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.”
