Thumbnail: Despite the regular talking points about PILOTs, City Hall – in a bubble surrounded by people who benefit from the tax breaks – has no way of knowing if the tax breaks are justified. If city mayors want to hand out PILOTs, Shelby County Government’s taxes should be exempt because they support safety net programs and education.
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Thumbnail: The Board of Adjustment vote on the proposed gas station/convenience store in the Broad Avenue Arts District is about more than a project. It is a vote on whether the vision captured in Memphis 3.0 it more than empty words.
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Thumbnail: While the results of the current poll about consolidation makes for interesting cocktail conversation, a campaign to merge city and county governments is a distraction that keeps us from dealing with issues that matter. It’s not government structure that matter. It’s leadership.
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Thumbnail: The current PILOT programs are not improving key indicators for Memphis workers and calls for a greater commitment to fiduciary duties for Memphis City Council and Shelby County Board of Commissioners. Here are 10 suggestions for helping make that happen.
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Thumbnail: Memphis and Shelby County PILOT programs raise questions on their return on investment, failing to improve key measurements of success. And yet, the programs remain largely unquestioned by elected officials and others who have fiduciary responsibilities for local government.
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Thumbnail: If the Memphis economy is to reboot after the pandemic, the focus needs to be on structural issues that are ice on the wings of the recovery. After the Great Recession, Memphis returned to business as usual and squandered the chance to fundamentally improve the economy. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself.
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Thumbnail: Donald Trump’s latest dog whistle with its underlying implications about the threats to the suburbs by Black and brown people fails on the facts: people of color are making up more and more of the suburbs and life goes on.
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Thumbnail: City of Memphis has yet another magic number for the size of its police force. It continues the arrest and jail philosophy that has largely failed to develop a balanced crime-fighting plan that includes prevention and intervention. City Council is being asked to go on record in favor of a 2,800 police force but without the other critical elements to reducing crime.
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Thumbnail: It’s rare friend and minister who takes the time to listen…without judgement and without debate…and with only the objective of understanding and deepening our own understanding of our faith and our lives. A Leonard Cohen song gives me comfort today
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Thumbnail: It’s hard to find meaning from tragic deaths like Steven Montgomery’s last week, and in the midst of our shared grief, we have the eulogy by Rev. William Sloane Coffin that Steve would have had us read today. Our condolences to his wife, Patti; daughter, Sumita; and son, Aaron (A.J.).
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by 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 →