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...

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.