Tag: Jack Sammons.

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News News Feature

The Natural

In all the years I’ve reported on Memphis politics, I’m convinced only Jack Sammons could rightfully hold the title of “The Natural.” His energetic personality, his still-boyish charm, even at age 59, and his infectious belief that Memphis can still be that “shining city on a hill” are all undeniable.

So, why am I not enthusiastic over the possibility the ubiquitous businessman, former councilman, and current Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority Board chairman could become this city’s next chief administrative officer (CAO)? I’ll tell you why, and it has nothing to do with the amiable Sammons on a personal or professional basis.

Just as teams recycle grizzled baseball managers and football coaches, we in Memphis continue to recycle the same people through the meat grinder of government. In a city of more than 640,000 people, in a county of just under 1 million people, how is it that our pool of the brightest and most innovative minds is somehow limited to the same patronage stream that has been fished in for decades?

I’ve often been asked, “Why don’t more good people step up to the plate when it comes to engaging in public service?” My usual reply is a sad rhetorical question: Why should they?

From what I’ve observed, most people who run for office or seek appointment come in with idealism. They start out truly believing that their determination and desire to serve their constituents will bring about meaningful change and right long-standing injustices. Some, like former councilman and now 29th District Tennessee state Senator Lee Harris, defiantly weathered the hypocrisy. He fought for the people of his district even when he didn’t win, against forces that were entrenched in self-serving agendas and political grandstanding. I also see that quiet determination to earnestly serve the public in interim Councilman Berlin Boyd. Both these men are fighting the idea that Memphis government doesn’t have to be trapped in the same stale ideologies of the past. But, these young, bright minds are sadly the exception, and not the rule, when it comes to those participating in Memphis government.

So it was with some consternation that I reported on the details of Jack Sammons probable return to city government. Regardless of what Mayor A C Wharton has said, this is a political appointment. Long ago, Wharton separated himself from the have-nots of this community. It’s not about initiating programs to help. It’s about what’s left of his desire, spirit, and will to carry out these programs to bring about positive change. I truly believe his tank is nearly running on empty in all those categories.

No further evidence has to be shown on that account other than his leaving out-going CAO George Little to twist slowly in the wind during the debates over pension and health-care reform for city employees. Wharton appeared content to let Little take the heat from the council and the public. If you’re Jack Sammons, it should be a signal as to what you’re getting yourself into.

If I were Sammons, I’d also ask myself why it’s taken five years for Wharton to decide to appoint me as CAO, when I effectively served in the position for five months under interim Mayor Myron Lowery and was fired by Wharton in 2009.

Sammons has always had the ability to be a “fixer” in government, similar to the role Rick Masson played during the early years of the Willie Herenton administration. And, of course, it’s going to take some legislative hoodoo to allow Sammons to retain his job as Airport Authority chairman while he serves as CAO. Tell me this doesn’t smack of an old cigar-smoke-filled backroom deal.

Why do we continue to tolerate this blatant kind of political musical chairs? If Wharton truly believes the time has come to take this city in a different direction, why not find new faces with new ideas to get us there? Career bureaucrats, those who’ve been recycled because of their failure to meet the demands of their old jobs and political cronies need not apply. We need those people who are willing to put in the elbow grease to work for the good of the city they live in. We need to find the people who are “naturals” at what they do, and City Hall needs to give them their unmitigated support.

Les Smith is a reporter for WHBQ Fox-13.

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Politics Politics Feature

The Sammons Gambit

Eyebrows have been raised big-time this week by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton’s unexpected action in moving to replace his reliable chief administrative officer (CAO), George Little, with Airport Authority head Jack Sammons (a transfer that only Little, of the principals involved, was speaking to as of press time).

Jack Sammons

There is general agreement among various observers (including Little!) that the mayor’s action is motivated by political considerations. Though Little (“Chief,” as he is referred to around City Hall) is an excellent manager, he is manifestly uncomfortable with the political aspects of government, and 2015, with the mayoralty at stake in a showdown city election, is going to be a hothouse political year.

The mayor’s move (which would keep Little employed as city operating officer) engages at least two political fronts. State law prohibits members of a metropolitan airport authority from serving with the government that supervises it — in this case the City of Memphis. Consequently, emergency legislation to make Sammons’ city appointment valid must be filed, and the office of state Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) confirmed that he was working something up.

The task of doing so was complicated by the fact that the deadline for filing new legislation has long since passed. But Norris, who is Senate majority leader, is also vice chair of the three-member Senate Calendar Committee, which has oversight on all bills and apparently can authorize exceptions to the rule.

It is no secret, either, that FedEx founder Fred Smith, whose political influence on both sides of the political aisle is huge and who has both professional and family ties to Sammons and, to say the least, a major interest in Airport Authority matters, is urging such an outcome.

If Little has, by his own statement, little taste for the game of politics, Sammons might have been born for it. An ingratiating presence, he served several influential terms on the city council and, for two months in 2009, was the appointed CAO  for interim Mayor Myron Lowery when the abrupt retirement of then Mayor Willie Herenton forced a special mayor election and the temporary elevation of then-council Chairman Lowery.

Sammons might have forged even further in local political significance, but for a tactical misstep in 1994 when he embraced an alliance with then-Congressman Harold Ford Sr., a major Democratic power broker, in a bid as an independent  for Shelby County Mayor in a race that Republican nominee Jim Rout eventually won.

Angered, the local  Republican establishment returned the favor by successfully backing lawyer/businessman John Bobango against Sammons for the latter’s council seat in the 1995 city election. Such was Sammons’ resilience and political skill that, instead of sulking over his defeat, he mended fences with the GOP, took his medicine, and offered effective service for the next four years as local Republican treasurer.

By 1999, Bobango chose to retire, and Sammons had no difficulty in regaining his seat. He was appointed chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport authority two years ago. Meanwhile, he continues as president of Ampro Industries, a maker of hair-care products.

Sammons, a gifted administrator, has good residual connections with the mini-universe of City Hall, including the city council, where Wharton sorely needs some help. (See “Opinion,” next page.) Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, two members of the Council who have mayoral ambitions — Jim Strickland and Harold Collins — professed themselves concerned about issues, largely technical, associated with Sammons’ pending appointment.

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News News Blog

Memphis International Airport To Downsize Concourses

In about six years, all of the gates at Memphis International Airport will be consolidated into the existing B concourse as part of a “modernization” plan announced during the Memphis Airport Authority’s monthly board meeting Thursday morning.

The $114 million project is an effort to move all of the airline flight operations closer together. Currently, operations are spread over three concourses, and some areas are walled off since Delta removed its hub status and has been steadily reducing flights.

The new floor plan shows what the airport would look like without the south ends of concourses A and C.

  • The floor plan shows what the airport would look like without the south ends of concourses A and C.

Although the airport as a whole will be downsized since the south ends of concourses A and C will be demolished, concourse B will see enhancements. Walkways will be nearly doubled in size to give passengers more room as they move to and from gates, and moving walkways will be installed. The ceilings will be raised, and more windows will be added to provide natural light. During construction, the airport will see seismic upgrades. About 60 airline gates will remain open for future growth.

A view of the new skylighting that will be added to concourse B

  • A view of the new skylighting that will be added to concourse B

Security screening will be moved to concourse B, but a checkpoint at concourse C will remain open for busier times. Ticketing and check-in will continue in concourses A, B, and C, but baggage claim for all airlines will be moved to concourse B. The A and C baggage claim areas will be open for passengers to enter and exit the airport.

Moving walkways would be added to concourse B.

  • Moving walkways would be added to concourse B.

Jack Sammons, chair of the Memphis Airport Authority board, told the board that all of the airlines that operate out of Memphis International have advocated for this change. Removal of the south ends of concourses A and C frees up more taxi space for airplanes, and it will create a livelier B concourse since all concessions would be relocated to that area. Over the past year, a number of airport concession businesses have closed due to the loss of the Delta hub.

Sammons said he recently paid a visit to Southwest Airlines headquarters in Dallas to ask them to bring more flights to Memphis, and he said Southwest expressed support for the airport’s construction plan.

“They want to prune the tree, and the areas on south A and C concourses are the way,” Sammons told the board.

The removal of the south end of the A concourse will begin this year, and the removal of the south end of the C concourse is scheduled for 2015. Relocation of the airlines to concourse B should also begin in 2015. The enhancements of B concourse are scheduled for 2016.

Memphis Airport Authority president Scott Brockman told the board that much of the $114 million price tag would be funded through federal and state grants that are made up of taxes paid on airline fuel and airline tickets. The Airport Authority does not anticipate that the project will require the issuance of any additional general airport revenue bond debt.

“Passengers have a choice. Hundreds go to Little Rock everyday on perhaps the most dangerous highway in America [to fly out of the airport there],” Sammons said. “We want them to know that the Memphis airport is the airport of choice. To do that, you have to have a modern facility.”

Below is a map of the current airport gate layout. The south wings of A and C concourses will be demolished.

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Editorial Opinion

Reason To Smile?

CREDIT: Danziger

When editors of the next edition of this or that dictionary are searching for something to illustrate the word “irrepressible,” they need look no further than Jack Sammons, the newly named chairman of the Memphis-

Shelby County Airport Authority, who downplays his other considerable skills by referring to himself as a “salesman.”

But no Willy Loman is he. Sammons, a versatile businessman/entrepreneur and longtime member of the Memphis City Council, not only has the brightest Cheshire cat smile in our corner of the Western world, he has the most unquenchable optimism.

And therefore, when Sammons took his sales pitch on the future good prospects of the airport to a Memphis Rotary Club luncheon this week, he made no effort to ignore the airport’s “awesome challenges,” which he laid on the table as problems to be solved. Some of these problems transcend our local sphere. Sammons said the airline industry itself has diminished by 16 percent since September 10, 2001, the day before the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center transformed the nation’s commercial and personal habits.

That same number — 16 — also describes the number of airline hubs that have gone out of existence since 1990. We all know about the ongoing mergers, such as Northwest’s absorption by Delta, which has drastically downsized its inherited Memphis hub operation to a nominal presence.

Sammons offered a bit of good news on this latter point, saying he talked with Delta’s CEO last week and was assured that “no more Draconian cuts” are in the offing. For what it’s worth, Sammons also got himself invited to serve on the airline’s “Customer Advisory Board.” Hopefully, he will lobby forcefully on behalf of Memphians who have seen their available flights reduced while rates have continued to rise.

Sammons said he has also been engaging with officials of Southwest Airlines, the low-cost carrier that has become a national phenomenon among airlines and which, at long last, is due to initiate new service in Memphis during the coming year through its AirTran acquisition.

Sammons said he pushed for more flights and was told, “The more you take, the more you’ll get.” To Sammons, that meant advising his audience to join Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program to demonstrate a strong local commitment.

Unsurprisingly, Sammons touted the inestimable value of FedEx to Memphis’ air operations, in ways ranging from its contribution to landing fees to the company’s transformation of Memphis into “the Bethlehem of cargo aviation.” He also cited the value to the airport of the new, multi-decker parking garage, which Sammons considers a potential cash cow.

There’s big-picture stuff, and there’s good housekeeping to be taken care of. On the latter score, Sammons promised to pursue such improvements as internal rental-car decks, internet availability everywhere on the property, and more people-friendly attitudes everywhere — including, he assured the Rotarians, on the part of TSA inspectors.

It’s good that Sammons is smiling. Now, if he can only get the air-traveling public hereabouts to do the same, we’ll truly have something.

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Opinion

Southwest/Air Tran Adding Four Flights from Memphis

Southwest-Airlines-logo-300x225.jpg

Southwest Airlines, through its Air Tran subsidiary, is adding four flights out of Memphis starting in August, the Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority announced Monday.

The news is certainly welcome in the sense that it reverses the trend of declining passenger service at Memphis International Airport. Jack Sammons, the new chairman of the Airport Authority, called it “a home run.” But when you do a little comparative pricing, it looks more like a single. More on that follows, but first the basics of the announcement:

In a national release by Southwest, the company detailed four new Memphis flights to three new AirTran routes; twice a day between Memphis and Chicago Midway, and once daily service between Memphis and Orlando, and Memphis and Baltimore/Washington. The new flights will begin service on August 11, 2013, and are in addition to the current five daily non-stops on AirTran between Memphis and Atlanta. The new service is available for booking immediately for flights on or after August 11.

“We are very excited that Southwest has decided to add three new city pairs for Memphis to fly under its AirTran subsidiary. Many years of relationship building with Southwest are paying off,” said Larry Cox, President and CEO of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. “This service addition reinforces the message given to Memphians last September by Southwest Executive Vice President Ron Ricks when he stated ‘We’re here. We’re here to stay … You’ve got to be patient with us, and things will not happen overnight.’”

“We are excited and grateful that Southwest Airlines has decided to include MEM in their network. This news is a home run for travelers in our region hungry for affordable flight options,” added recently elected Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Chairman Jack Sammons. “Southwest management has informed me that they will add additional flights this year based on how well these initial flights perform. As one Southwest executive remarked in our meeting last week, ‘The more flights we take, the more we get.’ It’s a new era in aviation in America and certainly a new era for our airport. Your Airport Authority will continue to be relentless in our efforts to make Memphis the airport of choice for the traveling public.”

Now for a little number crunching. I could book a flight to Chicago Midway on August 15th, a Thursday, with a return to Memphis on August 18th, a Sunday, for as low as $253 on Air Tran. But there is only one non-stop flight on each of those days. Otherwise, you go through Atlanta, and the trip takes approximately four to six hours each way and the fare goes to $276 or $316. Still not a bad deal if you have the time, but you are dealing with one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world — Atlanta — and a secondary Chicago airport on the east side of the city which makes it more or less convenient depending on your destination. The business fare on Air Tran is $823 round trip.

For travel on the same dates, Delta has several nonstops for a round-trip price of $253. The first-class/business fare is $1,181. For travel in March — five months before the new Air Tran service begins — you can book a weekend Thursday-Sunday trip to Chicago O’Hare on either Delta or United non-stop for $396 today.

As always, when and how you travel — short notice, business or pleasure, flexibility — makes a huge difference in the cost, duration, and convenience of air travel in the age of booking through Kayak, which makes everyone a travel agent. Again, this looks like a small piece of good news but it’s only a home run if you are playing in a Little League park with a 200-foot fence.

UPDATE: After doing a little more checking, I see there are two, not one, daily non-stops in the service to Chicago that begins in August. My bad. But one of them, be warned, leaves Memphis at 5:35 a.m. As for the new flights to Orlando, Memphis to central and southwest Florida is already well served. There is service to Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, and Fort Myers for under $350 round trip in February and March, most of it through Atlanta. And if money is more important than time to you, Amtrak offers a $99 fare (each way) from Memphis to Chicago that puts you in the heart of the Windy City.