Tag: Mauricio Calvo

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Politics Politics Feature

Multiple Choices for Justin Ford and Mauricio Calvo

This is the deadline week for candidates in the 2020 Memphis city election, and by Thursday, July 18th, some of the mysteries that have lingered for weeks will have been resolved.

We will know which (if any) of the four races that Justin J. Ford has pulled petitions for — mayor; City Court clerk; city council District 6; or city council, Super District 8, Position 1 — that he intends to run in.

Justin J. Ford

Ford’s case is interesting. His political career so far has included two successes, each netting him a term in the Shelby County Commission. His first win was in 2010, for one of the three positions available in what was then a multi-seat District 3. Then, in 2014, after single-district reapportionment, he was able to win again in the newly created District 9, which covered a smaller slice of the previous District 3.

In both cases, the South Memphis district served by Ford was one in which the extended Ford family has always possessed political power. His father, Joe Ford, represented the District 3 seat before him.

Justin Ford also has three losses on his record — for City Court clerk in 2015, for the 9th District Congressional seat in 2016, and for the District 29 state Senate seat in 2018. He also was charged with domestic assault of a girlfriend in 2017 and offered an Alford plea, which combines an admission of guilt with a technical dismissal. Ford also has been assessed with some $20,000 in civil penalties for violating rules relating to his business, the Justin Ford Funeral Home.

So, suffice to say much is at stake for Ford in this year’s city election — arguably, his last chance at a viable long-term political career — and his choice of which race to run in is crucial.

A District 6 race would pit him against a field including Edmund Ford Sr., who is not only his uncle but the odds-on favorite to regain a seat he once held. Running for the District 8, Position 1 seat would pit him, along with a large field of others, some with name recognition, against a short-term incumbent, Gerry Curry. As for the mayor’s race: The reality is that he would have a hard time being taken seriously in that massive field, in which other challengers loom larger and the incumbent, Jim Strickland, has a million dollars in cash reserves and huge odds in his favor. The race for City Court clerk also has a large field, with former Councilmen Myron Lowery and Joe Brown being the biggest names.

There’s not a slam dunk among those options. Whichever race Justin Ford may have chosen by the time you read this will require maximum effort on Ford’s part, plus significant resources and luck, big-time, if he wishes to avoid the permanent obscurity possessed by, say, one Roderick Ford, who is unrelated to the political Fords but runs in every election in the forlorn hope that voters will mistake him for somebody else.

Mauricio Calvo

• Another would-be candidate who began the week with decisions to make is Mauricio Calvo, who has been a candidate for serious public distinction for years as executive director of Latino Memphis and as a member of the board of directors of the Greater Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce.

Calvo, Mexican-born but a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been pondering a race for the City Council in Super District 9 and drew petitions for Positions 1, 2, and 3. Each of those choices presented difficulties.

In Position 1, he could conceivably be up against six opponents, two of whom — Erika Sugarmon and Chase Carlisle — are regarded as the main competitors and had already filed for the position. In Position 2, the field would appear to be a mite smaller, but one of the two candidates already filed is the incumbent, Ford Canale. And in Position 3, Calvo would face a field containing highly touted Jeff Warren, the leading fund-raiser among council candidates, and Cody Fletcher, another candidate with a serious head start.

In addition to the problem of choosing the optimal ballot position of the three — all of which relate to the same sprawling geographical area comprising the eastern half of the city — Calvo faces another self-created challenge, the fact that he has, for better or for worse, outed himself as gay.

Calvo did so in a June 19th post on his Facebook page. As he explained, “I wanted people to know who I am. … I wanted supporters and voters to know who I am. My mom is 84, and I wanted her to know who I am. In my everyday life, I have the privilege of working and interacting with many inspiring people within and outside of the Memphis community. I wanted them to know who I am. Speaking my truth took a weight that I have carried for decades off of my shoulders.”

Family reasons were important  in Calvo’s decision to come out. His wife, Yancy Villa-Calvo, an artist who collaborates with him on “High Ground News,” a social-activist newsletter, had known for years and remains supportive. “And, of course, there are my loving children: Santiago, Anna, and Carolina,” Calvo added. “After speaking with them earlier this year, I believed it would be inconsistent, unhealthy, and dangerous to encourage them to embrace themselves and others while keeping their father’s truth a secret.”

The responses to Calvo in comments from others on his Facebook page have been resoundingly supportive, and they reflect a generous swath of the Super-District population. It remains to be seen what the impact of his decision has on his candidacy or on his widely acclaimed place in the city’s life, but in the meantime, he would seem to have evinced an indisputable personal bravery that can only be regarded as a triumph in its own right.

• The probable pairing for next year’s U.S. Senate race became apparent this week with the endorsement of Republican Bill Hagerty, current Ambassador to Japan and former Tennessee Economic Development Commissioner, by President Donald Trump for the seat being vacated by Lamar Alexander.

Meanwhile, Nashville lawyer and Iraq war vet James Mackler, a Democrat, has been endorsed by former Governor Phil Bredesen, for whom Mackler dropped out of last year’s Senate race, won ultimately by then-Congressman Marsha Blackburn of the GOP.

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Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat

CREDIT: Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis members distribute immigration information

The leader of a local organization that advocates for the Latino community here called President Donald Trump’s recent threats to remove “millions of illegal aliens” an “explosive” and “divisive” comment, and questioned the verity of the claims. 

On Monday, the president tweeted that Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents would begin removing undocumented immigrants from the country next week.

“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump tweeted. “They will be removed as fast as they come in. Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement.

“The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of loopholes, and fix asylum. If so, the Border Crisis will end quickly.”

Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat

Executive director of Latino Memphis, Mauricio Calvo said Trump’s statement is “another explosive, non-deliverable, and divisive comment from the president.”

“It doesn’t make any sense logistically, economically, politically, and most importantly, it doesn’t recognize that we are talking about people,” Calvo said. “However, deportations and separation of families are very real and a daily tragedy in our city.

“Thousands of Memphians who are among our neighbors, employees, and friends of our children are vulnerable to this reality.”

Calvo said one way to prepare for this reality is to become informed, citing the national immigration defense campaign, We Have Rights. The campaign’s website gives undocumented immigrants instructions on how to protect themselves when encountering ICE officers or when detained.

For example, the website explains that ICE agents are not allowed to enter or search a home without a warrant signed by a judge. Undocumented immigrants have the right to ask the agents to leave if they do not have a signed warrant.

We Have Rights advises those who have been arrested not to sign any paperwork, to remain silent, and to ask to speak to a lawyer even if they don’t have one. See the video at the bottom for more detail. Anyone who is arrested can be located via this site.

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Calvo also encourages people to get involved in the issue by voting for legislators who support immigration reform.

When asked about the president’s tweet and whether or not ICE would execute raids in Shelby County, ICE’s office of public affairs shed little light on next week’s plans.


ICE officials offered this response in an email to the Flyer:

“The border crisis doesn’t start and stop at the border, which is why ICE will continue to conduct interior enforcement without exemption for those who are in violation of federal immigration law,” the statement reads. “This includes routine targeted enforcement operations, criminals, individuals subject to removal orders, and worksite enforcement.

“This is about addressing the Border crisis by upholding the rule of law and maintaining the integrity of the immigration system, as created by Congress.”

Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat (2)

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Politics Politics Feature

The Swinging Door

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

As one election, a national one, finally heads to an end (with votes still being counted here and there), the next process of electoral transition is underway, locally.

This week, an abbreviated one because of the Thanksgiving holiday, sees the beginning of turnover on the Memphis City Council. Of the body’s 13 available seats, three will be spoken for during the next few weeks. Those are the ones that were scheduled for vacating as of August 2nd, when three council members — Bill Morrison in District 1, Edmund Ford Jr. in District 6, and Janis Fullilove in Super District 8, Position 2 —  won elections for positions in Shelby County government.

Jackson Baker

Jeff Warren

At the Flyer‘s press time on Tuesday, the first of these seats — that of Morrison, who was elected Probate Court clerk — was due for reappointment that evening by vote of council. The applicants were Paul Boyd, Mauricio Calvo, Faye Morrison, Tierra Holloway, Rhonda Logan, Danielle Schonbaum, and Lonnie Treadway.

The seats currently held by Ford and Fullilove will be filled next. Fullilove, now Juvenile Court clerk, has announced her resignation, effective November 23rd, and Ford’s resignation will take effect two days later, on November 25th. Applicants for either seat must submit proof of their residency, a resume, a letter of interest, a sworn affidavit, and a nominating petition with 25 signatures of registered voters in the relevant district.

Registration packets for the two seats will be available as of noon next Monday, November 26th, and the deadline for filing applications is Thursday, December 13th. The council is expected to vote on filling the two seats at its meeting on December 18th.

The seats held by Morrison, Ford, and Fullilove became points of controversy following the August 2nd election, when local activists insisted in vain that the council members resign their positions soon enough to permit the inclusion of their vacated seats on the November 6th election ballot. Instead, the three members chose to continue occupying their council seats for nearly the full 90 days post-election that the city charter permitted — a fact making it necessary to fill the seats by appointment and giving the remaining council members the say-so over replacing the departing members.

Ford, now a member of the Shelby County Commission, was even deputized by commission chair Van Turner to serve as a de facto liaison between the two local legislative bodies.

The councilman’s forthcoming resignation is not the only change on his horizon. He was named financial literacy coordinator for Memphis Public Libraries last week, and, as he informed his fellow commission members on Monday, Ford’s employment as a teacher in the Shelby County Schools system would end on Wednesday of this week — a fact permitting him to vote without recusal on an issue affecting school funding.

Ultimately, all 13 council seats, including the three being filled between now and year’s end, will be up for grabs in the 2019 city election scheduled for next October. At least one seat, the one for Super District 9, Position 3, now held by Councilman Reid Hedgepeth, has already drawn a challenger.

Seeking the seat will be Jeff Warren, a physician who served on the old Memphis City Schools board that went out of existence with the merger of Memphis and Shelby County systems. Warren was a member of the Memphis board minority that resisted the crucial vote of December 20, 2010, to surrender the MCS charter.

“I believe we are on the verge of turning a corner in Memphis,” Warren said in announcing his candidacy. “We  have had many recent successes, despite our long-term challenges. We have been pushing educational growth and do not need to let up. Mayor Strickland will continue to need support and advice to increase job growth.”

• The county commission acted decisively on a number of matters at its Monday meeting. Especially noteworthy were a vote on authorizing a TIF (tax increment financing project) for a forthcoming Lakeland Commons development and a vote resolving a holdover schism regarding the ongoing opioid crisis between former county Mayor Mark Luttrell and the commission that expired with the August 2nd election.

There were several aspects to the divide between Luttrell and the commission, who engaged in a more or less continuous power struggle, but the opioid matter was the matter with the most relevance to the community at large.

The disagreement arose last year when then commission chair Heidi Shafer, supported by other commission members, availed herself of clauses in the county charter that, she argued, allowed her to contract for legal action against various parties, including physicians and pharmaceutical companies, involved in the over-distribution of opioids in Shelby County.

Shafer’s action arose from her conviction, shared by former chair Terry Roland and a majority of other members, that opioid abuse had become rampant to the point of causing serious damage to Shelby Countians and that the Luttrell administration had been slow in pursuing remedial action.

Unsurprisingly, Luttrell disagreed and, putting forth his own plan of action, insisted that the county charter left the authority for pursuing legal remedies entirely in his hands.

What ensued was a back-and-forth between the two branches of county government that required several hearings in Chancery Court and would not be fully resolved until agreement on coordinated action was reached between new Mayor Lee Harris and the new commission, culminating in the vote on Monday, authorizing a settlement.

Shafer, who would receive several testimonials of appreciation from commission members, was present for the vote and expressed her pleasure that no more intramural acrimony would be occurring and “we can concentrate on dealing with the bad guys.”

The Lakeland matter, involving a $48 million development at the site of an abandoned remainder mall, drew attendees from both sides of the recently concluded municipal election in Lakeland, with Mayor-elect Mike Cunningham and supporters asking the commission for a delay of two weeks on approving the TIF, giving the new administration time to acquaint itself with the details of a project that had been strongly favored by the administration of outgoing Mayor Wyatt Bunker.

The commission approved the TIF 9-2, after noting that authority for continuing with the project would still rest with the Lakeland city government.

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News The Fly-By

Tennessee Joins Multi-State Lawsuit Against President Obama

Latino Memphis Executive Director Mauricio Calvo came to Memphis from Mexico City two decades ago to attend Christian Brothers University. Since then, he’s witnessed close friends, who were in the U.S. without proper documentation, deported from Memphis back to their native countries.

“When [undocumented immigrants] say goodbye to their loved ones [in the morning], they don’t know if they’re going to come home that night,” Calvo said. “And that’s a real hard thing to live with.”

A coalition of 26 states, led by Texas, has filed a lawsuit against President Obama, alleging his recent executive actions on immigration are unconstitutional. Tennessee was among the last states to join the multi-state coalition.

Latino Memphis’ Mauricio Calvo speaks with immigrants.

Last November, Obama introduced his “Immigration Accountability Executive Action” to provide relief to undocumented immigrants nationwide.

The executive action seeks to enable undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least five years or are the parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to remain in the country temporarily. They would have to pass a criminal background check and pay back taxes. Those who qualify would be eligible to receive a three-year work permit.

Under the new policy, Obama would also expand the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program currently prohibits the deportation of people brought into the U.S. illegally as minors by their parents before June 15, 2007. The expansion would extend the cutoff date to January 1, 2010.

There’s a substantial number of immigrants in Tennessee, many of whom are undocumented. According to the Pew Research Center, around 300,000 Hispanic immigrants reside in the Volunteer State. More than 130,000 are undocumented.

According to a statement provided by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slater, Tennessee joined the lawsuit because “the executive directives issued by the White House and Homeland Security conflict with existing federal law. They replace prosecutorial discretion, normally determined on a case-by-case basis, with a unilateral non-enforcement policy protecting over four million people.”

In addition to Texas and Tennessee, other states in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and several others.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) supports Slater’s decision to join the lawsuit. He said Obama’s executive action is an abuse of regulations that’s contrary to the law.

“Somebody has got to stand up and push back against this madness,” Norris said. “As the attorney general put it, it’s not about immigration as much as it is about regulation and the illegality of extending regulations beyond what the law will allow.”

There are estimated to be more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the nation, according to the Pew Research Center. More than four million will be able to benefit from Obama’s new deportation relief programs if a judge doesn’t rule in the states’ favor to block the executive action.

“It’s a waste of resources,” Calvo said. “With all of the things that we have to do as a state, we’re allocating tax money to fight the federal government on something that’s a dead end. The president acted within his power, regardless of how they feel about this. We are wasting money on a lawsuit that makes no sense.”

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Minority Leaders Say “No Room” for Bigotry in Memphis After Brooks’ Comments

CREDIT: Shelby County Government

Commissioner Henri Brooks

  • Shelby County Government
  • Commissioner Henri Brooks

In a joint press conference Thursday morning at First Baptist Church on Broad Avenue, community leaders from Latino Memphis and the Memphis branch of the NCAAP agreed that Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks’ recent comments about Hispanics should lead to an economic conversation rather than a racial one.

During a Shelby County Commission meeting on Monday, Brooks said Hispanics “asked to come” to the United States.

Pablo Pereya, who is Hispanic, was at the meeting where commissioners were discussing whether or not a local roofing company was discriminating against African-Americans because all 25 of its roofers are Hispanic. Though he was there for a different reason, Pereya spoke to the commissioners about the issue but became frustrated.

“I see you guys smirking and laughing like I’m not a minority,” Pereya told commissioners. “I know what it’s like to be a minority. I grew up in Memphis, and you being a Hispanic in Memphis is definitely the minority of a minority.”

Brooks responded, pointing to Pereya.

“You asked to come here,” Brooks said. “You asked to come here. We did not. And when we got here, our condition was so egregious, so barbaric. Don’t ever let that come out of your mouth again because, you know what, that hurts your case. Don’t compare the two. They’re not comparable.”

Mauricio Calvo, the executive director of Latino Memphis, and Rev. Keith Norman, president of the NAACP Memphis branch, spoke about moving forward with the “new” Memphis.

“The new Memphis is a table of brotherhood in my imagination, where all people are equitable and race doesn’t play such a prominent matter,” Norman said. “There’s always concerns and issues and we recognize that — we aren’t blind. We don’t live in a colorblind society. But to take it to this level is regressive.”

Both leaders say they want to look toward the future.

“In our perspective, in the new Memphis we’re trying to build, there is absolutely no room for intolerance and bigotry from anybody. I encourage voters to look closely at the upcoming election for that particular candidate or any candidate,” Calvo said during the press conference.

Norman also said the discussion needs to serve a higher purpose.

“We don’t want to concentrate on the sound bytes being played in the news. We need to talk about making sure that our contracting process has proper oversight, people are being awarded contracts based on merit and that the same standards apply federally, state, and locally,” Norman said. “A fair living wage ought to be included in this conversation to make sure that we’re not pitting groups against one another surrounding a low wage. Oftentimes what’s driving this engine is who will bid for the lowest dollar and that low dollar can be below what we consider to be a living wage.”

As to whether or not Brooks should resign, Norman said he believed the voters would ultimately decide, and Calvo agreed.

“Our community, quite frankly, cannot afford these types of things. We need to be working together to lift up the entire community,” Calvo said to reporters. “We have way too many poor people in Memphis — black, white, Latino, and any other community. We have to make sure our time in the county commission is spent being productive.”

Calvo said Latino Memphis and the NCAAP are trying to push past Brooks’ comments in response.

“How we handle this speaks to our character. We’re moving forward because we don’t want to address [those comments]. We have bigger and better things to address,” he said. “If you have two races fighting against each other for a dollar, what kind of dollar is that?”

Business interests are also at play here, Calvo added: “At the end of the day, we want to attract people to do more business in Shelby County. The people who are already in Shelby County need to have confidence that their elected officials are going to be representing all people in a professional manner. There’s a challenge and an opportunity here.”