County Commissioners Should Back Paid Parental Leave
Thumbnail: County Commissioners pushed off paid parental leave for county workers for a year, but it is needed now. Leaders ask commissioners to reconsider.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 15, 2020 | Shelby County government
Thumbnail: County Commissioners pushed off paid parental leave for county workers for a year, but it is needed now. Leaders ask commissioners to reconsider.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 15, 2020 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
Thumbnail: After seven years of blog posts about the need for Riverside Drive to contribute to a livable Memphis, the street is opening up again today for five days a week so it seems a good time to revisit past blog posts about how it could contribute to a livable Memphis.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 11, 2020 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice, Shelby County government
Thumbnail: Another volatile county commissioners’ meeting resulted from suggestions that the sheriff’s budget should be reduced. The budget is significantly larger than the mayor’s budget and accounts for 45% of the general fund. The sheriff needs to step forward to lead the process to reimagine better law enforcement.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 9, 2020 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice
Thumbnail: Despite declining crime rates, cities across the U.S. have given more and more of their budgets to policing. In Memphis, 40% of the entire city budget is spent on MPD and its budgets have increased at a pace larger than the city budget overall.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 8, 2020 | City of Memphis Government
Thumbnail: The proposed 2021 City of Memphis budget is about $15 million less than the actual spending in 2019 and $30 million below the forecast spending in the 2020 budget. The majority of the decrease is in grants and subsidies while MPD’s proposed budget for 2021 is more than $9 million more than the adopted budget for 2020.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 6, 2020 | Uncategorized
The staff of Frayser CDC have heavy hearts. The murder of George Floyd, and far too many others, has again reminded us that the world we live in needs to change. We have never come to work in Frayser to maintain the status quo,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 5, 2020 | Shelby County government, Taxation
The myths about the Shelby County Wheel Tax refuse to die. In a column in the Tri-State Defender,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 4, 2020 | Uncategorized
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Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 3, 2020 | Media
Thumbnail: This blog observes its 15th anniversary and Smart City Memphis has been refreshed and revamped for the occasion.
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 1, 2020 | Civil Rights
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Read Moreby Bill Day. Memphian Bill Day is two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning. His cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. Cartoons Archive →
Since 2005, this has been Smart City Consulting’s blog with the aim of connecting the dots and providing perspective on issues and policies shaping Memphis. Editor and primary author is Tom Jones, columnist at Memphis magazine, author of two books and a museum exhibition, and consultant on public policy and strategic planning. Smart City Memphis was called one of the most intriguing blogs in the U.S. by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal wrote: “Smart City Memphis provides some of the most well-thought-out thinking about Memphis’ past, present, and future you’ll find anywhere,” and the Memphis Flyer said: “This incredibly well-written blog sets out to solves the city’s ills – from the mayor to MATA – with out-of-the-box thinking, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ideas.” If you have questions, submissions, or ideas for posts, please email Tom Jones, at tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.