Tag: Robert Knecht

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Young, Sullivan in Talks?

Maura Black Sullivan (Photo: Courtesy Maura Black Sullivan)

The Memphis Flyer has confirmed that Mayor Paul Young and a veteran public official now serving in Nashville are in continuing conversations about her possible employment here. This would be Maura Black Sullivan, a native Memphian who now holds the position of chief operating officer of Nashville Public Schools.

Sullivan, who previously served as COO for former Memphis Mayor AC Wharton and later for former Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, confirmed that conversations with Young are ongoing for the position of his chief administrative officer.

On Tuesday of this week, the city council was prepared to deal with some unfinished business — including a controversial healthcare allowance for council members of two terms’ service or more, and a decision on yet another mayoral appointment — this one of public works director Robert Knecht.

A vote on Knecht, whom Mayor Paul Young submitted for renomination week before last, was deferred after council chairman JB Smiley publicly criticized Knecht for “attitude” issues and asked for the deferral.

Several of Young’s cabinet choices were viewed negatively by Smiley and other council members — notably Police Chief CJ Davis, whose reappointment the council narrowly rejected via a 7-6 vote. (She was later given an interim appointment by Young, pending a later reexamination by the council.)

Another issue with several council members has been unease at the mayor’s inability so far to complete his team with credentialed new appointees in other positions. He has not yet named permanent appointees for the key positions of chief operating officer and chief financial officer, for example.

That circumstance could change soon. Sullivan is frank to say that she has not been in a job search, enjoys her present circumstances in Nashville, and has made no decision to leave them, but acknowledges that a possible return to Memphis would be attractive as well.

Sullivan is the daughter of the late Dave Black, a featured radio broadcaster of many years in Memphis, and the late Kay Pittman Black, who was a well-known journalist and government employee here.

• With Governor Bill Lee’s appointment this week of Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the state’s high court continues with an unmistakably red hue politically.

As a judicial candidate in her two elections as a Circuit Court judge in Shelby County, Wagner campaigned without ideological inflection and enjoyed relatively diverse support, and there was no hint of political bias in her judgments. But her background was that of a Republican activist, and she both was a member of the right-leaning Federalist Society and served a term as chair of the Shelby County Republican Party.

In appointing Wagner, Lee said, “Her understanding and respect for the rule of law and commitment to the conservative principles of judicial restraint make her well-suited for the state’s highest court, and I am proud to appoint her to this position.”

Technically, Wagner is a justice-designate. The justice she was named to succeed, Roger Page,will keep his position for some months.

• District Attorney Steve Mulroy was in a celebratory mood last Monday evening after the Shelby County Commission voted unanimously — except for three abstentions — to pass an ordinance imposing guidelines ensuring that all members of his office, whether their technical employment is by the county or by the state, are paid according to the same pay scale.

As a county official, Mulroy had recently trimmed his own pay according to the lower county rate. He has now restored the voluntary pay cut.

Update: After our print deadline, Mayor Young clarified to the Flyer: “I can confirm that we had early talks with Maura Sullivan about a different position with the Young administration, not the COO/CAO position. We have a strong leader currently acting in the COO role who has my full faith and confidence.”

The mayor’s spokesperson/CCO, Penelope Huston, added: “The role we initially discussed was a high level position on the Mayor’s cabinet. And while talks about that position haven’t continued, we do have an ongoing dialogue with her and many others who we consider allies in the work of creating a stronger Memphis.”

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Sullivan in Talks for City CAO Job

Maura Black Sullivan, courtesy Ms. Sullivan

The Memphis Flyer has confirmed that Mayor Paul Young and a veteran public official now serving in Nashville are in continuing conversations about her possible employment here. This would be Maura Black Sullivan, a native Memphian who now holds the position of chief operating officer of Nashville Public Schools.

Sullivan, who previously served as deputy COO for former Memphis Mayor AC Wharton and later COO for former Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, confirmed that conversations with Young are ongoing for the position of his chief administrative officer.

On Tuesday of this week, the city council will deal with more unfinished business — including a controversial health care allowance for council members of two terms’ service or more, and a decision on yet another mayoral appointment — this one of public works director Robert Knecht.

A vote on Knecht, whom Mayor Paul Young submitted for renomination week before last, was deferred after council chairman JB Smiley publicly criticized Knecht for “attitude” issues and asked for the deferral.

Several of Young’s cabinet choices were viewed negatively by Smiley and other council members — notably police chief C.J. Davis, whose reappointment the council narrowly rejected via a 7-6 vote. (She was later given an interim apoointment by Young, pending a later reexamination by the council.)

An issue with several council members as well has been unease at the Mayor’s inability so far to complete his team with credentialed new appointees in other positions. He has not yet named permanent appointees for the key positions of chief operating officer and chief financial officer, for example.

That circumstance could change soon. Sullivan is frank to say that she has not been in a job search, enjoys her present circumstances in Nashville and has made no decision to leave them, but acknowledges that a possible return to Memphis would be attractive as well.”  

Sullivan is the daughter of the late Dave Black, a featured radio broadcaster of many years in Memphis, and the late Kay Pittman Black, who was a well-known journalist and government employee here.

She is married to another former Memphian, Jeff Sullivan. The couple have a son, Jack, who is a student at Rhodes College.

Update: Since publishing this article online, Mayor Young clarified to the Flyer: “I can confirm that we had early talks with Maura Sullivan about a different position with the Young administration, not the COO/CAO position. We have a strong leader currently acting in the COO role who has my full faith and confidence.”

The mayor’s spokesperson/CCO, Penelope Huston, added: “The role we initially discussed was a high level position on the Mayor’s cabinet. And while talks about that position haven’t continued, we do have an ongoing dialogue with her and many others who we consider allies in the work of creating a stronger Memphis.”

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Purgatory

When Judge Jayne Chandler (r) swore in Councilman Jeff Warren in early January, host and witness for the special ceremony was the iconic late former school board member Sara Lewis. It was her final official act. (Photo: Courtesy Jeff Warren)

The forced reaction of Mayor Paul Young in his interim appointment of Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis, coupled with the city council’s action this past Tuesday to defer action on reappointing Public Works Director Robert Knecht, suggests an emergent balkanization of power in the affairs of the newly installed city government.

Council chair JB Smiley has made it clear that he intends to position the council — and himself — as a counterbalance to mayoral authority. Smiley, who had taken the lead in the first deferral of action on Davis three weeks ago, reinforced his assertiveness last Tuesday in dressing down Knecht for “attitude” and alleged insularity and leading the council to postpone a vote on Knecht’s reappointment for two more weeks.

“Make sure you respond when we come calling on you,” was the thrust of Smiley’s message to Knecht. The contrast between Smiley’s firmness and Knecht’s docility was instructive.

And individual council members have their own axes to grind.

Councilman Jeff Warren, sponsor of the imminent council resolution that Young had to preempt and emulate in his interim appointment of Davis, has affirmed his position at the nexus of authority. Newcomer Jerri Green’s strong questioning of Davis underscored her determination to be a voice to reckon with.

Another new council member, previously seen as an unknown quantity, is Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, who has made a point of her intention to base her votes on her own independent researches. Yet another first-termed, Pearl Eva Walker, has to be regarded as a potential exponent of an abundant number of activist causes, including a reexamination of Memphis’ issues with TVA.

And so forth and so on. As the old saw goes: All have won, and all must have prizes. Young, who has yet to get his legs fully down, will be hard put to maintain the strong-mayor authority the city charter entitles him to — especially given a belated air of pushback against the relatively free hand enjoyed by former mayor Jim Strickland.

Not to be ignored, either, is the likely enhancement of self-interested power groups in the community. A key moment in the (temporary) resolution of the Davis matter was a come-to-Jesus meeting between Mayor Young and members of the Memphis Police Association on the Monday before the last council session.

The gathered police folk made it clear that they wanted more attention to their concerns that they had been used to in law-enforcement matters.

The bottom line is that rosy rhetoric does not apply to Davis’ case. Nor to her boss’. One noted pundit has hailed the interim appointment as a salvific opportunity for all the sides to get together in constructive kumbaya. The fact is, to employ the right existential terminology, Davis is in a form of purgatory and has, at best, an opportunity to expurgate herself. Meanwhile, she has to bear the ill-defined stigmata of public doubt. And so, sadly, must the mayor, as he still struggles to launch his mayoralty.

Some are already suggesting that Chief Davis might make her best contribution to the city’s welfare — and to her boss’ and to her own — by arranging for a graceful, voluntary withdrawal.

Categories
News News Blog

Mississippi River Rising, But Officials Say Not to Worry

CREDIT: Facebook- Mike Lawhead

Facebook- Mike Lawhead

The Mississippi River at 38 feet on February 24th.

The Mississippi River is set to crest here at its fourth-highest recorded level next week, but the city said Friday via Twitter that “it shouldn’t be cause for concern.”

The National Weather Service has projected the river, now at 40.5 feet, to crest here at about 41.5 feet on Wednesday, March 6th. This would be the highest the river has been since 2011, when the river reached an historic 48 feet, partially submerging Mud Island and leaving Riverside Drive completely underwater.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Forecast of the Mississippi River flood stages

Robert Knecht, director of the city’s Public Works division, said in a video Friday that the water will stay at that level for a few days before it begins to drop. Over the next 30 days, “hopefully we’ll see a significant drop,” Knecht said.

Knecht said the city is “fortunate,” as major flooding should not be an issue. Historically, Memphis has had challenges with flooding, but Knecht said the city has since “invested significantly” to improve the city’s flood control system. The system protects most of Downtown and many residential areas.

“We’re nowhere near what happened several years ago,” Knecht said, citing the 2011 flood. “And it [flood control] worked flawlessly then.”

Knecht said the city will continue to monitor the river, but that right now he doesn’t foresee any challenges.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Mayor Strickland’s New Cabinet

So far, the major appointees of Mayor-elect Jim Strickland seem an acceptable bunch. Like the members of his transition team, they are a mix. Appropriately enough for mayoral bridegroom Strickland, the old nuptial saying applies: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”

The “something old” component, previously announced, includes several retainees: interim, now permanent, public works director Robert Knecht; general services director Antonio Adams; information services director Brent Nair; libraries director Keenon McCloy; executive director of workforce investment Kevin Woods; finance director Brian Collins; and Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong.

Among the “something new” appointees: Douglas McGowen as chief operating officer (COO), a new position; Bruce McMullen as city attorney; Alexandria Smith as human resources director; and Ursula Madden as chief communications officer.

Madden, a longtime news anchor for WMC-TV, Action News 5, also qualifies in the “something borrowed” category, inasmuch as she is a lift from the ranks of the media, a rival “estate” to government in Edmund Burke’s category of major societal divisions.

And “something blue” as a category applies handily to Armstrong, the head of city law enforcement whose tenure in office has in the past few weeks endured despite dismissive rhetoric by two mayors. A C Wharton made a premature announcement of Armstrong’s departure in the aftermath of the election that proved to be, in the old Nixonian-era term, “inoperative.” And Strickland’s persistent refusals during his campaign to commit himself to re-employing Armstrong were widely read (and apparently misread) as a vote of no confidence.

Indeed, it would almost seem that Armstrong himself — as resourceful in the politics of survival, it appears, as in his celebrated detective work (chronicled for a nation in TV’s 48 Hours) — has the major say in his professional destiny, including whether he will abide by his erstwhile, Wharton-era decision to retire in 2017 or keep on keeping on. The director is remarkably direct in his statements, keeping a sense of independence and an even keel, as when he spoke of the “logistical nightmare” he faced after cuts in police benefits played havoc with his forces. And who among us even remembers that group of restive police dissidents he identified as “the monsters” when he took over as director in 2001. Without much fuss or fanfare, they were simply subdued.

And, speaking of independent hands, we confess to being intrigued by Strickland’s “buck-stops-here” determination to reorganize his administration with himself as the hands-on center of the wheel vis-à-vis his major appointees. This contrasts with Wharton’s approach, which was more of a sort of chairmanship relationship to a group of autonomous departments.

All in all, we think Strickland has begun cautiously and well. And, without being at all conspicuous in a ticket-balancing sort of way, he appears to be fashioning an administration that is diverse and representative of several points of view — an administration that does not break jarringly with the preceding one but clearly can move in its own chosen direction.