Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, May 7, a golf driving range on Summer Avenue north of Sycamore View Road, a 240-unit apartment complex on 19.3 acres at Lenow and Dexter roads and a 69-unit apartment complex on the northern side of Shelby Farms Park to the west of Germantown Parkway.

2. Council Approves Apartments, Golf Driving Range - Thursday, May 09, 2013

Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, May 7, a golf driving range on Summer Avenue north of Sycamore View Road, a 240-unit apartment complex on 19.3 acres at Lenow and Dexter roads and a 69-unit apartment complex on the northern side of Shelby Farms Park to the west of Germantown Parkway.

3. City Council OKs School Funding Talks - Thursday, May 09, 2013

The newest front in the move to the schools merger in less than two months is an old legal claim that continues to pop up as the countywide school board looks for any new funding it can secure.

Memphis City Council members passed a resolution Tuesday, May 7, to start negotiations among the council, the administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and the countywide school board.

4. Council Moves on School Funding Standoff - Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Memphis City Council members want to try to resolve the Memphis City Schools $57 million court judgment against the city as well as the city’s legal counterclaim that the school system owes it more than twice that by the end of this month.

5. Parks Controversy Back to City Council - Wednesday, May 01, 2013

The committee recommendations are in for new names for three Confederate-themed city parks. And the long-running controversy about the parks is now back to the Memphis City Council.

The ad hoc committee of nine, which included several historians and two City Council members, held its final meeting Monday, April 29, and voted with little discussion on several ideas for what used to be known as Confederate, Forrest and Jefferson Davis parks.

6. Council Ups Ante in Auto Inspections Standoff - Thursday, April 04, 2013

City funding of auto emissions inspections is still due to run out on June 30, the end of the current fiscal year at City Hall.

And Memphis City Council members are considering several options, including simply ending the inspections. The possible move comes after Shelby County government leaders announced last month the state has told them the state won’t assume responsibility for the auto inspections for at least a year, probably two. Until then, the auto inspections would apply only to Memphis vehicle owners and not those across the entire county.

7. Masson Talks Plan for Merger Work - Monday, March 11, 2013

The special master in the schools merger federal court case says his first order of business is to look at the paperwork and other documents of the case and what has been done so far in the merger.

8. State Delays Auto Inspection Takeover - Thursday, March 07, 2013

The state of Tennessee has told the city of Memphis it will probably take two years for it to take over auto inspection duties in Shelby County.

But city funding for the auto inspection stations and employees runs out when the current fiscal year does, at the end of June.

9. Merger Special Master Could Have Different Terms - Friday, March 01, 2013

The Shelby County Commission, the city of Memphis and suburban Shelby County leaders all agree details of the merger of public schools in Shelby County could come down to a federal court order.

But in their filings Wednesday, Feb. 27, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, there are some differences in how the three parties in the federal lawsuit believe the court might become involved directly in the merger.

10. Commission, City and Suburbs Agree on Schools Master - Thursday, February 28, 2013

Attorneys for the Shelby County Commission, the city of Memphis and suburban leaders agree that a special master should be appointed by Memphis Federal Court Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays.

The master would generally monitor progress toward the August date for the consolidation of Shelby County’s two public school systems.

11. Mays Plans to Appoint Special Master - Monday, February 25, 2013

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays plans to move ahead with appointing a special master to oversee the merger of Shelby County’s two public school systems.

12. Council Drops Resolution Advancing Vance Plan - Saturday, December 08, 2012

The Memphis City Council dropped a resolution Tuesday, Dec. 4, that would have advanced a Vance Avenue renovation plan by the Vance Avenue Collaborative to protect Foote Homes against future demolition.

13. City Council Drops Resolution Advancing Vance Avenue Plan - Thursday, December 06, 2012

The Memphis City Council dropped a resolution Tuesday, Dec. 4, that would have advanced a Vance Avenue renovation plan by the Vance Avenue Collaborative to protect Foote Homes against future demolition.

14. Council Debates Golf Courses Fate - Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Four golf courses owned and run by the city of Memphis are closed for the winter season as the Memphis City Council continues to debate the fate of the Whitehaven golf course, one of the four, which was to be closed permanently starting this month.

15. Gay, Transgender City Workers Protected From Discrimination - Thursday, October 18, 2012

At the end of a long night at City Hall with a relatively short agenda, Shelby County Commissioner Sidney Chism told Memphis City Council members that their meetings looked like more “fun” than the commission’s meetings.

16. Council Approves Non Discrimination Ordinance, Adds Resolution - Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Memphis City Council members approved on third and final reading an ordinance Tuesday, Oct. 16, that forbids the city from discriminating in hiring, firing or promotion based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

17. City Council to Vote on Discrimination Ordinance - Tuesday, October 16, 2012

With a legal opinion from City Attorney Herman Morris in hand, Memphis City Council members on Tuesday, Oct. 16, again take up an ordinance that would ban the city from discriminating in hiring and promotions based on sexual orientation.

18. Council Delays Anti-Discrimination Ordinance - Thursday, September 20, 2012

When the Memphis City Council got to the real intent this week of the latest version of an anti-discrimination ordinance it has been debating off and on for two years, it wasn’t just a decision about including “sexual orientation” in the wording.

19. Council Delays Anti-Discrimination Vote For Legal Opinions - Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Memphis City Council amended an anti-discrimination ordinance covering city government to include banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

But the council then delayed a vote on the ordinance for a month after the city attorney and the council’s attorney raised questions about whether the addition amounts to a change in the city charter.

20. Mays Opens Hearings On Municipal Schools With Testimony - Wednesday, September 05, 2012

The first of two days of testimony in the federal court case over the state laws setting up municipal school districts ended with a lot of reading material for U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays.

21. Gas Tax Would Raise MATA Funding - Thursday, August 09, 2012

If Memphis voters approve a gas tax increase on the Nov. 6 ballot, the Memphis Area Transit Authority will have what it has for years said it lacks to provide better service – a dedicated source of continuing funding.

22. Despite Ruling Schools Case Far From Over - Monday, July 16, 2012

The day after U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays ruled the suburban municipal schools referendums will go ahead as planned, most of the 20 attorneys in his courtroom for the ruling were back before him.

23. Council Tests Auto Inspection Rules - Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Memphis City Council members have approved a financial hardship waiver that allows Memphis motorists who flunk the emissions part of their auto inspection to claim the repairs will cost them too much and get a one-year one-time-only waiver on the inspection.

24. Wade Brings No-Nonsense Attitude to Council Work - Thursday, April 19, 2012

During the trial in 2009 between the city of Memphis and the Memphis City Schools district over a complicated funding dispute that has left ramifications even to this day, Allan Wade argued on behalf of the city.

25. Tax Hike Thorny Issue for Council - Friday, March 09, 2012

To some at City Hall, the plan at the end of the 2011 budget season for city government is unfolding as it should. To others, nothing in the plan approved by the Memphis City Council has happened.

Still others aren’t sure whether a one-time, 18-cent city property tax hike is really one time or if it’s the second tax hike of its kind since last year.

26. Orlando Joins Memphis In Studying NBA Suit - Monday, October 24, 2011

It’s not just Memphis anymore. According to news accounts out of Orlando Thursday night, lawyers for the home city of the Orlando Magic, like those in Memphis, are studying the possibility of a lawsuit against the NBA because of the protracted lockout.

27. Orlando Joins Memphis in Studying Possible NBA Suit - Friday, October 21, 2011

It's not just Memphis anymore.

According to news accounts out of Orlando Thursday night, lawyers for the home city of the Orlando Magic, like those in Memphis, are studying the possibility of a lawsuit against the NBA because of the protracted lockout.

28. Possible Arena Suit Spotlights Funding - Thursday, October 20, 2011

The possibility the city of Memphis could file a lawsuit against the NBA over the league’s still unresolved player lockout has cast a spotlight over the intricate funding plan that paid the debt associated with building FedExForum.

29. Council Looks Into NBA Revenue Lock Out - Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Memphis City Council members voted Tuesday, Oct. 18, to have their attorney “explore all options” for recovering any revenues lost in the National Basketball Association lock-out.

The resolution, proposed by council chairman Myron Lowery, is aimed at revenues from ticket sales at FedExForum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies, that are used to pay off the debt of building the $250 million arena.

30. Fullilove Wants Madison Bike Lane Talks but ‘Not Trying to Interfere’ - Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Memphis City Council member Janis Fullilove wants to talk more about dedicated bicycle lanes on Madison Avenue at the council’s Tuesday, Oct. 18, afternoon session.

31. Fullilove Wants Madison Bike Lane Talks but ‘Not Trying to Interfere’ - Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Memphis City Council member Janis Fullilove wants to talk more about dedicated bicycle lanes on Madison Avenue at the council’s Tuesday, Oct. 18, afternoon session.

32. Council Holds First Post-Election Meeting - Tuesday, October 18, 2011

At their first set of meetings since the Oct. 6 city elections, Memphis City Council members take up some of the issues that surfaced in the campaigns while others have been delayed.

The Tuesday, Oct. 14, council session begins at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, 125 N. Main St.

33. Council Takes Closer Look at Dollar Signs - Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Memphis City Council members could vote Tuesday, Sept. 20, to add another item to the Nov. 8, 2012, election ballot topped by the presidential general election.

Council members vote on third and final reading of an ordinance that would put to city voters a requirement that two-thirds council approval – or nine votes – is required for any city property tax hike that is, as a percentage, higher than the percentage of the rate of inflation.

34. Possible Mediation Expected In Schools Case - Thursday, August 18, 2011

Before he rules on the second part of the schools consolidation case, federal Judge Hardy Mays might give mediation another try.

Nothing had appeared on his court calendar as of Wednesday afternoon. But attorneys for some of the parties in the eight-sided case have told their clients to keep Friday, Aug. 19, open for a possible mediation session.

35. School Board Elections Next Step in Process - Tuesday, August 16, 2011

All eight of the entities involved in the schools consolidation case in Memphis federal court agree that the Shelby County Commission should draw the district lines for a new countywide school board.

36. Decision Leaves Board Question Unanswered - Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Attorneys for all of the sides in the schools consolidation court case have a Friday, Aug. 12, deadline that will set the stage for the next crucial part of the landmark court case.

What does a new countywide school board look like and when is there a transition to that school board?

37. Council Approves MCS Funding - Wednesday, August 03, 2011

The Memphis City Council approved a funding agreement with the Memphis City Schools system Tuesday, Aug. 2, that almost guarantees the MCS school year will begin on Aug. 8 on schedule.

MCS superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash told council members he was “appreciative” and said the approval was a “tremendous relief” to teachers and parents wondering if school would start on time.

38. Schools Funding Compromise Must Overcome Distrust - Monday, July 25, 2011

The city of Memphis and the Memphis City Schools system have some time – but not a lot – to see if a very tentative school funding compromise can grow roots.

But downtime has never been the friend of either side in the three-year dispute that began when the then-newly elected council cut funding to MCS in April 2008.

39. Redistricting Comes Just in Time for Filing Deadline - Thursday, July 21, 2011

Contenders for the 13 seats on the Memphis City Council got some certainty this week with council approval of the new set of district lines for the body.

And it could make the noon Thursday, July 21, qualifying deadline something that hasn’t been seen in many election cycles – a deadline with some last-minute candidates and plenty of politicos watching the last-minute developments.

40. MCS-City Council Talk Money At 4 PM - Thursday, July 21, 2011

As Memphis City Council members and Memphis City Schools board members prepare to talk for the first time since the school board voted to possibly delay the Aug. 8 start of the school year, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. has offered to put $10 million in city funding on the table.

41. MCS Board Votes To Delay Aug. 8 School Start - Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The stakes got higher Tuesday evening, July 19, in the funding dispute between the city of Memphis and the Memphis City Schools system.

MCS board members voted 8-1 Tuesday to delay the Aug. 8 start of the school year until the city pays a disputed amount of money the school system says the city owes for the fiscal year that began July 1.

42. Council Approves Redistricting Plan - Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Memphis City Council members approved a redistricting plan for the council just two days before the filing deadline for the Oct. 6 city elections.

All 13 city council seats are on the ballot as well as citywide races for Memphis Mayor, City Court Clerk and the three city court judges.

43. Council Plans Vote on New District Lines - Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Memphis City Council members are under a tight deadline as they meet Tuesday, July 19, to approve a new set of district lines for the council districts they represent.

The vote on third and final reading of the ordinance is just two days before the filing deadline for candidates on the Oct. 6 ballot, which will include races for all 13 council seats.

44. Redrawn Lines Affect Council Contenders - Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mud Island has become a kind of safe harbor for candidates hoping to make it onto the Memphis City Council in the Oct. 6 city elections.

With Mud Island apparently still safely within council District 7, University of Memphis law school professor Lee A. Harris pulled his qualifying petition this week for the only council seat with no incumbent seeking re-election. He’s one of three citizens weighing the district race with Mud Island addresses.

45. Six Council Contenders In New Districts Under Redistrict Plan - Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A detailed examination of the proposed redistricting plan for the Memphis City Council by The Daily News shows six prospective council candidates would be drawn out of districts they are considering running in for the Oct. 6 elections.

46. Council One Step Closer to New District Lines - Tuesday, July 12, 2011

On the hottest weekend of the summer so far, candidates looking for votes in the October city elections had some uncertainty to go with the door hangers and other parts of the hand-to-hand campaign process.

47. Council Redistrict Proposal Shakes Up Dists. 1 And 7 - Monday, July 11, 2011
Memphis City Council members have a redistricting proposal that would change council districts 1 and 7 the most.

The redistricting proposal required by the once a decade census was submitted Friday evening, July 8, by council attorney Allan Wade.

48. Council to Fill Seat July 22 - Thursday, July 07, 2011

The Memphis City Council will meet in special session July 22 to appoint someone to fill the vacancy created by the resignation last month of District 7 council member Barbara Swearengen Ware.

49. Council Races Slow to Develop - Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Only two weeks remain before the qualifying deadline for candidates on the Oct. 6 Memphis election ballot, but there aren’t very many names on the ballot so far – just 13.

Yet there are many more qualifying petitions still making the rounds in several city council districts.

50. Consolidation Case Deadline Arrives - Thursday, June 30, 2011

It’s been briefed several times over, unsuccessfully mediated three times and adorned with a fresh supply of depositions.

And Thursday, June 30, is the deadline for all of the material all of the sides in the schools consolidation case want U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays to consider in making a decision.

51. Pieces of the Puzzle - Monday, June 27, 2011

Memphis City Council members left the city property tax rate at $3.19 Tuesday, June 21, as they ended their budget season.

But they added 18 cents to the tax rate on a one time basis with a separate resolution.

52. Council Approves ‘Right-Sizing’ Budget, Tax Hike - Thursday, June 23, 2011

While the Memphis City Council left the city property tax rate at $3.19 as it ended the budget season Tuesday, June 21, it added 18 cents to the tax rate on a one-time basis with a separate resolution.

53. Mays Rules Council Attorney to Depose State Education Official - Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The schools consolidation lawsuit will not go to trial.

Federal Judge Hardy Mays has denied a motion made by attorneys for the Memphis City Council as a Wednesday, June 22, deadline for discovery in the case nears.

54. Key Schools Players May Seek Full Trial - Thursday, June 16, 2011

Three of the key players in the schools consolidation lawsuit say they want a full trial on the dispute instead of an expedited ruling if they can’t depose a state education official on a key point in the lawsuit.

55. Sides In Schools Consolidation Lawsuit Argue Over Depositions - Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Three of the key players in the schools consolidation lawsuit say they want a full trial on the dispute instead of an expedited ruling if they can’t depose a state education official on a key point in the lawsuit.

56. District Lines Up in Air as Races Near - Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The fields for the 13 Memphis City Council races on the October ballot are forming ever so tentatively with about six weeks to the filing deadline.

And the tentativeness is partially a result of the uncertainty about where the council district lines will fall.

57. City Council Redistricting Close To Filing Deadline - Thursday, June 09, 2011

The Memphis City Council won’t vote on setting the new council district lines until two days before the July 21 filing deadline for candidates in the October city elections.

The elections include all 13 City Council seats with all 12 of the active council members expected to seek re-election. The 13th council member, Barbara Swearengen Ware, is suspended from any council duties following her indictment last year on an official misconduct charge. Ware hasn’t indicated if she will seek re-election.

58. School Consolidation Attorneys Meet Friday - Friday, May 20, 2011

All sides in the schools consolidation lawsuit meet in Memphis federal court Friday to work out a quicker resolution of the lawsuit filed in February.

The scheduling conference before U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays comes a week after Mays heard a day and a half of oral arguments from all sides.

59. Patterson Named Shareholder At Baker Donelson - Thursday, May 19, 2011

Lori Patterson’s career has come full circle. Fresh out of law school in 1997, Patterson began a clerkship with federal appeals court Judge John C. Godbold. In 1999, she settled in at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, where she was mentored by influential professionals in her field.

60. Schools Consolidation Case Hearing Goes Into Second Day - Friday, May 13, 2011

With a day of coutroom give and take with attorneys representing six sides in the schools consolidation case, U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays has begun laying the groundwork for a decision on the federal lawsuit that will determine what a consolidated Shelby County school system looks like.

61. Mays Gets Involved In Schools Mediation - Tuesday, May 03, 2011

All sides in the schools consolidation lawsuit are back before federal court Judge Hardy Mays Tuesday morning.

And Mays will try to do what both mayors and a court-appointed mediator have been unable to do.

62. Budget Decisions to Yield ‘Good’ or ‘Tough’ Year - Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Several Memphis City Council members will propose ideas to raise city revenues in place of city layoffs and service cutbacks in the new budget year.

The outlines of the coming proposals surfaced on the opening day Monday of hearings by the council’s budget committee.

63. Judge to Hear School Board Appointment Arguments - Monday, April 04, 2011

Federal Judge Hardy Mays could make his first decision Monday in the schools consolidation lawsuit. Mays is specifically hearing motions seeking a court order to block the Shelby County Commission from appointing a countywide school board for now until the full case is decided.

64. High-Profile District Court Judge Lets Lighter Side Show - Friday, April 01, 2011

Complicated, high-profile cases that frequently carry far-reaching significance have a knack for winding up in the lap of U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays.

The most recent hot potato to be launched his way is the messy legal fracas stemming from the Memphis City Schools’ surrender of its charter in December. A court hearing before Mays appears set for Monday on the future of an appointed countywide school board.

65. City, Council Join in Schools Legal Wrangling - Monday, March 21, 2011

There may be a few more legal moves to come.

But by the end of last week, all of the critical moves had been made to get the schools consolidation issue in front of a federal judge.

The city of Memphis and Memphis City Council filed in U.S. District Court Thursday to join the legal battle over schools consolidation.

66. City and Council Challenge Norris-Todd Schools Law In Court - Friday, March 18, 2011

The city of Memphis and Memphis City Council have now acted in court to join the legal battle over schools consolidation.

Late Thursday, Assistant City Attorney Philip Oliphant filed the city’s response to the Feb. 11 lawsuit filed against the city and others in Memphis federal court by the Shelby County school system.

67. Lighting the Fuse - Monday, February 21, 2011

Memphis voters have 22 words to weigh as they decide what is to become of Shelby County’s two public school systems.
“Shall the administration of the Memphis City School System, a special school district, be transferred to the Shelby County Board of Education?”
The words seem inadequate to cover what a “yes” or a “no” vote means after a state law and other factors changed the terms of a vote already scheduled for March 8.
Voters for schools consolidation may be against special schools district status but for letting some of the six suburban towns and cities try to go with their own municipal school system.
Voters may be against school consolidation and against special school district status if it includes taxing authority for the county school board, albeit with tax approval required by the Tennessee Legislature.
Some voters may see it as a way of ending reforms driven by MCS superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash. Others may see it as a way of ending Shelby County Schools board chairman David Pickler’s dominance of that school system.
School consolidation advocates are still urging citizens to vote “yes” and school consolidation opponents are still urging citizens to vote “no.”
“The lay of the land has changed, so will people consider the lay of the land or what? That statement stands. It’s on the ballot and everyone knows what it’s designed to do,” said Memphis City Council chairman Myron Lowery. “This occurred after the question was put on the ballot. If someone wants to make that stretch, they’re jumping over a lot of hurdles. This was not in place when this was put on the ballot.”
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr., along with Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, sought a transition period even as political positions began to harden. He doesn’t see what’s in the law as a transition period.
“The way it’s structured, there’s every incentive not to reach an agreement. It looks to me like it falls off the face of the earth,” Wharton said. “There was nothing in there that states where do you go if at the end of this (the planning process) there is nothing resolved.”
State Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, disagrees.
“The state has a compelling interest in assuring that the administration of schools is properly discharged,” Norris wrote in an op-ed piece for The Memphis News last week. “To do otherwise defies common sense and common decency.”
Pickler said if voters approve the question, he will quickly move to assemble a team to work on the transition. It’s a transition that Pickler has always emphasized will be controlled by the county school system. That is one point on which the attorneys seem to agree.
“Clearly we understand that this issue is not about educational outcomes,” he said during a WKNO forum last week. “We still do not believe that creating a mega district … doesn’t do anything to improve education.”
MCS board member Tomeka Hart, at the same forum, countered “We do here as an economic issue,” a reference to the University of Memphis study showing special schools district status could cost MCS half of the county property tax base it relies on for funding. “It’s time to rewrite all of this,” Hart concluded.
Here is the timeline – to date – of the ongoing schools showdown:

68. Haslam In Memphis After Signing Schools Consolidation Bill - Monday, February 14, 2011

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is in Memphis Monday for the announcement that Mitsubishi will be building a plant at Rivergate Industrial Port.

But before he leaves town, Haslam will be asked multiple times, privately and publicly, about his decision to sign the schools consolidation bill as the weekend began.

69. Next Schools Step Murky After Thursday Vote - Thursday, February 10, 2011

In the Tennessee General Assembly, everything comes down to votes sooner or later.

And whether it’s sooner or later depends on how long the debate takes.

The votes appear to be there Thursday in the state House to send the legislation to the still uncluttered desk of new governor Bill Haslam.

70. Council Delays Schools Vote as Wharton and Haslam Talk - Friday, February 04, 2011

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. told Memphis City Council members Thursday that he and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam have been talking about some more changes in the state legislation that would lengthen the schools consolidation process to three years.

71. MCS Board Meets, Norris Waits - Monday, January 17, 2011

State Senate Republican leader Mark Norris of Collierville defended his bill redefining the terms of school consolidation during his time in Memphis over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

72. School Election to be Held in 45 to 60 Days - Friday, January 14, 2011

The lawsuit is over and the election is on in the fast-moving, ever-changing schools standoff.

A day after a citizens group filed suit seeking a court order to put the Memphis City Schools (MCS) system charter surrender on the ballot, all sides in the lawsuit agreed there would be a referendum election sometime in March.

73. March Charter Surrender Referendum Agreement Made - Thursday, January 13, 2011

There will be a citywide referendum on a Memphis City Schools system charter surrender sometime no later than March 14 under terms of a consent order entered Thursday morning in Shelby County Chancery Court.

74. Lawsuit Filed as Norris Submits Legislation in Schools Standoff - Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Memphis City Schools (MCS) charter surrender controversy is in the courts.

The group Citizens for Better Education and two citizens filed suit in Chancery Court Wednesday afternoon seeking a court order directing the Shelby County Election Commission to put a charter surrender referendum on the ballot and set a date for the election.

75. No Schools Lawsuit Yet, State Elections Coordinator Asks For Clarification - Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Tennessee elections coordinator has asked for clarification about why the Memphis City Schools (MCS) board wants to hold a special election.

The attorney for MCS Tuesday sent a letter to elections coordinator Mark Goins that might lead to another Shelby County Election Commission look at putting the MCS charter surrender referendum to Memphis voters possibly in February or March.

76. Snow Day For Schools Standoff - Monday, January 10, 2011

The first lawsuit in the standoff between Shelby County’s two public school systems was to be filed Monday in Chancery Court.

But several inches of snow have slowed for now what has been several weeks of a fast moving series of actions and reactions in the controversy.

77. Schools Dispute About To Move Into Court - Friday, January 07, 2011

The move to court has begun in the ongoing standoff between Shelby County’s two public school systems.

Attorneys for the group “Citizens for Better Education” were preparing a filing Friday afternoon to be filed in Chancery Court by the end of the business day.

78. Schools Merger Expert Urges Less Panic More Transition Planning - Friday, January 07, 2011

The Nashville attorney considered an expert on school system consolidations in the state told the Shelby County school board Thursday to get ready for an unprecedented transition to merging with Memphis City Schools (MCS), work with MCS officials and expect the transition to take at least a year and a half.

79. No Election Date Yet For MCS Charter Surrender - Thursday, January 06, 2011

The Shelby County Election Commission met Wednesday and adjourned minutes later without putting the Memphis City Schools (MCS) charter surrender on a special election ballot.

The five-member body refused based on a legal opinion from Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins delivered an hour before the meeting. The opinion says the Memphis City Council must approve having the referendum before the item can go on the ballot.

80. School Funding Mediation on Table for Council - Tuesday, November 23, 2010

As Memphis City Council members close out the third year of their current four-year term of office, the 13-member body continues to deal with the fallout from one of the first major actions the council approved.

81. Ware’s Political Future in Balance - Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. opened the city’s newest auto inspection station Monday.

As he did, the political career of one of the Memphis City Council’s most influential members hangs in the balance because of allegations she used her office to avoid the required annual car inspection ritual for city residents.

82. Swearengen Ware Faces Council Suspension - Friday, October 29, 2010

For the fifth time in the Memphis City Council’s 42-year history, one of its sitting members has been charged with felony misconduct.

And the charge against council member Barbara Swearengen Ware raises the same questions the other cases did about whether an indicted council member should remain in elected office.

83. City Redo of MCS Budget Heads to State - Thursday, September 30, 2010

Memphis City Council members this week sent a new resolution to the state approving Memphis City Schools’ $891.7 million budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The council approved the substitute resolution after state education officials said an earlier version didn’t meet their standards for an approved MCS budget by Oct. 1.

84. Council Redo On MCS Funding - Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Memphis City Council members gave final approval Tuesday to a trio of pet ordinances, a new set of rules for false alarms, an amended Midtown overlay and approved a CVS pharmacy near the University of Memphis.

85. School Funding Question Still Alive - Thursday, September 16, 2010

The city of Memphis and Memphis City Schools are on the path to a politically difficult plan in which the city will pay the school system $57 million it owes from a past budget year.

The talks have almost certainly been complicated this week by the Memphis City Council’s approval of the school system’s budget for the next fiscal and school year with some important strings attached.

86. Council Approval of MCS Budget Comes With Strings - Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Memphis City Council approved the Memphis City Schools (MCS) system’s $891.7 million operating budget Tuesday for the 2010-2011 fiscal and school year.

But the council left open exactly how much of that budget the city will provide and asserted it has control over which revenue sources the school system can use to fund the budget.

87. MCS Funding Moves Closer to Ballot - Thursday, July 08, 2010

The latest move in the three-year battle over city funding of Memphis City Schools could be a referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Memphis City Council chairman Harold Collins is proposing a citywide vote on changing the city charter to abolish the part of it that gives the city the power to fund the Memphis school system with a school tax or any other kind of revenue or assets.

88. School Funding Debate Marches On - Thursday, January 28, 2010

The city of Memphis is pursuing a last appeal in the Memphis school funding court case, and the City Council this week came up with a plan to provide $50 million in court-ordered funding to the school system.

89. UPDATE: Council Weighs One-Time 31 Cent Tax Hike - Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Memphis City Council members will weigh budget cuts in the middle of the current fiscal year as well as using at least $16 million of the city’s reserve funds to pay the Memphis school system $50 million.

90. Herenton Grand Jury Hears From Four - Friday, October 30, 2009

A federal grand jury probe believed to be an investigation of the private business affairs of former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton heard from four witnesses Thursday.

The grand jury deliberations drew extra attention when it was revealed late Wednesday that former city attorney Elbert Jefferson – one of the witnesses who appeared before the panel – would be bringing with him a tape recording of Herenton. It was described in some media outlets as a “secret” recording of Herenton generated by an ethics investigation Jefferson conducted into the mayor.

91. UPDATE: Jefferson And Wade Testify At Herenton Grand Jury - Thursday, October 29, 2009

A federal grand jury probe believed to be an investigation of the private business affairs of former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton appeared to be building Thursday.

Former city attorney Elbert Jefferson appeared before the panel Thursday morning with his attorney Ted Hansom. Jefferson had no comment on his testimony as he left the federal building approximately two hours after he arrived.

92. Political Fault Lines Illuminated In City Attorney Feud - Thursday, September 17, 2009

City Attorney Elbert Jefferson never got the chance to make his case before the Memphis City Council this week. But he did get to keep his job as the council voted down 4-7 a resolution to oust him.

93. Legal Fee Controversy Involves More Than Just Jefferson - Wednesday, September 09, 2009

A political war is erupting in city government over the fees billed by outside attorneys and law firms that do contract work for the city.

Representatives of those firms during the past several days have been called in for private meetings with the administration of Memphis Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery.

94. City Attorney Standoff Changes Little With Court Ruling - Thursday, August 06, 2009

Chancellor Walter Evans has ruled Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery did nothing wrong in his move to fire City Attorney Elbert Jefferson.

But at the end of a hearing that took up most of Wednesday afternoon, Evans also ruled that Lowery needs a majority vote from the City Council to replace Jefferson with former U.S. Attorney Veronica Coleman-Davis in the city post.

95. UPDATE: Evans Rules Lowery Needs Majority Council Vote To Oust Jefferson - Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Chancellor Walter Evans has ruled Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery did nothing wrong in his move to fire City Attorney Elbert Jefferson.

But at the end of a hearing that took up most of Wednesday afternoon, Evans also ruled that Lowery needs a majority vote from the City Council to replace Jefferson with former U.S. Attorney Veronica Coleman-Davis in the city post.

96. City Attorney Dispute Moves Into Chancery Court Today - Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A turbulent turn of office at City Hall moves into a courtroom two blocks away this afternoon.

Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery delayed a City Council vote Tuesday on Veronica Coleman Davis as his nominee to be city attorney.

97. UPDATE: Council Vote On City Attorney Delayed - Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery today delayed a City Council vote on Veronica Coleman Davis as his nominee to be city attorney.

Lowery told council members he wanted the delay to let a Chancery Court hearing tomorrow resolve any legal issues.

98. UPDATE: Lowery Appoints Coleman-Davis Deputy City Attorney - Monday, August 03, 2009
 

Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery has appointed his choice to be city attorney to be deputy city attorney until the City Council can act on her nomination.

The naming of Veronica Coleman-Davis to the number two spot is the latest twist in a controvery that began minutes after Lowery took the oath of office Friday and fired City Attorney Elbert Jefferson.

Jefferson then filed suit in Chancery Court against Lowery contesting Lowery's decision to fire him. Chancellor Walter Evans issued a preliminary injunction preventing Jefferson's dismissal at least until a hearing before Evans Wednesday afternoon.

On the Drake & Zeke Show on radio station 98.1 The Max, Lowery said until the council acts, Coleman-Davis, a former U.S. Attorney, will be deputy director. Her appointment to that position is immediate and does not require council approval.

Meanwhile, Jefferson's attorney, Ricky E. Wilkins, told The Daily News her confirmation Tuesday as City Attorney would have to come after a council vote to back Jefferson's firing.

"We will ask the court to continue to keep that injunction in place throughout the tenure of Myron Lowery as mayor pro tempore," Wilkins said. "If Myron is able to get the necessary votes to terminate Mr. Jefferson and to get the votes to replace him with a substitute city attorney ... then that's what the process calls for and I think Mr. Jefferson understands that. But Myron Lowery cannot ignore and violate the city charter to satisfy his own political means."

Jefferson was at City Hall over the weekend, escorted by City Council attorney Allan Wade, according to Lowery.

After taking the oath of office Friday afternoon from U.S. District Court Judge Hardy Mays, Lowery told reporters he had offered Jefferson a severance and a chance to resign the appointed post. Jefferson refused which apparently surprised Lowery since Jefferson had tendered his resignation to outgoing Mayor Willie Herenton earlier in the month and Herenton refused to accept it.

Lowery met with Jefferson in a City Hall stairwell after the swearing in ceremony. Lowery emerged without Jefferson and told reporters he had fired the attorney. Several sources said later that Jefferson was escorted from the building and his parking pass and other identification taken as he was walked to his car and out of City Hall.

Wilkins termed the forcible exit a "low blow" and a "fairly drastic action."

“The legal department has almost been a black hole for dollars,” Lowery said Friday, minutes after the stairwell meeting. “I think that we spend too much money on attorney fees. I think that our city attorney has allowed this to happen without adequate controls on this. And I’m looking for stronger controls in the city attorney’s office.”

“If the mayor pro tempore doesn’t have the power, who does?” Lowery said. “Of course I do.”

Power play

In addition to Coleman-Davis, Lowery will also take the nomination of former council member Jack Sammons as his Chief Administrative Officer to the council Tuesday.

Herenton CAO Keith McGee had retired effective July 4. But when Herenton moved back his resignation date to July 30, McGee extended his stay on a voluntary basis. McGee is working with Lowery on a transitional basis. Lowery said he had hoped Jefferson would work under the same arrangement.

“He wanted to keep the title and the salary that comes with it. So I had to make a decision,” Lowery said. “I wish he had accepted it. … He’s forced me to take this action.”

Lowery said he wants Coleman Davis to examine past city legal bills and expenses.

“I have heard that several individuals have been hired … in the legal department to fill vacancies who were scheduled to start work Monday. I just found this out,” Lowery told reporters. “I want to make sure that we don’t have cronies of our former legal division director who have been hired.”

Those appointments will be examined.

“I don’t want any friends of the division director receiving dollars or any backroom deals outside the scope of the City Council. You know what I’m talking about,” he told reporters. “That is not going to occur under my administration.”

‘Hard work and enthusiasm’

As Lowery moved into the seventh floor mayor’s office Friday at City Hall, council member Harold Collins moved into the council chairman’s office on the fifth floor as part of the transition in power following Herenton’s resignation. Collins indicated his displeasure with the firing of Jefferson and said he wants Lowery and Jefferson to be at Tuesday's council committee sessions to tell their sides of the story.

“It’s a new day at City Hall,” Lowery told a crowd in the Hall of Mayors the day after Herenton’s farewell address in the same hall. Lowery’s guests at the ceremony were Herenton, former Mayor Dick Hackett and J.O. Patterson Jr., the city’s first African-American mayor who served in the top post for 20 days after the resignation of Mayor Wyeth Chandler in 1982. Patterson was City Council chairman at the time. Like Lowery, Patterson also ran in the special election that followed and lost to Hackett, who lost to Herenton nine years later by 142 votes.

“With new life, new individuals, comes hope and promise,” Lowery said. “As mayor, I will promote a moral philosophy of customer service – customer-driven government. … I’m here also to say that I’m going to promote ethical leadership in government.”

One priority will be a new crime fighting strategy, although Lowery was quick to say he likes the direction the police department and those efforts have taken under current Police Director Larry Godwin. The other immediate priority is a more aggressive city cleanup campaign.

Lowery didn’t refer to Herenton directly in any of his comments, but the contrasts were apparent.

“We will be energetic in city government – more productive There’s a phrase, ‘We need to be workhorses, not showhorses.’” Lowery said. “You will not get a lot of catchy phrases from me. But you will get a lot of hard work and enthusiasm.”

The remark came the day after Herenton’s farewell address and press conference in which Herenton repeatedly invoked what looks to be the campaign slogan “Keep It Real” in his bid for the Democratic congressional nomination in 2010.

“As everyone knows, we’ve lost many people during the past several years. I’m going to say come home to Memphis,” Lowery said.

The remark is in contrast to one of Herenton’s most cited quotes from his 18-year tenure. When asked about citizens moving out of Memphis for the suburbs, Herenton responded by saying he had no problem with that and adding “goodbye.”

99. Compromise 101: Who’s going to fund the schools? - Monday, August 03, 2009

In the year he’s been head of the Memphis school system, Superintendent Kriner Cash has been virtually unflappable.

Since the Memphis school board hired him in July 2008, Cash has doggedly pitched a detailed plan for the school system’s renewal with dozens of specific goals in a well-traveled PowerPoint presentation.

100. Council Faced With School Funding Vote - Tuesday, July 21, 2009

City of Memphis officials say a local judge should decline to hear Memphis City Schools’ emergency request for city funding to help pay its budget for the 2009-2010 school year.

MCS earlier this month asked Shelby County Chancellor Kenny Armstrong to order the city to fully fund the school district according to state requirements. The school district’s lawyers contend that mandate is implied in Armstrong’s February ruling in MCS’ lawsuit against the city, which said the Memphis City Council flouted state law when it cut $66 million to MCS last year.