and people who sell their souls for campaign contributions may well preside over our national collapse.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 50 years.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

The Same Old Challenge

Don’t look now — on second thought, it’s time for year-end reflections and speculation, so go ahead and look — but the specter of city/county consolidation is back with us. We say “specter” not in any pejorative sense. If anything, the idea of combining some of our

wastefully duplicated governmental functions is more like Casper the Friendly Ghost than it is the Amityville Horror. It’s just that the concept keeps coming and going and getting buried or vaporized, only to rematerialize unexpectedly — a fact that makes us wonder if its latest incarnation is the same old phantasm or something more solid.

Maybe this time the idea will take on real substance. It’s not only that a freshly reelected Mayor Willie Herenton has once again promoted metro government to the head of his agenda. Another reality is that an intergovernmental task force, co-chaired by county commissioner Mike Carpenter and outgoing city councilman Jack Sammons, recently climaxed several months of hearings and investigations by approving, via an eight to five vote, the goal of merging the functions of the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.

This limited or (in the argot of the day) “functional” form of consolidation won’t happen overnight, if at all. Sheriff Mark Luttrell, among other interested parties, is opposed. That’s more than understandable, given that the sheriff has, thanks to a legal ruling by a state court last year, seen the presumed constitutional nature of his position unexpectedly put up for grabs. And the suburban mayors, long jealous of their independence (and yet dependent for both financial and administrative reasons on some larger umbrella authority) are also reluctant. Contrariwise, Memphis police director Larry Godwin, like his boss the mayor, is avid for the idea. For that matter, the issue of reconfiguring a metro drug unit got some traction during last year’s city election campaign. So there is momentum.

Then there is the constant example of Nashville, regarded by residents of the Memphis area either as a sister city or as an archrival or as both. Whichever way it is seen, the city of Nashville has been formally yoked to the rest of Davidson County for decades now in a metropolitan form of government, and it may not be accidental that, during that same period, it has progressed from a backwater state capital roughly half the size of Memphis to a condition of parity and beyond. In terms of economic growth, new business, per capita income, commercial construction, and the like, Nashville is soaring ahead. That hasn’t happened solely as a consequence of consolidation, but it owes something to the simplicity of central planning, the cohesiveness of governmental structures, and the property-tax reductions.

When former Nashville mayor Bill Purcell addressed the Memphis Rotary Club earlier this year, he teasingly affected the persona of an urban rival and said, in effect, keep on doing what you’re doing in Memphis and Shelby County. Stay separate and spare Nashville the competition. Was he joking? Yes. Was he serious? Also yes.

The issue of consolidation will confront us again in 2008. And it will haunt us thereafter until we deal with it.

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Rethinking Power

On January 1st, nine rookies (including me) and four veterans will be sworn in as Memphis City Council members. It is the largest number of first-termers since the original council in 1968.

Since the November election, the nine of us have been undergoing an extensive educational process on the substance of city government and the procedure of the council. Fulfilling our campaign promises will be more difficult than making them. How well we do depends on our relationships with other council members and the administration and the merits of our positions.

The most interesting area of my education has been the opportunity to review the city charter. Among the things we have learned: The 1966 Home Rule Amendment (HRA) changed much of the 1930s-era charter, but many of the articles of the older charter are still in effect because the newer charter did not revoke them.

Enter Stephen Wirls, a Rhodes College professor who has studied the charters exhaustively and led our review of them. Wirls disputed the widespread public understanding that the charters provide for a “strong mayor” form of government. On the contrary, he opined that, in some ways, the HRA gives more power to the council than the U.S. Constitution gives to Congress.

The HRA provides that the mayor “shall be responsible to the council for the administration of all units of the city government under his jurisdiction and for carrying out policies adopted by the council.” The council “shall have full power [my italics], as now provided, to pass, for the government of the city, any ordinance not in conflict with the Constitution or laws of the United States, or the State of Tennessee, within the specific limitations set forth herein below.”

Further, the council has approval power of the appointment and removal of division directors, the president of MLGW, and members of all boards and commissions. The council has the right “to approve and adopt all budgets.”

Of special interest: “[T]he council shall be vested with all other powers of the city not specifically vested in some other officer or officers of the city.” This catch-all provision appears to give the council a great deal of unexpected authority. (One problem: No one on hand for the orientation could identify any “powers of the city not specifically vested” in some other office.)

Just think of the implications of the first proviso quoted above: “The mayor shall be responsible for carrying out policies adopted by the council.” On the face of things, it would appear that the council could adopt “policies,” and the mayor would have to follow them.

Ay, but there’s a rub. “The council shall not, however, exercise executive or administrative powers nor interfere in the operation of the administrative divisions.” On one hand, the HRA gives the City Council the power to set “policies,” but on the other hand, the charter prohibits intrusion into “executive or administrative powers.”

The HRA also gives the mayor the power to contract and prohibits council members from “suggesting or promoting the making of particular … contracts with any specific organization.”

It is not hard to imagine a council’s definition of a “policy” interfering with a mayor’s definition of an “administrative power.” At the orientation, we discussed a scenario whereby the council might pass an ordinance mandating that every public school have a police officer assigned to it full-time. Wirls said he thought that the council had such power but warned that a mayor could dispute it as an intrusion on administrative decision-making.

Many issues may fit into this gray area, and both sides would appear to have a good faith basis for their respective positions. As one of our facilitators suggested, conflict is not so bad if it involves a serious and respectful disagreement as to public policy.

However, such conflict, and the resulting court battle, should be avoided if possible, with the council and the administration working together. The mayor and each member of his administration with whom I have met has expressed the desire to work with the new council.

At this early stage, I do not have an opinion as to the correct interpretation of the charter, but I am optimistic that we can avoid the conflict and come together for the betterment of our city.

Jim Strickland, a lawyer and former Democratic chairman, will represent the city’s 5th District.