Tag: Memphis City Council

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Proposed Change in Fire, Police Residency Requirements Amended

The Memphis City Council continued its discussion Tuesday about lifting the residency requirements for the city’s police and fire personnel, but with a few changes.

The original ordinance, sponsored by council members J. Ford Canale and Gerre Currie, would allow voters to choose whether or not Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Memphis Fire Department (MFD) personnel should have to reside in the city or county, or if they should be allowed to live up to two hours away.

Tuesday Canale proposed four amendments to that ordinance. The first is developing a point system that would create preferential hiring for officers living within the city. The second is implementing a take-home car program for officers living in the city.

The third amendment would change the language of the ordinance, allowing officers to live in bordering counties or within a 50 mile radius instead of the originally proposed two-hour radius.

Finally, Canale recommended that the department only hire outside of the county when the department dips below a full complement of about 2,500 officers.

“We have one goal and only one goal in mind here — to get more men and women to serve the citizens of Memphis,” Canale said. “We’re not on a mission to hire people who don’t live in Memphis. We’re on a mission to put men and women on the street to protect Memphis.”

Councilwoman Cheyenne Johnson questioned why MPD is not able to find enough applicants within the city to fill its roles.

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MPD Director Michael Rallings said police departments across the country are experiencing a recruiting crisis and are challenged to find qualified applicants.

MPD Major Sharon Cunningham told the council that of the 13,000 MPD applicants since 2016, only 470 completed the entire application and training process to become officers.

More than half of those who show interest in becoming an officer either never turn in a completed application with the required documents or never show up for the next step in the hiring process.

Of those that do follow through, “Cunningham said 56 percent don’t make it through the physical ability test. Additional applicants are lost after a background check, psychological evaluation, and medical exam.”


After making it through each of these tests, applicants still must graduate from the Police Training Academy. Cunningham said potential officers are often lost here due to injuries.

Rallings added that retention is also an issue, as MPD officers are “highly skilled” and often recruited to work in other departments across the country or here at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).

“What does the Sheriff’s office have that we don’t?” Councilwoman Jamita Swearengen responded.

Working for the SCSO is “very different,” Rallings said, noting the county’s lighter workload and lower call volume. “You can’t even compare the level of work. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

Shifting the focus away from recruiting efforts, Councilman Berlin Boyd told his colleagues that recruiting more officers won’t change the crime demographic in the city, unless the root cause of poverty is addressed.

No votes have been taken on the ordnance yet. If approved by the council after three votes, voters will make the ultimate decision on the ballot next fall.

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City Council Could Shake up Citizen Law Enforcement Review Board

The Memphis City Council is considering an overhaul of the Citizen’s Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB).

Councilmen Kemp Conrad and Worth Morgan introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would change the Citizen’s Law Enforcement Review Board to the Council Law Enforcement Review Board, replacing the board’s current nine members with the 13 city council members.

Currently, per city ordinance, CLERB consists of the chairperson of the city council’s public safety committee, chairperson of the Shelby County Commission’s law enforcement committee, two law enforcement officers or member with experience in criminal justice, a medical officer, a clergy member, an attorney, and two citizens at-large.

But, Morgan told a city council committee Tuesday that he believes the purpose of CLERB is more safely placed in the hands of the city council.

CLERB, tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct by the Memphis Police Department, was first established by city ordinance in 1994, but was inactive between 2001 and 2015.

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Morgan said the goal of the board is a “good one, great one,” but CLERB has been “stuck in no-man’s land” over the past four years.

“It was a temporary solution to a long-term problem,” Morgan said. “We are a board of 13 civilians. We have subpoena power, tools, and relationships for when a serious incident comes up.”

Morgan noted that after the officer-involved shooting of Martavious Banks last year, the council’s discussions surrounding MPD policy and body cams were “more productive than CLERB’s in the past four years.”

Changing up the personnel on the board is primarily meant to make CLERB more affordable, Morgan said, citing the near $1 million that has been budgeted for the board over the past four years. The councilman did not specify how exactly the switch would save money.

Morgan said he hopes “people aren’t attached” to the civilian piece of CLERB, but instead to the goals and intentions of the board, which ultimately is an extra layer of oversight.

Virginia Wilson, administrator for CLERB, disagreed saying that CLERB doesn’t have an “absorbent budget” and she believes the make-up should remain the same.

“I think citizens would like to see CLERB continue to operate in the manner that it is,” Wilson said “We are working tirelessly.”

The committee’s discussion of the ordinance was cut short due to time constraints, but the council will return to it at its next meeting on November 19th.

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MLGW Set to Present Rate Hike Proposal to City Council

Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) will present its proposal for rate hikes to the Memphis City Council on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 5th.

MLGW has been pushing for multi-year hikes in water, gas, and electric rates for at least the past three years. In January, the council rejected electric and gas hikes, but approved a 3 percent hike for water.

Now, the utility is pushing for increases in all three divisions over a three-year period. The plan calls for increasing electric rates by 4.2 percent in July 2020 and then 1.5 percent in both 2021 and 2022.

Water would increase by 15 percent in July 2020, 7 percent in 2021, and 5 percent in 2022. Gas would only see a one-time hike of 2 percent in 2022.

This would add about $14 to customer’s bills each month, according to the utility. That’s $4 less than last year’s proposed hikes would have tacked on.

MLGW officials say the extra revenue will be used to improve the utility’s infrastructure, which MLGW president and CEO J.T. Young has said in the past is “aged” and in need of an overhaul.

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In the past, some council members have been reluctant to approve rate hikes citing poverty rates here or MLGW’s need to find other ways to fund infrastructure improvements.

While other council members, supporting the rate hikes, argued that the council should not defer maintenance to the utility’s infrastructure any longer.

The council is set to hear MLGW’s proposal for the hikes Tuesday, but a vote on the issue isn’t slated until November 19th.

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Changing Police, Fire Residency Rules Raises Concern Among City Council Members

CREDIT: Facebook/MPD

Facebook/MPD

A few members of the Memphis City Council voiced reservations Tuesday about lifting the residency requirements for the city’s police and fire personnel.

The ordinance up for discussion would allow voters to choose whether or not Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Memphis Fire Department (MFD) personnel should have to reside in the city or county, or if they should be allowed to live up to two hours away. If approved by the council, voters will make the ultimate decision on the ballot next fall.

Chief operating officer for the city, Doug McGowen, said this is an effort to do “everything in our power to lower the barrier to those who want to serve the citizens of Memphis.”

Currently, 12 percent of MPD officers live outside the city and county, MPD director Michael Rallings said. Forty-two percent live in the city.

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Rallings said that removing the residency requirements would aid the department with recruitment and help it reach its goal of having 2,300 commissioned officers. To date, there are 2,062 officers and another 85 in the training academy.

“As we continue to try and hire more officers and firefighters, I would hope we would remove any barrier to that,” Rallings said. “I just ask that you consider placing the issue back on the ballot and let the voters decide.”

Councilman Martavious Jones questioned whether lifting the residency requirements would assist recruiting efforts, as he said police hiring is a problem across the country — not one that is unique to Memphis: “Opening this up does not alleviate are recruitment and hiring problems.”

“Looking at the big picture,” Jones also said that allowing officers to live outside of the city could further exacerbate Memphis’ poverty rate. “Why should we let these high-paying, middle-class jobs leave our city?” he said. “We would open up the floodgates. We would not be doing ourselves any favors by doing anything that drives high-paying jobs out of here.”

Finally, Jones questioned whether it makes sense for first responders to live up to two hours outside of the city, especially in the case of a major emergency.

“First responders living two hours out?” Jones said. “What are they responding to? They can’t respond. I don’t see how this makes the recruiting effort easier or the city safer.”

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Councilwoman Cheyenne Johnson also expressed reservations about the ordinance.


“Part of being a part of Memphis administration is believing in Memphis,” Johnson said. “And if you believe in Memphis, you can find a home in Memphis. If citizens can’t believe officers are living next door or in community, it hurts the image the police and fire departments are trying to promote throughout city.”

Councilwoman Gerre Currie, one of the sponsors of the ordinance, disagreed saying that “whether they are two hours out or not I’m not going to second-guess personnel on their efforts.”

The council will return to this discussion in three weeks. MPD officials are slated to give a presentation on the department’s recruiting efforts to date then.

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Councilman Highlights Potential Conflict of Interest Between City and Its Attorney

McMullen

Two days ahead of the municipal election here, a Memphis City Council member raised concerns about a conflict of interest between the city and its Chief Legal Officer (CLO).

Councilman Martavious Jones said Tuesday that because Bruce McMullen, the city’s CLO, is a shareholder at the Baker Donelson law firm, which is contracted by the city, there could be an unfair benefit for McMullen.

Jones said that since McMullen was appointed in 2016 by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Baker Donelson has received a 427 percent increase in revenue.

Jones said that Baker Donelson’s revenues from the city have been steadily increasing, going from about $330,500 in 2016 to $452,000 so far in 2019. He said the firm earned just under $1 million for its work on the federal police surveillance trial last year.

Jones gave all of these figures during a council committee hearing Tuesday. It was unclear where Jones got the information.  

Jones noted that per city ordinance, an officer of the city is not allowed to receive benefits from increased contracts with the city.

“The transparency required for a public entity is different than the private section,” Jones said.

McMullen said that there are procedures in place to prevent conflicts of interest from occurring. McMullen said that he does not participate in referring cases to Baker Donelson. Instead, that’s done by the city’s deputy attorney Mike Fletcher and approved by the mayor.

McMullen also said that he personally does not receive any financial benefits for the cases the city contracts Baker Donelson to try.

Fletcher added that the earnings Baker Donelson made between 2008 and 2011 for contracting with the city is “comprable, if not more,” than the amounts between 2016 and now.

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Strickland released a statement shortly after the discussion, saying that “there is no conflict of interest or ethical violation on the part of the Chief Legal Officer.”

“In addition, some of our best CLOs in the past have served in a part-time capacity, including Cliff Pierce and Robert Spence,” Strickland said. “Chief McMullen serves us well in his part-time capacity and has represented the city with integrity.”

Strickland continues, saying that Baker Donelson is one of the “most pre-eminent firms in the country,” and it has represented the city for more than 40 years.

“As mayor, I will not deny the city access to this firm simply because our Chief Legal Officer is a member,” Strickland said. “I made that clear when Bruce was appointed, and I stand by that decision.”

To avoid this type of potential conflict of interest in the future, “whether perceived or real” Jones is working on a city ordinance that would require all city officers and directors appointed by the mayor to work full-time. Currently, McMullen works part-time for the city.

Requiring all officers and division directors to be full-time would ensure they are “dedicated primarily to the duties of their office and needs of the city,” a draft of the ordinance reads.

The ordinance also would require officers and directors to be residents of the city. Doug MGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, said the city charter would have to be amended to put that requirement in place. The charter can only be amended by referendum, he said.

Jones plans to bring an amended version of the ordinance back at the council’s next meeting in two weeks for further discussion.

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Editorial Opinion

Memphis City Council: Circumventing the People’s Will

On a preceding page of this issue, law professor Steve Mulroy, who paid his political dues as a two-term member of the Shelby County Commission, exhorts the candidates in this year’s city election to attend to certain overdue tasks.

One of those is that of reviving the efforts, sabotaged at two governmental levels, including by the current Memphis City Council, to institute Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in local elections. One of the scandals of the year just passed has been a successful joint effort by the aforesaid incumbent council members and the office of the Tennessee Secretary of State to suppress what had already been planned as a trial of RCV during the now ongoing Memphis municipal election.

Their efforts included, on the council side, the patently illegal use of taxpayer funds to compensate city lobbyists in Nashville for supporting legislation to ban RCV (also known as Instant Runoff Voting) in all state elections. The council further authorized the use of more public money to pay a public relations agency for advertisements advocating a “No” vote on a citywide referendum last year to uphold previous voter support of RCV.

The first such public referendum vote occurred in 2008 and was lopsidedly in favor of RCV. A second referendum in 2018 should have been unnecessary, but, once held, at council direction, it, too, passed overwhelmingly. As we noted editorially at the time, our own elected city council was using our own taxpayer money in an effort to cancel out what had been our duly authorized vote in favor of Ranked Choice Voting.

Nor has the council majority ceased in its efforts to strike down a public initiative. Council attorney Allan Wade has been directed by the incumbent council members to seek further legal “remedies” to counteract the people’s will.

Allan Wade

Meanwhile, the state Election Coordinator, which is a part of the publicly endowed Secretary of State’s office, issued a ruling, citing a hodge-podge of questionable reasons, why it regarded the RCV process as “illegal” and imposed a directive on the Shelby County Election Coordinator, Linda Phillips, not to follow through on this year’s or any other future implementation of RCV.

Ranked Choice Voting, it will be remembered, calls upon voters to rank their preferred choices, usually in a 1-2-3 sequence. Should there be no majority winner for an election position, the votes of runner-up candidates would be given appropriate weight and reassigned to the top two finishers in accordance with the preferences established in voters’ rankings. Eventually a majority winner would be declared thereby.

The method saves time, money, and effort, and makes unnecessary follow-up runoff elections that, in the case of the October 3rd council district elections, would be scheduled for late November, at a time when the interests of the voting public would have shifted elsewhere, resulting in miniscule turnouts with inevitably misleading final results.

It would seem to be a small thing to ask — that our elected officials observe the people’s will in such matters as public referenda. The fact that they have not and that they have pursued under-handed means of counteracting those expressions of the democratic process is an embarrassment and an outrage.

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City Planners Host Public Meetings on 3.0 Plan


There are six public meetings coming up for residents to meet with city planners and learn about how the Comprehensive Memphis 3.0 plan will affect their neighborhood.

The times and locations for the meetings are listed below. 


After delaying the vote on Memphis 3.0 several times since March, the Memphis City Council voted last week to hire a consultant to assess the financial impact the plan could have. The consultant has until mid-September to present their findings to the council. That’s when the council will take the second of three votes on the 3.0 ordinance.

In May, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland signed an executive order to ensure Memphis 3.0 would guide all city decisions on the administrative side, excluding land use. The council still has to approve the plan before it can impact land use.

The 3.0 plan is meant to be a guiding document for investments and development in the city over the next 20 years. The plan identifies citywide and community “anchors,” walkable mixed-use activity hubs, as places with the greatest opportunity for growth and improvement. The plan also identifies the degree of change needed for each anchor. This means the anchor will either be nurtured, accelerated or sustained.

Acceleration anchors signify a greater degree of change is necessary for the area. These changes will rely on a mix of private and philanthropic resources, as well as some public resources, according to the document.

Here’s a quick look at what the key acceleration anchors and recommendations are for each council district in the city. To figure out which district you reside in, visit this site.

District 1

O.T. Marshall Architects

Rendering of library at new Raleigh Town Center

Raleigh makes up most of District 1. The anchor chosen for acceleration is the former Raleigh Springs Mall and surrounding neighborhood. In 2018, construction of the Raleigh Town Center at the site of the old mall began. The town center will feature a walking trail, green space, and skate park, as well as a new library and police precinct. Memphis 3.0 recommends that the 30 acres of the site not included in the project be developed in the future. The plan specifically suggests the following for the area:

• Incentivizing small and minority-owned businesses to locate to the area

• Incentivizing facade and landscaping improvements to the surrounding commercial shopping centers

• Developing mixed-use infill to make the area more dense and reduce the number of vacant properties

• Further development of the remaining 30 acres of the former Raleigh Springs Mall

• Installing traffic-calming measures along Austin Peay

• Increasing the frequency of buses along Frayser-Raleigh Road and Austin Peay to every 30 minutes

District 2

District 2 contains the eastern-most edge of the city. The key anchor there pegged for acceleration is the intersection of Ridgeway and Winchester. The priorities in this district include reducing blight through adaptive reuses of vacant properties, increasing connectivity, and improving pedestrian safety. Specific recommendations for the anchor area include:

• Incentivizing mixed-use development near the Hickory Ridge Mall that includes cultural amenities

• Conducting a Winchester Corridor Study to take advantage of the economic viability of the area

• Identifying improvements to underutilized public land

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses on the portion of Winchester within the district to every 30 minutes

District 3

The southeast corner of Memphis makes up District 3. The anchor chosen for acceleration there is the intersection of Mendenhall and Winchester. The plan suggests supporting local business associations, art venues, and cultural organizations. Other priorities include increasing the number of high-quality housing options near anchors, safety improvements, and reducing blight. Here the plan specifically suggests the following:

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses on the portion of Winchester within the district to every 30 minutes

• Incentivizing mixed-use development that includes cultural amenities

• Facade improvements, such as installing street furniture, trees, and public art

• Increasing density

• Conducting a Winchester Corridor Study to take advantage of the economic viability of the area

• Creating green infrastructure in underutilized parking facilities, such as planting trees and flowers

District 4

City of Memphis

Current view of the intersection of Lamar and Airways, a District 4 anchor

In District 4, which sits near the middle of the city and comprises Orange Mound, Castalia Heights, and parts of Cooper-Young, the acceleration anchor is the intersection of Lamar and Airways. Some of the priorities for the district include improving pedestrian safety with traffic calming infrastructure, engaging community groups to initiate change, creating affordable commercial rent, and promoting the history of the Orange Mound neighborhood. The specific recommendations for the anchor neighborhood include:

• Encouraging mixed-use, mixed-income development at Lamar and Airways

• Implementing tools to support affordable housing

• Increasing cultural identity around the anchors with public art and programming in public spaces

• Creating attractive connections between neighborhoods

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses to every 15 minutes along Lamar and every 30 minutes along Park and Kimball

District 5

District 5 covers much of the Poplar corridor and surrounding areas. One of the anchors chosen for acceleration here is the intersection of Poplar and Truse. The goals are to support neighborhood redevelopment and encourage private market activity, support local minority and women-owned business, and to create affordable housing options. Specially, the plan suggests the following:

• Assessing parking and potentially consolidating parking

• Increasing the cultural identity around the district’s anchors

• Installing public art and implementing public programming

• Improving the streetscape with trees, lighting, and pedestrian amenities

• Implementing a 15- or 20-minute interval bus line for Poplar

District 6

Self + Tucker Architects

Rendering of traffic calming configurations, public art, and public right-of-way beautification

The southwestern corner of the city makes up District 6 and is comprised of portions of South Memphis, Westwood, and Whitehaven. One of the anchors targeted for acceleration is the intersection of Neptune and Walker. Priorities include identifying financial resources for housing and home repairs, blight removal, and increasing transportation options. The specific recommendations for the anchor area include:

• Supporting multi-modal transportation options

• Encouraging housing development for diverse income levels

• Establishing partnerships with local institutions and small developers for infill projects

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses to every 30 minutes along Mississippi Boulevard

District 7

District 7 is made up mostly of the Frayser neighborhood in North Memphis and the northern portion of Downtown. One of the anchors set to be accelerated is the intersection of Frayser Boulevard and Overton Crossing.

Some of the priorities for this area are promoting pedestrian-oriented infill, creating mixed-use development, installing traffic-calming measures, such as bike lanes and landscaped medians, and addressing the abundance of blighted, vacant properties. Specially, the plan suggests the following:

• Integrating green spaces in commercial lots to provide pedestrian refuges

• Supporting affordable housing

• Developing neighborhood gateways

• Installing public art and implementing public programming

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses on Frayser Boulevard and University Street to every 30 minutes

Self + Tucker Architects

Proposed infrastructure improvements near the Frayser Plaza

District 8

Super District 8 is made up of Districts 6 and 7, as well as the majority of Districts 3 and 4. The key anchors for acceleration identified here are Lamar and Airways within District 4. Recommendations for the entire super district include housing rehab in areas such as New Chicago and Soulsville, infill development at Raines and Elvis Presley, and promoting pop-up shops and other commercial activity near Danny Thomas and A.W. Willis. Specific recommendations include:

• Addressing motorist and pedestrian safety hazards at the Lamar/Kimball/Pendleton intersections

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses along Lamar, East Parkway, and North Watkins to every 15 minutes

District 9

Super District 9 comprises Districts 1, 2, and 5, as well as a small portion of Districts 3 and 4. The key anchor here for acceleration is the intersection of Park and Getwell. Some of the priorities for the super district include encouraging community events at Audubon Park, connecting public spaces to anchors, and promoting walkability. Specially, the plan suggest the following:

• Increasing the frequency of incoming buses on Getwell to every 30 minutes

• Redeveloping key economic corridors to support business development

• Incentivizing mixed-income development

• Improving multimodal infrastructure to employment centers and high-volume bus stops



Learn more about the Memphis 3.0 Plan here. 

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Beale Cover Likely to Generate $500K for Security Measures This Summer

CREDIT: Beale Street Merchants Association

Beale Street Merchants Association

Beale Street


Since the $5 cover charge to enter Beale Street has been reinstated, nearly $400,000 has been collected, but officials with the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) say none of the funds have been spent yet.

The Beale Street cover charge was reinstated in early May after a weekend of shootings and stampedes occurred on or near Beale Street.

The following Tuesday, Memphis Police Department Director (MPD) Michael Rallings, along with representatives with the DMC asked the Memphis City Council to put the fee back in place. It was originally slated to be in place only through Memorial Day weekend, but after more incidents occurred over the holiday weekend, Rallings returned to council again in June, asking that the fee stay in place through the end of September.

Between the second weekend in May and the second weekend in July, the entrance fee has been collected from 99,481 visitors totaling $382,460. But, none of that money has been spent yet, according to the DMC.

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Officials anticipate that the fee will generate $644,000 by the end of September if there are no rain days. Assuming there are some rain days, about $500,000 will be generated. This amount will be enough to cover the intended uses of the funds prescribed the city council, according to the DMC.

Per the council, the money will eventually be used for additional lighting and cameras on Beale, a new, non-climbable fence around Handy Park that will prohibit items from being passed through, bollards on Rufus Thomas and Second Street, and closer real-time monitoring of cameras on Beale.

The enhanced monitoring of Beale will cost $75,000 a year, while the fence will be a one time expense of $200,000, the additional lighting and cameras are a one time expense of $30,000 each, and the bollards $165,000. 

DMC officials say they are working to “maximize the utilization of these funds to further our security measures.” The commission is in the process of evaluating which sections of the street need more lighting and preparing the fence project for bid.

Jennifer Oswalt, president of the DMC, said by installing more and better lighting, safer street access, and other measures that promote pedestrian safety, the plan uses design elements to address some of the current security issues.


The goal is to “enhance the patron experience and change the way crowds moves through the street without creating an increase in the perceived level of security measures.”

“Memphis is the original American music city, and we owe so much of that to the authenticity of the Beale Street experience,” Oswalt said. “Working with the 24 security and safety recommendations determined by the consultant hired in 2018, we are developing a plan to create a truly welcoming and safe entertainment district.”

In early 2018, the city hired the firm Event Risk Management Solutions to find ways to control the crowd on Beale. The firm, led by Peter Ashwin, produced 24 recommendations for the city. Among them was the reintroduction of the entrance fee.

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The council voted then to reinstate the fee on an as-needed basis, despite push back from some members. Now, the fee will be in place through the end of September and will likely return next summer.

Other recommendations included setting the maximum capacity on the street to 20,000 people, restricting Beale Street to pedestrian traffic only, and redesigning the street’s entry points. All 24 recommendations have been implemented at this point.

DMC staff believes that the fee, working in conjunction with the other 23 recommendations, is leading to less overcrowding on weekend nights and reducing the overall risk of an incident occurring on the street.

This story has been updated with the latest admission numbers from the DMC.


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Citing New State Law, Councilman Wary of Plastic Bag Ban


One Memphis City Council member is hesitant to move forward with a plastic bag ban here after a state law passed in April prohibiting cities from regulating the use of them.

Councilman Worth Morgan said the “merits of the discussion are an interesting topic,” but the conversation should be had with state legislators: “We’re having it in the wrong place in a city council committee room and not in Nashville.”

Morgan said the newly-passed state law that bans local governments from regulating the “use, disposition, or sale of an auxiliary container” prohibits all local regulation of plastic bags and that a “ban constitutes a regulation.”

“It would be my preference that if we want to have this conversation, we drive to Nashville,” Morgan said. “I think right now this ordinance doesn’t have a place in Memphis City Council.”

Councilman Berlin Boyd, a co-sponsor of the ordinance along with Chairman Kemp Conrad, told Morgan he “begs to differ” and that the council has an “obligation to do what you can as local legislators to try and circumvent what happens in Nashville.”

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“If we weren’t creative in our thinking about removing the Confederate statues, Nathan and his comrades would still be in our parks,” Boyd said. “We took the risk and did something and guess what? Those monuments are gone.

“We owe it to everyone. It’s our job to take risks. Give this a chance to try to make Memphis a green and clean city.”

The ban in question would prohibit the distribution of single-use plastic bags at checkouts in retail establishments with 2,000 square feet or more. Each violation of the ordinance would result in a $50 fine.

Boyd, who first brought forth the idea of plastic bag regulation in November, said the goal of the ban is to protect the environment and reduce overall waste, citing plastic-bag-riddled streets, waterways, and trees.

“Waterway protection is extremely important,” he said. “No matter what media outlet you’re looking at, our sea animals are basically inhaling and eating plastic bags.”

Boyd also said taxpayers pay between $2.5 and $3.5 million a year for plastic bag removal.

Dennis Lynch, chair of the Sierra Club in Memphis told the council he supports the ban, saying that plastic bags “encourage the throw-away society instead of getting people to recycle.”

He also noted environmental concerns similar to Boyd’s.

Councilwoman Robinson raised practical questions about the ban, like the effect it would have on elderly shoppers. She said for them plastic bags are easier to carry than large paper or reusable bags.

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“I don’t want us to make an environmental decision that has a negative impact on the people that actually live here,” Robinson said. “How are we going to make sure they have what they need?”

Robinson said the council should be “very thoughtful we don’t have any unintended consequences.”

Boyd said that is a conversation the council should be having anyway, as Kroger, which has more than a dozen stores here, plans to completely phase out plastic bags by 2025.

But, ultimately, Boyd said shoppers will have to make behavior changes. “People will have to adjust to it.”

Swearengen, echoing Robinson, voiced concerns from her constituents in Orange Mound who shop at the Midtown Kroger on Union. She said many don’t have cars and as a result, bike or use public transit to get there. It’s easier for them to carry plastic bags than paper bags when doing so, she said.

Swearengen noted that plastic bags can hang on the handlebars of a bike and that paper bags deteriorate in the rain.

To that, Councilwoman Gerre Currie said local organizations could provide cloth and other types of reusable bags.

“If this is something we are trying to do, the onus is on us to reach outside where we are sitting here and partner with organizations to provide free bags.”

The council is scheduled to take the second of three votes on the plastic bag ordinance Tuesday (today).

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City Council Could Spend $15K on Memphis 3.0 Consultant


The Memphis City Council could pay a consultant $15,000 to assess the financial impact of the Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive plan.

A council committee voted 4-1 on Tuesday morning in favor of the move, recommending its approval to the full council.

Councilwoman Cheyenne Johnson, who is proposing the study, said she believes Memphis 3.0 is a good plan, but that residents don’t fully understand it. Johnson said she’s received a number of phone calls from constituents who want to know exactly how Memphis 3.0 would affect their neighborhood, as well as what the financial impact will be on underserved communities, especially ones of color.

The $15,000 would come from the city’s legislative division budget.

Councilwoman Patrice Robinson said she supports the study: “It wouldn’t do any hurt or harm for council to have another eye, another look, and a further explanation.”

Robinson said the consultant will review the strengths and weaknesses of the plan, and determine any opportunities or threats that could arise because of it.

Councilman Worth Morgan abstained from voting, saying that the financial impact of the plan will likely be hard to determine. He also added that he doesn’t want to support hiring a consultant until the council knows exactly what additional information the consultant will produce.

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Morgan said $15,000 isn’t a “great amount for a study,” but he is unsure if “the value of the information will match the $15,000 price tag.”

Councilman Sherman Greer cast the only no vote, saying that Memphis 3.0 “isn’t the Bible,” and that it can be amended even after the council approves it. He also questioned what information the consultant would reveal that the council doesn’t already know.

The full council is scheduled to vote on the resolution at its meeting Tuesday (today) at 3:30 p.m. If approved, the selected consultant will have until September 17th to present its findings. That would mean the third and final vote on the ordinance that would implement the plan would be pushed back until mid-September as well.

Maya Smith

Carnita Atwater protests the Memphis 3.0 plan

The council was slated to take the second vote on the ordinance Tuesday, but that vote could be delayed as well.

In May, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland signed an executive order to ensure Memphis 3.0 would guide all city decisions on the administrative side excluding land use. The council still has to approve the plan before it can impact land use.

The council has delayed the vote on Memphis 3.0 several times since March. The council first delayed the vote on the city’s comprehensive plan after a group of residents from the New Chicago area voiced opposition to the plan, citing a lack of inclusion.

Since then, delays have been attributed to the council needing more information about the plan and its implications. The council took the first of three votes on the ordinance at its July 2nd meeting.