Effects of the John Ford Trial

The only thing found in the news as of recent, involving local politics, has been the endless coverage of the John Ford trial. While this does not relate directly to the Memphis Mayor race, it could trigger effects on the polling of the various candidates in the race for the mayor's office. Have an opinion on the John Ford trial? Please comment and tell us your thoughts.

In regards to the Ford trial, Mayor Herenton had various things to say:

"You go to restaurants, everywhere you go, they're talking about public officials and corruption."

"We are overwhelmed with all of the news about human behavior and elected officials."

"We run a clean government, I'm just proud of all the people I work with and the city of Memphis."

So Herenton is sick of hearing the truth, he's overwhelmed from being responsible about the behavior of the officials he oversee's? Herenton wants a clean city, but he will still refuse to accept the resignation of Joseph Lee, amidst the publicizing of corruption involving services to Edmund Ford? Convinced that this is the man we want to keep around in the mayor's office? Me neither...

Old News: Chumney Rejected Resolution

Amidst a two week blogging absence (as this blogger is a busy student in the middle of finals week at the University of Memphis), it appears that recent news from City Councilwoman Carol Chumney was eclipsed by the news of the Virginia Tech Massacre. To reemphasize the news involving Chumney, she rejected a resolution by Jack Sammons, asking MLGW President Joseph Lee to resign. Has Chumney gone nuts, or flip-flopped? Not quite... There are two ways to look at this:

1. Not supporting Chumney. She was furious at Mayor Herenton's refusal to accept the resignation of MLGW President Joseph Lee amidst exposure of corruption involving Lee and his services to Edmund Ford. For her not to support this resolution only shows that she wants everything to be done for her credit.

2. Supporting Chumney. She rejected this resolution because she feels it is necessary to hold the Mayor accountable for his action in keeping Lee on board. This may not work to the immediate benefit of the city, but it shows that she, while as a councilwoman who has openly argued the decisions of the mayor, is willing to provide the mayor with the responsibility that he deserves being in his position.

Click here to read Chumney's letter in regards to the resolution.

In Loving Memory of the Victims at Virginia Tech

The blog has failed to oversee reasonable updates over the past week, due to the busy schedule of its current operator. Since no additional bloggers have been recruited to follow the mayor race, there will be a lot of slow time in the way of updates, for the next couple of weeks. We apologize for this inconvenience. This blog will also not be updated for at least several days following this post, due to the remembrance of the victims and their families in the Virginia Tech Massacre. We do not wish to draw attention away from those who desire to mourn and remember this terrible tragedy.

Also, we want to know your thoughts about the Mayor election. If you would like to publicly share your thoughts and/or opinions, please e-mail joe444477@gmail.com.

Poll Results

Most recent poll results, by the Commercial Appeal show the following local opinion on the mayor election:

Carol Chumney: 32%
Willie Herenton: 20%
Herman Morris: 16%
John Willingham: 3%
Other/Undecided: 29%

Other specifics include the following statistics:

Q: Should Mayor Willie Herenton be re-elected?
Yes: 20%
No: 66%

Black response:
Yes: 34%
No: 47%

White response:
Yes: 2%
No: 93%

These results do not suggest that this blog has yet chosen to rally behind Carol Chumney. Chumney is indeed a strong candidate at this point, but there is also 6 months until this election, which is enough time for anything to change. There is also a significant number of undecided voters. What appears necessary is for Chumney and Morris to both focus on the voters in Herenton's base, and definitely not in competition with each other. A split between the 32% and 16% support for Chumney and Morris would still leave either/both of them ahead of Herenton, however the 29% of other/undecided voters is a troublesome statistic to work with in this election.

Rebuilding Memphis

The interesting thing to note about this mayor election is that it is not a competition about party. Its not Democrat vs. Republican. Its not Liberal vs. Conservative. Its about the candidate that can do the most for the city of Memphis. Some aspects about the city to focus on in this election include:

• Effectively combating the crime rate. Putting more cops on the streets is only going to raise taxes. How can we make a poor, poverty-stricken Memphis safer without paying a fortune for it? We need a plan. Mayor Herenton has no plan. We need a candidate with an idea to make things in this city work for the people.

• Rebuilding the community around the city (outside the 240 Interstate loop). Areas such as Frayser, Raleigh, South Memphis, Westwood, Whitehaven, Parkway Village, Fox Meadows, and Hickory Hill, whom have been all but forgotten in the past 10-15 years, have gone to the waste side as the mayor focuses all his attention on the inner revitalization of the city, and the downtown environment.

• Limiting outer-area city development. As development continues to make Germantown Parkway a more and more frustrating road to drive on, it continues to create holes in the city, which were once popular with regular business. Areas like the former Mall of Memphis and the Mid-South Fairgrounds, are perfectly setup for active business, but because of the decline in the environment surrounding them and the excessively-rapid expansion out east, they are being forgotten and quickly turning into ghost-towns.

• Maintaining Downtown, in the process of rebuilding the city. This starts with the Pyramid. What are we going to do about it? If the Bass Pro Shop Plan doesn't work, we need to redevelop the northern section of downtown. Even if that means finding multiple vendors for the Pyramid, we need to find a way to make this section of downtown a prominent tourist attraction, and an area that Memphis can be proud of.

• Fixing the corruption with MLGW. I guess the answer to this is simple: Find a decent President to run MLGW. While the answer could be easy to rehire Herman Morris, if he doesn't win the mayor race, consideration should also be given to several other potential candidates. The last thing we need is another Joseph Lee.

Did I miss something? Is there another primary issue that we should focus on in this election? If so, please comment.

Polls show Chumney leads, will that last?

It has now been made clear by two polls (one run by Businessman Karl Schledwitz, the other by lawyer Richard Fields) that City Council, and Mayor-hopeful Carol Chumney is the current front-runner in the 2007 Memphis City Mayor race. The actual results of these polls are unreleased at the current time. However, they have informed that Mayor Herenton lags substantially behind Chumney, with Herman Morris, who is still struggling to make a public name for himself, running in third.

So there are two questions that can be derived from this: Does Chumney have what it takes to maintain this lead for the next 7 months? And, does she have what it takes to rebuild a struggling, poverty-stricken city? Chumney has gained a high profile name for herself for being one of the most highly-spoken critics of the mayor over the past several years. How will this affect her in her run for mayor, and will she be able to attain the black voters needed in the predominately African American city of Memphis, in order to win?

Mission Statement

Mission Statement

This blog is dedicated to the support of improving and rebuilding the once prominent city of Memphis. We are dedicated to this by rallying support for the upcoming Mayor election to the candidate who seems best fit for the position, and to hopefully defeat Mayor Herenton, whom has shown lackluster efforts in his quest to promote a well-maintained and established city, over the course of his 16 years as the Memphis Mayor. We will provided frequent updates on the news and status of the race for Memphis Mayor, to hopefully allow voters to make an informed decision to whom they would like to provide support for the office of Mayor of the City of Memphis.

This blog does not support hate, intolerance, or any type of unjustified prejudice against the mayor, or any of his opponents in this election. We support the best possible results for the city of Memphis. We encourage those against the mayor, and those in support of the mayor, to visit and post comments as they see fit. We welcome debate and challenge on the issues presented on this blog. We welcome people to the discuss their thoughts on how to make Memphis a better place.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog. We hope to continue provided more information on the Memphis Mayor's race in the upcoming months, and encourage you to please visit on a regular basis for news and updates. Thank you.

~Joe Thompson (A lifelong Memphian, and politically concerned citizen)