It’s that time of year again when thick budget books dominate life for those in the Memphis and Shelby County governments.

But this year’s budget season on both sides of the Civic Center Plaza is more than line items and bottom lines on paper. The deliberations that ultimately determine how much you will pay in property taxes and at what rate go beyond the plans in the books of estimates, projections and the recurring and one-time revenue sources.

2. Questions Kick Off City Budget Hearings - Thursday, April 25, 2013

Memphis City Council members opened budget committee hearings Tuesday, April 23, on the clock and with lots of questions about what seemed to some like different budget numbers from last year at this time by the administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.

3. 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.

4. Sales Tax Hike Headed to Ballot - Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Memphis City Council members take final votes Tuesday, March 5, on a half-percent city sales tax hike referendum and the use of the estimated $47 million in revenue the tax hike will produce.

The council, which meets at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, 125 N. Main St., is expected to pass the referendum and send it to voters this year.

5. City Council Approves Fairgrounds TDZ Request - Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, Feb. 19, plans for a tourism development zone to capture sales tax revenue in a large area for a renovation of the Fairgrounds property at first.

The boundaries of the zone go to the state for approval and city Community and Housing Development division director Robert Lipscomb said such a proposal could be at the state building commission in Nashville in April.

6. Council Preps for Late Summer Sales Tax Hike Referendum - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A referendum on a half percent city sales tax hike to fund a city pre kindergarten expansion and roll back the city property tax rate by 20 cents would happen in August or September instead of May.

7. Ford Jr. Ready for Ascent to City Council Chairman - Friday, December 28, 2012

If you didn’t know that Edmund Ford Jr. teaches mathematics, there would be clues.

He can almost sense a percentage that is wrong and he prefers not to “ballpark” numbers.

The precise numbers are part of the story of his entry into politics.

8. Council Approves City Tax Collections By Trustee - Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Shelby County Trustee’s office will collect property taxes for the city of Memphis under an interlocal agreement approved Tuesday, Dec. 18, by the Memphis City Council.

The agreement negotiated between Trustee David Lenoir and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. comes after several decades of attempts on both sides of the city-county governments divide at such an arrangement.

9. Ford to Lead City Council in 2013 - Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Jr. will lead the council as chairman for 2013.

Ford was chosen by his council colleagues to be chairman for the coming year, and council member Jim Strickland was elected vice chairman.

10. City Council Considers Sales Tax Recall Options - Wednesday, November 07, 2012

As voters in Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County were voting on a countywide sales tax increase Tuesday, Nov. 6, Memphis City Council members were pondering how to recall the sales tax hike should it pass.

11. City Leaders Look to New Governing Plan - Tuesday, August 21, 2012

When 10 of the 13 Memphis City Council members get together around a table it is usually in their committee room on the fifth floor of City Hall for their regular meetings.

But last week they gathered in Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.’s seventh-floor conference room at his request.

12. Council Sends Sales Tax Hike To November Ballot - Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Memphis City Council members added a half percent local option sales tax hike proposal to the Nov. 6 ballot in Memphis at their Tuesday, July 17, meeting.

The council approved the referendum ordinance on third and final reading.

13. Strickland and Conrad Pitch South Cordova DeAnnexation - Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Memphis City Council members Jim Strickland and Kemp Conrad want the city to consider the deannexation of the South Cordova area taken in by the city of Memphis earlier this month.

14. Wharton: ‘Everything is Coming Together’ - Monday, July 09, 2012

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. had to make a decision Monday, July 2: Get up before dawn and catch a flight to Atlanta or stick with a scheduled and extensive bus tour for newspaper editors and others of the three core city neighborhoods he has targeted in a small-business innovation effort.

15. Herenton Wants Juvenile System Charter School - Friday, July 06, 2012

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton wants to open a charter school that draws its students from those youths in the custody or care of the Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court.

Herenton talked about the still forming proposal for a charter school under the name W.E.B. DuBois Academy this week as he returned to City Hall. He sought City Council support for a Memphis City Schools collaboration with charter school operators offered by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. MCS leaders declined to participate last year.

16. Wharton Budget Plan Includes Alternatives To 47 Cent Tax Hike - Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. took a $628.3 million city operating budget proposal Tuesday, April 17 to the Memphis City Council with a 47-cent property tax hike proposed to meet the city’s obligation to fund Memphis City Schools.

17. HopeWorks Fundraiser To Feature Poverty Expert - Thursday, March 22, 2012

HopeWorks, a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Memphians break the cycle of crime and poverty, will feature Dr. Ruby Payne at its annual fundraiser, “An Evening of Hope,” Thursday, March 22, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Woodland Hills Event Center, 1000 Woodland Hills Drive, in Cordova.

18. Council Nixes One-Time Tax Hike - Thursday, March 22, 2012

Almost a year after they approved a one-time, 18-cent property tax hike, the Memphis City Council this week rejected levying the additional tax bill.

And even the council’s most disparate elements were together, at least for now, on what they feel was a lack of follow-up by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.’s administration on the fine print that came with last June’s decision.

19. Council Rejects 18 Cent Property Tax Hike - Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Memphis City Council members voted Tuesday, March 20, to reject a one-time, 18-cent property tax hike to mop up an estimated $13 million in red ink for the current fiscal year.

Instead the council voted to use $10 million from the city’s reserve fund and cut $3.2 million in the existing budget including money for a voluntary buyout program of some sanitation workers that the Wharton administration has yet to activate.

20. 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.

21. Sides Firm on Annexation but Stand Down - Thursday, February 02, 2012

A year after the Memphis City Council and Republican state legislators from Shelby County had their first race to see who could pass their school consolidation measures first, there is hesitancy on both sides to stage a second political drag race on annexation.

22. Council Passes Amended City Bonus, Rejects Water Rate Hike - Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Memphis City Council members approved a $750 flat bonus for all full time city employees Tuesday, Dec. 6, and a flat bonus of $200 for part time city employees.

Just as the Shelby County Commission did Monday for county employees, the council departed from the mayoral administration’s plan for a bonus as a percentage of pay.

23. Oden Celebrates 40 Years in 40 Days - Monday, November 14, 2011

In 1971, when gas was 40 cents a gallon and a postage stamp sold for 8 cents, Dale Oden founded a one-man design shop in Memphis.

24. Wharton, Fullilove & Conrad Re-Elected -- Harris-Ford to Runoff - Friday, October 07, 2011
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. won a full four-year term of office as mayor Thursday, Oct. 6, two years after he claimed the mayor’s office in a special election.

And all 12 of the Memphis City Council members seeking re-election won new four year terms in the city election cycle, marking the largest return of incumbents to the 13-member council in the 43-year history of the mayor-council form of government.

25. City Council Delays MLGW Insurance Contract - Monday, September 26, 2011

A fight for a $122 million health insurance contract that began last year continued last week as the Memphis City Council delayed approval of the contract between CIGNA and Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.

26. Boyd Moves Into Temp. Council Seat - Monday, July 25, 2011

It’s the week between the filing deadline for the Oct. 6 Memphis elections and the deadline for any candidates who made the first deadline to get out of the race by Thursday, July 28, at noon – the withdrawal deadline.

27. 4 Council Members - All 3 City Court Judges To Run Unopposed In Oct. Elections - Friday, July 22, 2011

Four incumbent Memphis City Council members and all three incumbent City Court Judges were effectively re-elected at the Thursday, July 21, noon deadline for candidates to file their qualifying petitions for the Oct. 6 Memphis ballot.

28. City Council Still Debating Budget Decision - Wednesday, July 06, 2011

In some ways, the city budget season isn’t over just yet.

Memphis City Council member Joe Brown moved Tuesday, July 5, to reverse an effective 4.6 percent pay cut for city employees through 12 unpaid furlough days.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. Council to Consider Sewer Fee, Postponing Layoffs - Tuesday, May 03, 2011

A voting majority of Memphis City Council members seem to have reached an early agreement on lowering the city sewer fee.

At a 10 a.m. council committee session Tuesday, council members will discuss the proposed ordinance sponsored by eight of the 12 council members to cut the maximum monthly residential sanitary sewer fee from $50 to $25.

32. Events - Friday, February 25, 2011

The Memphis Gavel Club will meet Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave. Henry Brenner from Goodwill Industries will speak. For more information, call Bob Gray at 494-8639.

33. Strickland to Bring Message of Hope to Memphis - Monday, February 21, 2011

Bill Strickland is widely admired for the many hats he wears; CEO, social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and visionary.

34. City, State Leaders Hammer Out Schools Consolidation Bill - Monday, February 07, 2011

The Tennessee Legislature begins its working session Monday evening with schools consolidation legislation the first bill on the floor for the state House and the state Senate. And if the legislation passes it will be the first bill to go to the desk of the new governor, Bill Haslam.

35. Council Wants Mediation of MCS Funding Dispute - Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Mediation is the latest direction in a complex school funding morass that is getting more complex by the day.

Memphis City Council members Tuesday voted to have their attorney file a motion in Chancery Court seeking non-binding mediation on how and how much the city should pay the Memphis City Schools (MCS) system in a two-year funding dispute.

36. Council Opposes Consolidation Resolution - Thursday, October 28, 2010

Memphis City Council members won’t be taking a stand for or against the consolidation charter on the Nov. 2 ballot.

A move by council member Janis Fullilove to add a resolution opposing the charter to Tuesday’s council agenda fell flat during the council’s executive session.

37. Dems Try to Tap Voter Anger Over Job Loss Overseas - Tuesday, September 21, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – Businessman Randy Altschuler had barely won a Republican primary for Congress when New York Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop unleashed a television ad christening him an "outsourcing pioneer" who sent jobs overseas while millions of Americans struggle.

38. Union Police Station to Move to University Place - Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Union police station in Midtown would move to a new precinct house in the University Place development in the final phase of the HOPE VI project.

The Memphis City Council approved a resolution this week that supports the final phase, including a move of police operations for what was until recently the West Precinct.

39. District Map Makes Charter Commission’s Agenda - Thursday, August 05, 2010

The Metro Charter Commission takes up a district map for a proposed Metro Council at its Thursday meeting.

The 4 p.m. session at the Vasco Smith County Administration Building, 160 N. Main St., is the next-to-last meeting of the group drafting a consolidation charter. The charter goes to voters on the Nov. 2 ballot.

40. Tuition Reimbursement Program Over Budget - Thursday, July 08, 2010

The city has 251 more employees than it has tuition reimbursement money for after the Memphis City Council rejected a plan by the Wharton administration Tuesday to cap tuition reimbursement for city employees at $1,400 per worker.

41. Bass Pro and Beyond - Monday, June 14, 2010

"Adaptive reuse” is the term for what city leaders hope will happen at The Pyramid.

Throw in the Mid-South Fairgrounds and the Beale Street Landing projects, though, and “adaptive reuse” seems inadequate to define what is happening among the three concepts.

42. Different Mayor, Same Story in Budget Talks - Friday, May 21, 2010

Memphis has had three mayors since the last budget season at City Hall, and the latest appears to have picked up where the other left off.

Several City Council members are questioning the budget priorities of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr., just as they questioned those of former

43. Bills Could Help Slow Foreclosures - Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Sitting lenders down with borrowers in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure is the goal of a pilot program that would be created by pending state legislation.

Lawmakers from Memphis are sponsoring companion bills in the state House and Senate that, among other things, would set up a foreclosure mediation program in Shelby County.

44. MED MCS Funding Swap Proposal Emerges - Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Some Memphis City Council members are working with Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford on a deal in which county government would become the single source of local funding for the Memphis school system. In exchange for that the city would contribute some amount of funding to the Regional Medical Center.

45. UPDATE: MED MCS Funding Swap Proposal Surfaces - Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Some Memphis City Council members are working with Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford on a deal in which county government would become the single source of local funding for the Memphis school system. In exchange for that the city would contribute some amount of funding to the Regional Medical Center.

46. 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.

47. Appeals Court Ruling Raises More School Funding Issues - Friday, January 15, 2010

In the 19 months since the Memphis City Council voted to cut funding to the Memphis public school system, much has changed beyond the borders of the legal issue it raised and the lawsuit it prompted.

48. School Consolidation Nixed in Charter Talks - Monday, December 21, 2009

Consolidating the Memphis and Shelby County public school systems is off the table as far as the Metro Charter Commission is concerned.

In its first vote on a charter issue since forming in October, the body voted unanimously last week to exclude the school systems from the charter or any charter discussions. The exclusion does not apply to the charter commission’s coming talks about how both school systems would be funded by one local government.

49. 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.

50. Chaotic Council Welcomes Wharton To ‘Land of Fire’ - Thursday, October 22, 2009

Memphis Mayor-elect A C Wharton Jr. got an early welcome to the ways of City Hall in the week before he took the oath of office.

It came from the City Council he will serve with for the next two years.

51. Morris Confirmed As City Atty. - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Memphis Mayor elect A C Wharton Jr. was put to the test by Memphis City Council members before he even takes office.

The council approved his indirect nomination of Herman Morris as the new city attorney.

And it approved his five indirect nominees to the Metro Charter Commission.

But there was a lot of discussion among council members this afternoon and evening about:

-Morris being paid $140,000 a year as city attorney, $15 thousand more than his predecessor, Elbert Jefferson.

-Whether Morris was the choice of outgoing Mayor Pro Tempore Myron Lowery or Wharton. The answer was Wharton with Lowery making the appointment since he is still mayor.

In another rapid move, Wharton and Lowery teamed up to appoint the five city of Memphis representatives to the Metro Charter Commission. All five nominees were recommended by members of the City Council. Normally, the council votes on such groups of nominees to one body with a single vote on the slate. The council voted separately on all five.

The original five nominees were:

-Damon Griffin, an assistant District Attorney General.

-Carmen Sandoval, an administrative director at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

-Steve Ross, a freelance video and technical director who also has a popular political blog.

-Jim Strickland, attorney and Memphis city council member.

-Rev. Ralph White, pastor of Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church and candidate for Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk in past elections as well as in the 2010 elections.

Strickland was named just this week to Wharton’s transition team. But he is giving up the transition team spot to serve on the charter group. Council members Bill Boyd and Joe Brown voted against Strickland’s appointment saying they considered it to be a conflict of interest for an elected official to serve on the commission. Brown didn’t vote on the other nominations. Council member Wanda Halbert passed on Strickland.

Ross encountered vocal resistance during committee sessions from council members upset with critical comments he has made on his blog about council members. Council member Shea Flinn, who recommended Ross, came to his defense during an emotional committee discussion – clashing with Brown as Lowery and Wharton watched from the end of the council committee table.

“I’m a real man,” Brown told Flinn at the end of the exchange. “I’m a real black man. I hope you are a real white man.”

By the time the council voted, Wharton and Lowery decided to pull his nomination and instead nominated Richard Smith, a FedEx executive and son of FedEx founder Fred Smith. Council member Janis Fullilove was the only no vote. Halbert recused herself because she works at FedEx. Brown and Boyd did not vote.

52. Wharton Picks Morris for City Attorney Post - Wednesday, October 21, 2009
 

Memphis Mayor elect A C Wharton Jr. was put to the test by Memphis City Council members before he even takes office.

The council Tuesday approved his indirect nomination of Herman Morris as the new city attorney. And it approved his five indirect nominees to the Metro Charter Commission.

But there was a lot of discussion among council members this afternoon and evening about:

• Morris being paid $140,000 a year as city attorney, $15 thousand more than his predecessor, Elbert Jefferson.

• Whether Morris was the choice of outgoing Mayor Pro Tempore Myron Lowery or Wharton. The answer was Wharton with Lowery making the appointment since he is still mayor.

In another rapid move, Wharton and Lowery teamed up to appoint the five city of Memphis representatives to the Metro Charter Commission. All five nominees were recommended by members of the City Council. Normally, the council votes on such groups of nominees to one body with a single vote on the slate. The council voted separately on all five.

The original five nominees were:

• Damon Griffin, an assistant District Attorney General.
• Carmen Sandoval, an administrative director at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
• Steve Ross, a freelance video and technical director who also has a popular political blog.
• Jim Strickland, attorney and Memphis city council member.
• Rev. Ralph White, pastor of Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church and candidate for Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk in past elections as well as in the 2010 elections.

Strickland was named just this week to Wharton’s transition team. But he is giving up the transition team spot to serve on the charter group. Council members Bill Boyd and Joe Brown voted against Strickland’s appointment saying they considered it to be a conflict of interest for an elected official to serve on the commission. Brown didn’t vote on the other nominations. Council member Wanda Halbert passed on Strickland.

Ross encountered vocal resistance during committee sessions from council members upset with critical comments he has made on his blog about council members. Council member Shea Flinn, who recommended Ross, came to his defense during an emotional committee discussion – clashing with Brown as Lowery and Wharton watched from the end of the council committee table.

“I’m a real man,” Brown told Flinn at the end of the exchange. “I’m a real black man. I hope you are a real white man.”

By the time the council voted, Wharton and Lowery decided to pull his nomination and instead nominated Richard Smith, a FedEx executive and son of FedEx founder Fred Smith. Council member Janis Fullilove was the only no vote. Halbert recused herself because she works at FedEx. Brown and Boyd did not vote.

53. City Mayoral Transition Yields Crowded To-Do List - Tuesday, October 20, 2009
 

Memphis Mayor-elect A C Wharton Jr. will be appointing a new city attorney once he takes office next week.

Elbert Jefferson, the city attorney Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery tried to fire just minutes after taking the oath of office on July 31, Friday sent a second resignation letter to Lowery. The two met for an hour Sunday evening at City Hall and Lowery accepted Jefferson’s resignation.

Jefferson’s attorney, Ted Hansom, and city Chief Administrative Officer Jack Sammons were also present. Jefferson turned in his key card, the keys to his city car and his laptop.

“The drama is over,” Lowery said Monday. “For my part, I wish it had never happened.”

Dramatis personae

In a resignation letter last week to Wharton, Jefferson had expressed hope that he would be hired for some position in the new administration. Over the weekend, he used the same text in the new letter but addressed it to Lowery instead. He requested the city pay his legal fees as well.

The resignation letter to Lowery made moot an ouster suit filed by Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons. Criminal Court Judge James Lammey, who was to hear the case, reset a final report to Oct. 27, citing Jefferson’s departure.

“A hearing on the issue of suspension would be an inefficient use of judicial resources, of the state of Tennessee and of the resources of the city of Memphis, and considering (Jefferson’s) current health status, would be an unnecessary tax on (Jefferson’s) well-being and a possible threat to his health,” Lammey wrote in the court order.

Jefferson was scheduled to return to City Hall from sick leave Monday. He apparently believed the new mayor would be in office by the time he returned.

An audit of city financial affairs is standard procedure in a change of administrations. Wharton is naming team members to review the offices of the city attorney, human resources and finance and administration. He was also to name members of his transition team Monday.

Time-, battle-tested

Shelby County Commissioner Mike Carpenter and Methodist Healthcare executive Cato Johnson will head the team.

The other members are:

- Herman Morris, attorney and 2007 candidate for Memphis Mayor.

- Tomeka Hart, Memphis Urban League CEO and Memphis school board member.

- Jim Strickland, attorney and Memphis City Council member.

- Rev. Dwight Montgomery, Southern Christian Leadership Conference Memphis chapter President.

- Jose Velasquez, Latino Memphis former executive director.

- Nisha Powers, Powers Hill Design Inc. President.

- Paul Morris, attorney and former chairman Center City Commission.

- Douglas Scarboro, The Leadership Academy vice president.

- Steve Reynolds, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. CEO.

- Diane Rudner, Plough Foundation chairman.

- Darrell Cobbins, Universal Commercial CEO.

Johnson has more experience serving on such task forces and ad hoc committees than any other leader in the city’s corporate community. Most recently, Johnson was one of two business leaders on the ad hoc committee exploring single-source local funding for education. He also served as a leader of the Mid-South Fairgrounds renovation committee and has been involved in similar capacities with every major construction project for a civic use in the past 15 years.

Carpenter’s appointment is certain to fuel speculation that he might be tapped for some role in the new administration. However, Carpenter has already been holding fundraisers in anticipation of a bid for re-election to his commission seat in the 2010 county elections.

Wharton is tentatively scheduled to take the oath of office Oct. 26.

The Shelby County Commission also meets that same day and could receive Wharton’s resignation and declare a vacancy in the county mayor’s office with a vote to appoint Wharton’s successor-to-come in November. Until that vote, County Commission Chairwoman Joyce Avery will serve as interim mayor.

“It will be a day in which I come to work at one place and leave work from another place,” Wharton told The Daily News.

But the Shelby County Election Commission will meet earlier than expected -- Thursday afternoon -- to certify the Oct. 15 election results. Once the results are certified, Wharton is free to resign as Shelby County mayor and take the oath as Memphis mayor.

Cooperative efforts

Meanwhile, Wharton has asked City Council Chairman Harold Collins to consider delaying a council vote today on the five appointees the city mayor is to make to a metro charter commission. The council set today’s vote with the intention of having whomever won the Oct. 15 special election appoint members of the panel.

“I won’t be there on the 20th. … I’m seeing if they are in a position to put it off until I’m actually over there,” Wharton told The Daily News, as he has had attorneys researching if a council vote in November would meet timelines for such an effort set out in state law.

“I believe that they may be able to meet on Nov. 3,” Wharton said.

Wharton has already named the 10 appointees to be made by the Shelby County mayor to the panel. The County Commission approved all 10 earlier this month.

While it appears he will make the other five, Wharton said he will ask the council, through Collins, to effectively pick the five nominees, whom Wharton would then send to the council as his appointees.

“I chose all 10 over here, which I had to do by law. If I could find some way around it that passed legal muster, then I would do that,” he said. “But we’ve researched it and I know of no way in which the city mayor can say … ‘I’m not going to do that.’ You can’t transfer it.”

Wharton and Lowery were to discuss the matter at a meeting Monday afternoon. Lowery told The Daily News he had received no suggested appointees from council members, but would be willing to submit names the council wants on the charter commission.

54. 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.

55. Metro Charter Update: Rockier Reception, But Far From Over - Thursday, September 03, 2009

The formation of a metro charter commission cleared the Shelby County Commission but ran into some turbulence on the Memphis City Council this week.

The discussions by both bodies have demonstrated the complexity of the most significant move toward local government consolidation in nearly 40 years. It also has shown the power other political events can exert on the issue.

56. City Council Questions Consolidation Fast Track - Wednesday, September 02, 2009
 

Most of the members of the Memphis City Council Tuesday talked over the move toward appointment of a Metro Charter Commission.

And they decided they need more time to talk even more before a vote. The resolution would set in motion the appointment of the group that would draft a charter to consolidate Memphis city and Shelby County governments.

The issue for most of the eleven council members expressing on opinion wasn’t the concept of consolidation. The issue was timing and the push toward consolidation by Memphis Mayor Pro Tempore Myron Lowery, Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and Shelby County Commission chair Deidre Malone.

“Clearly some decisions have been made. … I’ve got a big problem with that,” said council member Wanda Halbert who is running for Memphis mayor in the Oct. 15 special election.

Lowery, a rival in the election, said voting for a charter commission was not a commitment to a specific form of consolidated government.

“Somebody had to make the decision to present it to you,” Lowery told the council. “And that’s what we have done. But the final option is up to you. And if you agree the final voice will be the citizens.”

Any charter proposal by the appointed commission would go to city and county voters in a pair of referenda – one inside the city of Memphis and the other in the county outside of Memphis. The proposal must win in both elections in order to consolidate the governments. The resolution sets the date for the election as Nov. 2010.

“Why now?” council member Janis Fullilove asked.

“There’s never going to be a great time. Why not now?” Lowery responded. “We have wasted so many years. We would like to give the citizens of this county to say yes or no.”

As Memphis Mayor, Lowery would have five appointments to the 15 member body. Those appointees would have to be confirmed by the City Council. Lowery said he will only consider citizens recommended by council members. Wharton is already soliciting names from the County Commission for his ten appointees to the body, which must be confirmed by the County Commission.

Wharton, who is also running for Memphis Mayor, has said he will wait for Lowery to make his picks first. But if the council doesn’t approve the resolution at its Sept. 15 or Oct. 6 meetings, Lowery might not be making the city appointments. And Wharton might not be making ten appointments as county mayor, but five as city mayor.

For council member Jim Strickland the timing of other political events, including the special election and next year’s county elections, was a factor.

“I’m in favor of consolidation,” Strickland began. “But I’m not convinced next year is the right time to move forward. And I have serious concerns that the efforts so far do not reflect an ability to successfully pass this measure.”

Strickland, like Halbert, was also troubled by several suggestions in the power point presentation used by Lowery and Wharton and Malone that all three have said are “suggestions.”

“There are several things that appear to have already been discussed and almost decided – smaller districts, creating an office of innovation and strategic vision, that (Memphis Light Gas and Water Division) should not be sold without a referendum,” Strickland said.

The council is scheduled to talk over the resolution in two weeks during its executive session and the item is on the agenda for the full council to vote on later that same day.

This week’s council discussion came the day after Shelby County commissioners voted 9-2 in favor of the same resolution creating the Metro Charter Commission.

“There is a conventional wisdom out there. … Everyone in the city is jumping for joy to get this and everyone in the county is real reticent about it. And so, the entire sales job has to be directed to the county,” said Council member Shea Flinn, sponsor of the resolution on the city side of the proposition. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. The city will be dramatically impacted as well.”

Council member Bill Morrison said the meetings among Wharton, Lowery and Malone weren’t the right way to approach the council even though the trio only talked of a structure for establishing a plan for a consolidated government.

“You have two weeks to fix what some of us felt like has left us out,” Morrison told Flinn. “There does seem to be things that have already been decided on. That may just be a perception.”

57. UPDATE: City Council Puts Off Metro Charter Commission Vote For Two Weeks - Tuesday, September 01, 2009
 

Most of the members of the Memphis City Council Tuesday talked over the move toward appointment of a Metro Charter Commission.

And they decided they need more time to talk even more before a vote. The resolution would set in motion the appointment of the group that would draft a charter to consolidate Memphis city and Shelby County governments.

The issue for most of the eleven council members expressing on opinion wasn’t the concept of consolidation. The issue was timing and the push toward consolidation by Memphis Mayor Pro Tempore Myron Lowery, Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and Shelby County Commission chair Deidre Malone.

“Clearly some decisions have been made. … I’ve got a big problem with that,” said council member Wanda Halbert who is running for Memphis mayor in the Oct. 15 special election.

Lowery, a rival in the election, said voting for a charter commission was not a commitment to a specific form of consolidated government.

“Somebody had to make the decision to present it to you,” Lowery told the council. “And that’s what we have done. But the final option is up to you. And if you agree the final voice will be the citizens.”

Any charter proposal by the appointed commission would go to city and county voters in a pair of referenda – one inside the city of Memphis and the other in the county outside of Memphis. The proposal must win in both elections in order to consolidate the governments. The resolution sets the date for the election as Nov. 2010.

“Why now?” council member Janis Fullilove asked.

“There’s never going to be a great time. Why not now?” Lowery responded. “We have wasted so many years. We would like to give the citizens of this county to say yes or no.”

As Memphis Mayor, Lowery would have five appointments to the 15 member body. Those appointees would have to be confirmed by the City Council. Lowery said he will only consider citizens recommended by council members. Wharton is already soliciting names from the County Commission for his ten appointees to the body, which must be confirmed by the County Commission.

Wharton, who is also running for Memphis Mayor, has said he will wait for Lowery to make his picks first. But if the council doesn’t approve the resolution at its Sept. 15 or Oct. 6 meetings, Lowery might not be making the city appointments. And Wharton might not be making ten appointments as county mayor, but five as city mayor.

For council member Jim Strickland the timing of other political events, including the special election and next year’s county elections, was a factor.

“I’m in favor of consolidation,” Strickland began. “But I’m not convinced next year is the right time to move forward. And I have serious concerns that the efforts so far do not reflect an ability to successfully pass this measure.”

Strickland, like Halbert, was also troubled by several suggestions in the power point presentation used by Lowery and Wharton and Malone that all three have said are “suggestions.”

“There are several things that appear to have already been discussed and almost decided – smaller districts, creating an office of innovation and strategic vision, that (Memphis Light Gas and Water Division) should not be sold without a referendum,” Strickland said.

The council is scheduled to talk over the resolution in two weeks during its executive session and the item is on the agenda for the full council to vote on later that same day.

This week’s council discussion came the day after Shelby County commissioners voted 9-2 in favor of the same resolution creating the Metro Charter Commission.

“There is a conventional wisdom out there. … Everyone in the city is jumping for joy to get this and everyone in the county is real reticent about it. And so, the entire sales job has to be directed to the county,” said Council member Shea Flinn, sponsor of the resolution on the city side of the proposition. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. The city will be dramatically impacted as well.”

Council member Bill Morrison said the meetings among Wharton, Lowery and Malone weren’t the right way to approach the council even though the trio only talked of a structure for establishing a plan for a consolidated government.

“You have two weeks to fix what some of us felt like has left us out,” Morrison told Flinn. “There does seem to be things that have already been decided on. That may just be a perception.”

58. Carpenter Pledges MPD Changes; Wharton’s Support Grows - Friday, August 28, 2009

For the past two years there has been a steady political drumbeat to increase the number of officers on the Memphis police force. Few have ignored it.

It was something that most of the nine first-term Memphis City Council members followed into office in 2007. And the call for “more boots on the street” also prompted an intense council discussion of whether residency requirements for police should be eased to help reach a force of more than 2,500 officers.

59. Mayor’s Race Gets ‘Crazy’ As Election Day Approaches - Tuesday, August 25, 2009

“It’s crazy now,” Memphis Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery told members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association last week.

Lowery was contemplating the possibility of more than 30 candidates in the Oct. 15 special election for mayor. He described it as “the circus that’s getting ready to happen in this city.”

60. Election Commission to Consider Mayoral Deadline - Thursday, July 09, 2009

The Shelby County Election Commission today is setting the stage for the next step in the coming special election for Memphis mayor.

The commission will meet at 4:30 p.m. to consider setting a deadline for candidates to file and a date for the election itself sometime in late October. In setting the dates, the commission would abide by terms of the Memphis Charter. The charter calls for a special election three months after a vacancy in the mayor’s office if there is no regularly scheduled election within six months of the date the office becomes vacant.

61. City Council Declares Mayoral Vacancy At End Of July - Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Memphis City Council approved Tuesday on a 7-6 vote a resolution declaring the mayor’s office vacant as of July 31.

The vote came after a debate in which council members questioned each other’s motives, Mayor Willie Herenton’s word and several legal opinions.

62. UPDATE: Council Approves Mayoral Vacancy Effective July 31 - Tuesday, July 07, 2009

The Memphis City Council approved Tuesday on a 7-6 vote a resolution declaring the mayor’s office vacant as of July 31.

The vote came after a debate in which council members questioned each other’s motives, Mayor Willie Herenton’s word and several legal opinions.

63. The Politics of Rape: What went wrong at MSARC - Monday, June 29, 2009

There’s no such thing as a textbook rape victim. There are, however, some very thick and detailed textbooks on how medical and legal authorities should come to a victim’s aid.

Those two realities collided violently in March inside an examination room at the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center.

64. UPDATE: Council Goes Long to Approve $600 Million Budget - Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Memphis City Council late Tuesday approved a city operating budget of just over $600 milliion after cutting nearly $17 million from the budget proposed in April by Mayor Willie Herenton.

The council also set a property tax rate of $3.19 for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. Some confusion about the new tax rate remained Wednesday morning among council members. At least one council member contacted by The Daily News immediately after the council session said it was a $3.25 tax rate. Council Chairman Myron Lowery told The Daily News Wednesday afternoon, the rate is $3.19.

The state adjusted certified rate including an allowance for appeals of property reappraisals is $3.19. The certified adjusted rate represents the tax rate that will produce the same amount of revenue the city now gets from the $3.25 rate after the recent property reappraisal process.

“This is democracy in action. In the end it works,” said Council chairman Myron Lowery at the end of the eight hour council session which followed seven hours of committee meetings at City Hall.

Lowery’s verdict, however, contrasted sharply with other council members on both sides of a roiling debate about where to make budget cuts.

Most of the $16 million in cuts were made by following recommendations made by the council’s budget committee chaired by Wanda Halbert. But the votes by the full council were close and came with lots of debate instead of a single vote on a package of budget committee recommendations.

Halbert said she was “deeply saddened we have spent so much of the past few weeks coming to City Hall every single day discussing this budget line by line.”

“Some of you weren’t even here,” she continued. “I’m tired. I’m behind on a lot of things.”

The council left intact three percent pay raises for city employees that follow the five percent raise city employees got during the current fiscal year after two prior years with no pay raises.

Some on the council fought hard to either eliminate any pay raises or cut the size of the pay raises citing the current national economic recession.

“Maybe some of us live in a world where we believe at the end of the day it will all work out just fine,” said Council member Harold Collins. “But it is unfortunate we have others who believe, ‘I’ve got to get mine and get it now.’”

Council member Jim Strickland argued that savings the council has achieved through moving some city funding obligations to Shelby County government have simply been used for more city spending.

“We’ve cut schools and spent it,” he said. “We cut the health department and spent it. The public is aware of this. And they’re not receiving relief from double taxation.”

Still to be debated and determined by the council is a proposed special tax bill that could be issued as early as August that would reflect the amount the council has been ordered to pay the city school system by Chancellor Kenny Armstrong. Armstrong ruled against the city in a city school system lawsuit challenging the council’s decision to cut funding to the school system in the current fiscal year. He ordered the city to pay $57 million to the city school system. The ruling is being appealed by the city and any payment is on hold pending the outcome of an appeal that is expected to go from the state appeals court to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

A special tax bill would not be for the full $57 million under the general framework of a plan being debated by the council. Collins proposed designating $16 million from the city’s $92 million fund balance or reserve fund.

“We don’t have a money tree here in the back of city hall and can’t afford to raise taxes indefinitely,” Council member Kemp Conrad said. “This hasn’t been pleasant but it’s what we signed up for. We have to make tough decisions.”

The council voted to contribute $125,000 in city funding for the transition of the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center (MSARC) to county government control. In budget committee, the council voted to cut the entire $700,000 line item for the department. The committee action prompted an agreement between Herenton and Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. to move the center to the health department.

The council also included funding in the budget for a set of red light cameras to photograph traffic scofflaws at key city traffic intersections. The cost for the first year of the system would be $480,000, a cost proponents of the system, including Lowery, have said would be paid for with revenues from ticket fines.

65. Disputes Continue Over MSARC Storm - Thursday, June 04, 2009

Memphis city attorney Elbert Jefferson called it “a perfect storm.”

That was how he described the controversy that surrounds the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center when he met last month with its employees.

66. Pyramid Funding Details Shift to Legal Front - Thursday, May 07, 2009

Now the attorneys begin drafting a contract.

This week, the Memphis City Council signed off on a three-part deal that gives the city of Memphis complete ownership of The Pyramid and continues city funding of the Shelby County Health Department for one more fiscal year.

67. Life After City Hall: The story behind Herenton’s Washington surprise - Thursday, May 07, 2009

You would think that Mayor Willie Herenton’s “resignation” last spring as he thought about trying out for Memphis City Schools superintendent would be difficult to top.

68. Pyramid-Health Dept. Deal Approved By Council - Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Memphis City Council members Tuesday approved an $8.5 million deal giving the city complete ownership of The Pyramid and providing a last installment of city funding for the local Health Department.

69. City Council Approves Pyramid - Health Dept. Deal - Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Memphis City Council members tonight approved an $8.5 million deal giving the city complete ownership of The Pyramid and providing a last installment of city funding for the local Health Department.

70. Council Wrenched by School Funding - Friday, May 01, 2009

Around this time last year, Memphis City Council members axed $66 million from the city school system’s 2008-2009 budget request.

Council members hoped the unprecedented move would start to free the body from an expense they’ve long viewed as a financial albatross.

Yet as the first full week of city budget hearings drew to a close this week, it was clear council members continue wrestling with how to shape this year’s city budget because of Memphis City Schools’ unresolved situation.

Last year the big question was how much to cut. This year the question is how much to put back into the budget.

Addition and subtraction

That question does not refer to the council restoring its funding to MCS.

Instead, council members want to be prepared to absorb the financial blow if they lose a related court appeal.

Shelby County Chancellor Kenny Armstrong ruled earlier this year the council needs to give the school district $57 million it should have received for the 2008-2009 school year.

The city doesn’t have to pay that money unless it loses its appeal. Dr. Timothy Webb, the state commissioner of education, sent a letter to MCS general counsel Dorsey Hopson Thursday that read: "The Department fully expects MCS to prevail in the City's appeal of the Chancellor's decision."

Meanwhile, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton recently presented a budget plan for the coming fiscal year that included no financial contingency for returning the money.

The school funding issue is such a sticky legal and financial morass that it’s taken council members several days of lengthy discussions even to get an idea of how large a shock absorber they should build into the budget.

“The budget presented by the administration is truly not balanced and the City Council must now finish making the hard decisions that are required to prevent a massive tax increase of up to $57 million,” reads a resolution councilman Kemp Conrad brought to the council’s Monday night budget hearing.

Icky and sticky

Armstrong’s order was clear about the $57 million due to MCS for last year. That replenished amount also would conceivably be the new baseline for the 2009-2010 school year.

In the worst-case scenario, it would appear as much as $114 million would have to be paid to MCS for last year and the coming school year, although virtually no council members expect the expense to get that large.

“We may cut expenses and still have to raise taxes,” said councilman Shea Flinn. “We might not be able to cut our way out of this.”

Earlier this week, the council asked the city administration for new versions of the city operating budget, with varying levels of cuts to accommodate as much as $57 million. Then the council’s budget committee scrapped its schedule for Wednesday night’s budget hearing to grapple exclusively with the still-unresolved MCS funding and budget questions.

During more than two hours of discussion, council members warmed to the possibility of sending out two property tax bills this year. One would be the usual tax bill, and the smaller one would raise money for MCS.

City finance director Roland McElrath is to report back to the council on the cost of issuing a second tax bill. No date is set for his report.

Tough choices

Meanwhile, council members will continue combing through the city’s proposed operating budget, studying one city division after another to look for savings.

“As grueling as it may sound, we need to look at every division’s budget,” said council member Wanda Halbert.

Several council members said the body needs to do what families are being forced to do because of the economy: make tough choices about what they can do without.

“In my mind, we either cut expenses in the budget or we raise taxes on the citizens of Memphis,” said council member Jim Strickland. “To me, that’s an easy choice. We need to slug it out and go through every single division’s budget.”

71. Events - Friday, February 06, 2009

The Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence will hold a workshop titled “Making the Message Work: Strategic Communications 101” today from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Alliance office, 5100 Poplar Ave., Suite 502. The facilitator will be Jennifer Leigh, who will discuss how to communicate effectively with members, donors and other constituents with a small marketing and communication budget. For more information or reservations, call 684-6605 or visit www.npexcellence.org.

72. Town Hall Meeting To Focus on Crime - Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A town hall meeting will focus on ways to protect yourself from crime and to push for new laws in the Tennessee Legislature to combat crime.

The meeting is set for Feb. 7 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Crichton College Auditorium at 255 N. Highland St. Guess will include District Attorney Bill Gibbons, Memphis Police Col. Jeff Clark and state legislators.

73. Another Year, Another Approach For Herenton’s Consolidation Hope - Friday, January 09, 2009

Once he started the first workweek of the New Year, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton was handed a piece of paper. It is something that happens frequently. Usually there is a name and a phone number written on the scrap of paper and a brief description of a problem.

74. Council Again Rejects Lee Legal Fees - Tuesday, December 02, 2008

The Memphis City Council this evening affirmed its vote in Oct. to reject paying the legal fees of former Memphis Light Gas & Water Division president Joseph Lee.

The bill for Lee’s legal defense in a grand jury probe that led to his indictment as well as a hearing before the council came to $426,422. The corruption charges were later dropped by federal prosecutors.

The 7-6 vote came at the end of a day in which MLGW president Jerry Collins told council members talks between the utility and Lee’s attorney, Robert Spence, failed to reach any terms for a lesser amount.

Council members voting against the proposed settlement were: Bill Boyd, Kemp Conrad, Shea Flinn, Reid Hedgepeth, Myron Lowery, Bill Morrison and Jim Strickland. Those voting for it were: Joe Brown, Harold Collins, Edmund Ford Jr., Janis Fullilove, Wanda Halbert and Barbara Swearengen Ware.

Spence told The Daily News an announcement on a decision by Lee about pursuing the legal fees in a lawsuit against the city could be made as early as Tuesday.

The council has also given final approval this evening to an ordinance regulating the location of financial services, payday loan and title loan businesses.

The council vote was unanimous on third and final reading. Third and final vote before the Shelby County Commission is scheduled for Dec. 8.

The council passed an amended version that emerged as a compromise during today’s council session.

The ordinance bans the businesses from being with 1,000 feet of each other. The compromise worked out by council member Bill Morrison, with agreement from the payday loan industry, deals with a 90 day grace period for existing businesses to apply for a waiver.

Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware argued the location of the businesses isn’t the problem. It’s the high interest rates the companies charge – up to 264 percent annually.

“We need to deal with the root of the problem,” she said. “And if we could regulate how much (of an) interest rate is charged or how much the fees are, then we would be doing a service to the community,” Ware said. “I know we mean well here, but it’s supply and demand that is driving these businesses.”

But usery rates are regulated by the state and not the city council.

Morrison said the businesses cluster in his district which covers Frayser and Raleigh. Frayser is among the areas of the city hardest hit by home foreclosures.

Council member Harold Collins, whose district includes Hickory Hill – also hit hard by home foreclosures – said there is a connection. He counted at least 20 pay day lenders along one stretch of Winchester.

“Maybe they’re not contributing to the fact that many of the people in my district are losing their homes. But they are sure out there,” he said. “There needs to be some kind of line drawn that will keep the people in Hickory Hill from losing their homes.”

Steve Lockwood, head of the Frayser Community Development Corporation, said the close proximity of the lenders allows people in desperate financial straits to get around a limit of two loans totaling $500 from a particular lender by simply going to the payday lender next door.

He termed the location limits “an opening shot across the bow.” He said his organization’s financial counselors see a connection between the lenders and foreclosures.

“I think that the neighborhoods that are really going to benefit from this are in Cordova,” Lockwood said. “If you want Cordova to look like Winchester or Frayser, don’t pass this.”

In other action, a Fairgrounds development agreement is tentatively set to have the first of three Memphis City Council votes in two weeks.

The city picked Fair Ground LLC to develop a master plan for the property that includes the Mid-South Coliseum, The Liberty Bowl and The Children’s Museum of Memphis. What is still being worked out is a contract with the terms for drawing up that master plan.

There are still several formidable obstacles to putting a development agreement in writing.

Shelby County government owns some of the Fairgrounds land including some of the land under The Liberty Bowl.

City Housing & Community Development director Robert Lipscomb told City Council members he will again pursue an agreement in which the county would sell its share in The Fairgrounds as well as The Pyramid.

The Shelby County Commission rejected such a sell-off by the county during consideration of a development agreement for The Pyramid involving Bass Pro Shops.

The commission eventually approved the development agreement after the agreement won approval from the city council.

Without a sell-off, the Fairgrounds development agreement appears on its way to the same dual track debate and voting process.

Lipscomb also told The Daily News there are conflicting legal opinions on the amount of public infrastructure financing the city would have to put up to leverage private investment.

He said the amounts vary from $75 million to $200 million. The city is seeking legal opinions on the public amount required under terms of Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) financing. If the amount is $200 million or close to it, Lipscomb said it makes the Fairgrounds renovation much harder to accomplish.

Henry Turley, one of several developer partners in Fair Ground LLC, said he considers the city’s contribution to be $75 million. Turley was instrumental in drafting the state legislation that allowed for the Tourism Development Zones.

The TDZs allow for financing of bonds through sales tax revenue generated in the designated area or zone.

Turley wants to include a big box retail store on the site and possibly a hotel according to tentative plans that are fluid on the location of those and other parts of an overall plan. The sales tax revenue from the store would go to pay off the TDZ bonds. No local government general fund revenue would be used.

75. Residency Decision Uncovers Underlying Attitudes - Thursday, November 20, 2008

It may have been the most important debate the Memphis City Council has had since the group of 13 took office in January. And it may affect the way council members see each other for quite some time.

76. Stretch In MPD Residency Requirement Rejected By Council On 6-7 Vote - Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Memphis City Council members Tuesday voted down a proposed loosening of residency requirements for police officers.

The 6-to-7 council vote rejected a resolution which would have allowed the police department to hire applicants who live within 20 miles of Shelby County.

The department is currently able to hire applicants who live within Shelby County including Memphis under a provision that allows the council to waive the requirement that all city employees must live in Memphis. The Shelby County waiver expires in February.

The council vote, which was along racial lines, came after four hours of debate among council members and citizens who filled the chambers. Most of the citizens who filled out cards to speak, over 70, were in favor of hiring outside Shelby County. But opponents, including several retired Memphis police officers, were also vocal in their opposition.

Council member Wanda Halbert argued that Memphians who apply for jobs as police officers are being rejected because they are being discriminated against.

Council member Bill Boyd termed Halbert's comment "trash".

Other council members said they respected council members with opposing viewpoints. But the disagreements were over issues other than the need to hire more police officers. They were over the best way to do that.

Those voting yes were: Boyd, Kemp Conrad, Shea Flinn, Reid Hedgepeth, Bill Morrison and Jim Strickland.

Those voting no were: Halbert, Joe Brown, Harold Collins, Edmund Ford Jr., Janis Fullilove, Myron Lowery and Barbara Swearengen Ware.

Read more about the issue in Thursday's edition of The Daily News.

In other action, the council elected Myron Lowery as its chairman for 2009. Lowery has been chairman since the resignation of chairman Scott McCormick.

Council member Harold Collins was elected vice chairman for the coming year.

Tuesday was also the first council meeting for Kemp Conrad who was elected on the Nov. 4 ballot to fill the vacancy created by McCormick's resignation.

77. Council Rejects Police Residency Stretch Outside Shelby County - Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Memphis City Council members have voted down a proposed loosening of residency requirements for police officers.

The 6-to-7 council vote rejected a resolution which would have allowed the police department to hire applicants who live within 20 miles of Shelby County.

The department is currently able to hire applicants who live within Shelby County including Memphis under a provision that allows the council to waive the requirement that all city employees must live in Memphis. The Shelby County waiver expires in February.

The council vote, which was along racial lines, came after four hours of debate among council members and citizens who filled the chambers. Most of the citizens who filled out cards to speak, over 70, were in favor of hiring outside Shelby County. But opponents, including several retired Memphis police officers, were also vocal in their opposition.

Council member Wanda Halbert argued that Memphians who apply for jobs as police officers are being rejected because they are being discriminated against.

Council member Bill Boyd termed Halbert's comment "trash".

Other council members said they respected council members with opposing viewpoints. But the disagreements were over issues other than the need to hire more police officers. They were over the best way to do that.

Those voting yes were: Boyd, Kemp Conrad, Shea Flinn, Reid Hedgepeth, Bill Morrison and Jim Strickland.

Those voting no were: Halbert, Joe Brown, Harold Collins, Edmund Ford Jr., Janis Fullilove, Myron Lowery and Barbara Swearengen Ware.

78. Council Could Revisit Lee’s Legal Bill Payment - Friday, October 17, 2008

The Memphis City Council has a chance next week to reconsider its decision not to pay more than $426,000 in legal fees incurred by former Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division president and CEO Joseph Lee.

79. Lee’s Legal Fees Suit Could Surface Again - Thursday, October 09, 2008

It was one year ago this week that nine new members were elected to the Memphis City Council.

It was the largest turnover of seats on the 13-member body in its 40-year history.

This week, the council had its most serious difference of opinion to date over a controversy that began onthe watch of the previous council. And it was one of the previous council members that made the difference in the outcome.

80. MLGW Deal Could Slash Pyramid Upkeep Costs - Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Of the $560,000 Memphis and Shelby County would have paid for Pyramid-related costs during the coming fiscal year, almost half would have gone toward a single item: the empty arena’s power bill.

In the context of the city’s half-billion-dollar operating budget, a five- or six-figure price tag for one item might not seem like much.

81. Total Cuts to City Schools Funding Possible - Monday, June 02, 2008

For years, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton has talked of obliterating the structure of the school system he headed for 12 years. But in every case those plans have proved to be too complex and dependent on too many political entities coming together in an unlikely alliance.

82. Council Members, School Leaders In Intricate Dance Over Funding - Monday, May 19, 2008

Sparks didn’t fly as the Memphis City Council and Memphis City Schools leaders met last week. And there was very little talk about the council’s coming consideration of cutting all $93 million in city funding to the school system.

83. Herenton Sticks To Singing School Reform Refrain - Thursday, May 08, 2008

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton tried to talk the City Council down from cutting $93 million in city funding to Memphis City Schools as he talked this week of reinventing and blowing up parts of a school system he said is ripe for change.

84. Pay Raise Requests Raise Council Eyebrows - Friday, April 25, 2008

Memphis City Council members had some hard questions this week for the first Herenton administration division directors to bring their budget requests to the council.

The council's focus shifted just two days after it turned its attention to the possibility of wiping out all $90 million in city funding for the Memphis school system.

85. Being a Real Pro Is a State Of Mind, Johnson Says - Friday, April 18, 2008

University of Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson admits the attention Tigers athletics gets is out of proportion to what it probably deserves given other nonsports accomplishments at the university.

86. Attorney General To Defend Strip Club Ordinance - Thursday, March 20, 2008

Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper will help defend the Shelby County ordinance governing Memphis strip clubs in U.S. District Court.

Cooper's office filed a motion Monday to intervene on the side of the city and county in the case filed by seven strip club owners. The suit challenges the constitutionality of the ordinance as well as the state law on which the ordinance is based.

87. City Council Puts Off Strip Club Ordinance Vote - Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Memphis City Council has delayed indefinitely a final vote on a new city ordinance governing strip clubs.

88. City Council Puts Off Strip Club Ordinance Vote - Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Memphis City Council has delayed indefinitely a final vote on a new city ordinance governing strip clubs.

89. Council Debates Worker Residency - Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Memphis City Council that took office in January had its first major debate this month and emerged with the appearance that nothing was taken personally.

At issue was a recent proposal by council member Jim Strickland to waive the city's policy of only hiring emergency personnel, including firefighters and police officers who live within Shelby County or move within the county limits six months after they are hired.

90. Sands - and Plans - Shift in Pyramid Deliberations - Friday, February 08, 2008

At least one Memphis City Council member expects changes to the tentative terms of a development agreement between local government and Bass Pro Shops for use of The Pyramid. Meanwhile, the developer of the rival Pyramid Harbor project has made some changes to his plans already.

91. Sands Shift in Pyramid Saga - Thursday, February 07, 2008

At least one Memphis City Council member expects changes to the tentative terms of a development agreement between local government and Bass Pro Shops for use of The Pyramid. Meanwhile, the developer of the rival Pyramid Harbor project has made some changes to his plans already.

92. Sands Shift in Pyramid Saga - Wednesday, February 06, 2008

At least one Memphis City Council member expects changes to the tentative terms of a development agreement between local government and Bass Pro Shops for use of The Pyramid. Meanwhile, the developer of the rival Pyramid Harbor project has made some changes to his plans already.

93. City Council Races Overflow With 83 Candidates Filing - Monday, July 23, 2007

It's the year of the open seat on the Memphis City Council.

With seven incumbents not running for re-election and the resignation last month of an eighth, it is already the biggest turnover of council seats in the 40-year history of the mayor-council form of government.

94. Things Go From Hot To Smoking Hot In Election Contests - Thursday, July 12, 2007

With one week to the filing deadline for the Oct. 4 Memphis city elections, 124 citizens have thought seriously enough about running for the 15 offices on the ballot to check out qualifying petitions. Nearly 40 had filed by the end of the first week.

95. Archived Article: Ipix P.2 - Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Paradigm, Memphis Angels invest in iPIX Paradigm, Memphis Angels invest in iPIX Internet Pictures Corp. signed a definitive agreement securing private investment led by Paradigm Capital Partners and the Memphis Angels. The agreement calls for the in...