Archive for the ‘Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ Category
December 22nd, 2009 3:06pm UTC
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A wise, long-time observer of the local government scene tells us how the Shelby County Board of Commissioners put themselves in position to appoint a new county mayor by changing the county charter last year. With rumors of then-Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton’s interest in running for Memphis mayor and the inevitability of that [...]
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November 18th, 2009 3:30am UTC
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Here’s the real problem with the appointment of the new Shelby County Mayor. It’s not the alliance between a couple of Republican commissioners to usher in the era of the Joe Ford Administration. It’s not the parody of leadership that two days of serial voting produced. It’s not even the laughable criticisms about the Wharton [...]
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September 27th, 2009 11:36pm UTC
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Every once in awhile something makes its way to the agenda of Memphis City Council or Shelby County Board of Commissioners that simply defies imagination. The resolution on Monday’s board of commissioners’ agenda to give 140 county-owned lots to Beuhler Homes for rental housing is one of them. There are so many reasons that county [...]
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July 28th, 2009 3:11pm UTC
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Present transportation policies are critical to creating the tax burden that drives people out of Memphis. While density is one of those things that cause people’s eyes to immediately glaze over, it’s a factor that drives everything in government – from quality of service to the tax rate. As we pointed out a year ago, [...]
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June 2nd, 2009 11:55am UTC
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Coverage by the news media about the passage of the anti-discrimination resolution by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners suggested to some that yesterday’s vote was a Pyrrhic victory. That’s not true. The shift from an ordinance to resolution was irrelevant in the application and enforcement. They both have the same force of law and [...]
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June 1st, 2009 1:02am UTC
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Memphis has no margin for error. Because of it, decisions like the one today on a county anti-discrimination ordinance are much more than parochial controversies. To the contrary, all that we do now is amplified and magnified, and a vote by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in favor of the fairness could become a [...]
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May 28th, 2009 12:20am UTC
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No religious denomination acted more often as apologists for segregationists during the civil rights movement than preachers in the Southern Baptist Convention. It was of course a time of all-white churches but none was more devoted to white pride. Sermons across the South used the analogy that God did not allow a beautiful songbird and [...]
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May 26th, 2009 11:35pm UTC
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It’s tempting to dismiss Shelby County Commissioner Wyatt Bunker and his fundamentalist preacher friends as merely the latest incarnation of the flat earth society. Surely, it’s hard to identify a group in recent memory that has so cavalierly dismissed scientific evidence, that has so conveniently picked and chosen selective Bible verses, that has calculatedly misstated [...]
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May 10th, 2009 10:26pm UTC
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Memphis is like the actor looking for the chance to take a role against type. We need something dramatic to send the message that we’re not your grandfather’s Memphis, that we’re not stuck in time and that we’re not a group of Bible-thumping, intolerant bigots. That’s why the vote by the Shelby County Board of [...]
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March 15th, 2009 11:52pm UTC
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After 20 years of talking about it, it’s likely that there will soon be a single source funding plan for public education. It’s a landmark moment for two reasons. It is the first substantive action to inject fairness into a tax structure that punishes Memphians. Equally important, it is a testament to the benefits of [...]
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Memphis Wire
- Innovation Dublin 9.1.10 9:48pmFrom November 10-21, the city of Dublin will host the second Innovation Dublin festival where venues throughout the city region will open their doors to showcase and promote all facets of innovation in the city. The festival provides Dubliners, entrepreneurs, students, researchers, artists and large corporations with an opportunity to discuss, promote and ce...
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- Using Technology to Inspire Community to Action 8.24.10 9:09pmThese days, as people use Facebook to support Haiti, end hunger, and stand behind other causes, social networks have become the place to make a statement. Yet those clicks don’t necessarily turn into a movement to better communities. At least not yet. With the Knight Foundation’s focus on fostering informed and engaged communities, they started looking at wa...
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- A Greener Welcome in Indianapolis 8.18.10 6:32pmBy the time the sun sets on October 7, Indianapolis will have ten acres of new natural area. Even more amazing: it will happen in just eight hours. More than 9,000 Eli Lilly and Company volunteers will plant 72,000 native shrubs and perennials, and another 1,600 trees along a path traversed by 100,000 vehicles a day.The project, A Greener Welcome, will natur...
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- A High Line for Harlem 8.3.10 9:48pmAn innovative urban development project, spearheaded by the Harlem Community Development Corporation, could bring new energy and excitement to Harlem. Tentatively called La Marqueta Mile, the proposed mile-long, open air market under the Metro North tracks would span 22 blocks and house as many as 900 vendors, providing enormous opportunity to local entrepre...
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- Redeveloping an Old City in the Right (And Thoughtful) Way 7.28.10 6:43pmSyracuse, N.Y. is “rightsizing the city” with the help of a partnership among Mayor Stephanie Miner, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Vice President of Community Engagement Marilyn Higgins (both CEOs for Cities members), assorted neighborhood groups and business associations. An inspiring article posted on citiwire.net says that slowly but su...
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- The Accidental Giant of Higher Education 7.26.10 3:01pm"A woman with a plan" is the description the New York Times gives Dr. Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York. In very short order, she has turned the "unloved colossus" into the best economic development hope for the state of New York. "My belief is that to move an organization forward you have to have a comm...
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- More Federal Funds for Tennessee 9.2.10 3:09pmIn the federal Race to the Top, Tennessee is surely a competitor. The state will share in a $170 million Race to the Top Assessment Program grant announced today by the U.s. Department of Education.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...
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- Zoo On Ice 9.1.10 9:07pmIt won't just be penguins skating around the Memphis Zoo this winter. The Zoo announced today that it will build an outdoor ice-skating rink, to open in November.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...
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- Midnight Ride Hit and Run 8.30.10 6:33pmI've heard two accounts this morning of a hit-and-run during the middle of Saturday night's popular Midnight Classic Bike Tour. Apparently, around 12:30 a.m.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...
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- More With MCS Consultant Jeffrey Hernandez 8.26.10 1:45pmAs part of this week's print extravaganza, I interviewed controversial Memphis City Schools (MCS) consultant Jeffrey Hernandez. His $1,500-a-day consulting fee, coupled with an intense animosity for him from some parents in Palm Beach County and his ties to superintendent Kriner Cash and deputy superintendent Irving Hamer, have caused questions about hi...
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- Art Scene 8.24.10 8:55pm(Sorry posting has been so light thus far in the week. It's been crazy busy around here.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...
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- The Dance and Data of the Lemons 8.20.10 9:47pmLast week, the LA Times began an ambitious series focused on teacher effectiveness at the Los Angeles Unified School District. Using value-added data compiled from seven years of math and English test scores, the newspaper is exploring the (often, quite large) disparities between effective and ineffective teachers.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments ...
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