Tonight, at the Benjamin L. Hooks library in Memphis, the four candidates vying for the office of Shelby County Mayor came together with the help of the League of Women Voters, to talk about their visions for the county.
The forum included Interim Mayor Joe Ford, General Sessions Court Clerk Otis Jackson, Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell, and County Commissioner Deidre Malone. Three Democrats, one Republican, and about an hour and a half of standing room only conversation.
The forum started with statements from the candidates. These largely focused on their personal history and what motivated them into public service. From there, we went into questioning. In all honesty, there were a lot of questions, but because not everyone got to answer or respond to every question, going into every issue would hardly be comprehensive.
There were, however, several topics of discussion that kept coming up, and other topics of interest that deserve some airing out, largest among these, the situation at The MED.
Over the course of the evening there were several questions about The MED, starting with the second question of the night concerning the “Bed Fee” that has been proposed and largely accepted by all quarters of the healthcare industry in the state. All that responded favored the new fee and noted that the industry was supportive of the measure.
Early on, Interim Mayor Joe Ford asserted that The MED had been “saved” thanks to the $10m in additional funding appropriated by the County Commission, the work of Congressman Steve Cohen and the Obama Administration, and other state initiatives that are in the works. Malone disputed this claim in her closing statement, noting that The MED is not “saved” until a “sustainable funding solution” is found.
Economic Development was another big topic. All four candidates talked about the need to attract businesses to the community. Otis Jackson suggested that, instead of going after “big fish” like AutoZone (his reference), the County should be looking for lots of “smaller fish”. Deidre Malone talked about her experience running a small business and finding ways for County Government to help with the expansion of existing and new businesses. Joe Ford didn’t get into many specifics, but did stress the importance of working together with Memphis Mayor A C Wharton in attracting new businesses, noting that he met with the Mayor twice a month. Mark Luttrell talked about making our community more attractive to businesses through building an educated workforce and adding amenities to our city.
On consolidation all said they were waiting to see what the Memphis/Shelby County Metro Charter Commission comes up with, but in lieu of that matter, there were several areas that both the City and County could coordinate to save money for both. Commissioner Malone noted that while this may be a good short-term solution, each new administration could potentially choose to pull back from this kind of “functional consolidation” at any time.
In the end it was a pretty civil affair, though Commissioner Malone did end the night with a zinger aimed at Interim Mayor Joe Ford, where she again noted that not only is The MED not saved, but that we still aren’t sure exactly where the $10m from the County is coming from, “if you want that, vote for him”.
The primary is May 4th, with early voting starting on April 14th. In order to vote, you must be registered by April 5th. Voter registration forms are available here.
More Coverage:
Memphis Daily News
Commercial Appeal
[...] night at the Mayoral forum Sheriff Luttrell mentioned the law, noting that it has been the policy of his office since 2006 to [...]