The cooks at Central BBQ on Summer Avenue provided the ribs and other entrees for a gathering of the Shelby County Young Republicans this week.

But it was former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton who contributed the spice and a side order of political insight.

Invited by the group to share his thoughts about the Oct. 15 special mayoral election, the former mayor was vintage Herenton: impervious to criticism, proud of his legacy and friendly even while dismissing candidates running to replace him.

As is his style, Herenton during the dinner meeting went beyond the mayor’s race and let his remarks go where his mood and audience questions carried him.

He promised to be a “strong voice” against the consolidation proposal the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission are considering and said his opposition would assure its defeat in the black community.

‘Arrogant and brash’

Whoever is elected to succeed Herenton next month and finish his term due to expire in 2011 will be in for what he described as “some tough, tough years.”

The former mayor is running in next year’s Democratic primary for the 9th Congressional District seat held by Steve Cohen, so he also took aim at some national issues. He assured the Republicans who remained respectful and attentive for his roughly 20-minute talk that, while he is a Democrat, he has disagreed with some aspects of the stimulus package.

He said every American should have access to affordable health care. But he did not venture into the vigorous public debate over, for example, the pros and cons of adding a public option to the mix of health insurance plans consumers can choose from.

Herenton’s pronouncement that his political views “are fairly conservative” did not sway everyone in the room.

“To his credit, I thought he was amicable, although at the end of the day I thought it was typical Willie Herenton,” Shelby County Republican Party Chairman Lang Wiseman said after the event. “Arrogant and brash to a fault.”

Flashes of the Willie Herenton who once referred to City Council members in general as “footstools” were certainly on display. And he pulled no punches in offering his view of the lay of the political landscape.

The first mayoral debate broadcast on WMC-TV at the end of last month was “lackluster” with “no real issues.”

“It’s certainly apparent that I’ve made this job look very easy,” Herenton said. “Because apparently anyone who meets the minimum qualification of age and being a resident of Memphis feels qualified to be the mayor.”

Thoughts on the race

To Herenton, Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. “smiles a lot, wears nice suits and he rules by committees.” He conceded Wharton likely will breeze past the field of more than two dozen mayoral candidates “unless something earth-shattering occurs.”

“And there are a number of reasons for that,” Herenton said. “First of all – and I’m going to be very honest about myself – I think a lot of the voters want someone vastly different from Willie Herenton. Would you agree with that? You won’t hurt my feelings, it’s fine.”

A few “yeahs” began to be heard in the crowd of close to 40 people.

“You have to be a real confident guy to like a guy like me. You have to be real confident and sure of yourself to like a guy like me, I understand that,” Herenton said. “I think some segments of the community like a leader who seeks consensus.

“I’m not a consensus-builder. I’m a leader. I talk to people, but I am a leader. I take charge. I take full responsibility for my decisions, and I don’t hide behind a group decision.”

Herenton said he’s earned the right to have certain prejudices about the candidates running to replace him, a group that includes a professional wrestler (Jerry Lawler) and a man who claims to be an alien (Robert “Prince Mongo” Hodges). By way of explaining himself, he argued the office he held for an unprecedented five consecutive terms is meant less for a politician than for a CEO-type leader.

National perspective

Herenton told the crowd he believed in a market-driven economy. That’s coming from someone who kept a stack of each day’s Wall Street Journal newspaper outside his private office on the seventh floor at City Hall.

“Thanks to George Bush, we got this country in a deep mess,” Herenton said. “And it’s going to take a lot of time to get out of this mess. But I’m not sure that the strategies that have been implemented are the ones that are going to get us to turn the corner.”

The day before President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress with his vision for health care reform, Herenton said he’s generally in support of the effort. But he stopped short of calling for specific reforms that have spurred bitter disagreement throughout the country.

“I think any sober-thinking American would support the proposition that affordable health care should be provided for all Americans,” Herenton said. “I think that’s a noble ideal that we should pursue. Now, we can disagree as to how we get there and how we pay for it. But I think the noble ideal of all Americans having access to affordable health care is one that cannot get lost in this debate. I’m not sure how you do it, but I think we need to stay focused on that noble ideal.”

He left the dinner crowd with a dash of his usual confidence, predicting that half of the people in the room would support him over Cohen in next year’s race.