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Keep Eyes on Wharton’s Performance Before Next Election Rolls Around
The Memphis News
A few weeks ago, we said there was no ideal candidate in the race for Memphis mayor.
So we recommended three of the contenders for the next two years only.
The election is settled. A C Wharton Jr. won handily. But we still have the same concerns.
Coming together as “One Memphis” is a vacant slogan if the biracial support Wharton enjoyed in the mayor’s race becomes a Kumbaya moment that ends with everyone going their separate ways and feeling all warm and fuzzy. Being on the same side of a political campaign isn’t enough anymore in Memphis.
In the election eve debate on News Channel 3, Wharton said being mayor of Memphis would give him more political muscle than he had as county mayor.
“The city has a stronger political base than does the county,” he said.
That may be true. If it is, many Memphians probably don’t know their own strength. We tend to elect strong and vivid personalities as mayor, believing it holds the promise of leadership. That is not enough anymore in Memphis, either.
Some of those strong and vivid personalities sat on stage with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan three days after the election. They applauded as Farrakhan spouted nonsense about stimulus programs being used to help a military takeover and slaughter of millions. He disrespected Christians and Muslims. And he said what the Taliban does is none of our business, but the oppression of others makes us a “damned” nation with Allah already flooding Atlanta to show his displeasure.
Strong and vivid is not an automatic indicator of common sense. But it is good entertainment, apparently. And when the alternative is timidly postponing leadership until there’s something beyond consensus – something that will never come – it’s easy to understand why we might prefer it.
The new mayor has said city government is a different arena than county government. And he intends to toughen up in pursuit of his political goals.
We must insist that coming together be about achieving a goal – and not just any goal. It will mean testing the relationship that begins with a political campaign. There will be unpleasant moments. There will be disagreements. Political capital will be spent. But there will be honesty and there will be progress if we will not walk away.
Memphis school board member Tomeka Hart talked about this last year as local leaders began moving toward single-source local funding for the two school systems. And sure enough, that discussion has seemingly gone up in flames.
But now that the heat has been dialed back a bit, those who clashed are talking about trying to get back to the goal.
It’s what we need on other fronts as well.
Your vote in the recent special election was not the end of your task. It was the beginning. In October 2011, there will be another election for Memphis mayor.
If you voted this time, vote next time based on the incumbent’s performance. Did he accomplish anything? And by accomplish anything, we don’t mean deferring important decisions to committees and changing the faces of division directors.
We should expect the new mayor will decide what happens with the Mid-South Fairgrounds, Beale Street and The Pyramid. We should be able to ride a city bus to the polls during the lunch hour in two years and not have to ride past a streetscape of head-high weeds.
If you didn’t vote this time, reclaim your city. Contrary to the axiom, you do have the right to complain. You also have the obligation to contribute more to the discussion.
Politicians need you to hold signs on busy street corners, give them money to run campaigns that say as little of substance as possible and call people who really don’t want to hear what you have to sell in most cases.
We need you to do more. We need you to speak for yourself. We need you to listen to others and realize they aren’t on the “other side.” And we need you to vote.
For 25 candidates, the race is over. For the rest of us, it is just beginning.
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