Friday, March 26, 2010
Is It Boss Crump's Fault?
Posted by John Branston on Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:02 PM
The political figure is Edward Hull "Boss" Crump, a Memphis mayor, congressman, and political kingmaker in the first half of the 20th century who died in 1954. In the last month or so, three people that I consider well-informed and responsible types have suggested that I look into the fire department, which has 57 stations and accounts for 25 percent of the operating budget. Moreover, they suggested that it all goes back to Crump's insurance company, which was one of the biggest in the South in its day.
So I asked Crump scholar G. Wayne Dowdy, archivist at the Memphis Public Library and author of "Mayor Crump Don't Like It: Machine Politics in Memphis."
"They spent a lot on the fire department and used it to promote the city," said Dowdy. "It was one of those things in the 1940s and 1950s that they talk about, along with Memphis being the Cleanest City in America. It had a nationally recognized fire department and one of the lowest number of fires. You see that over and over again."
But Dowdy said it's a stretch to say that Crump was fire-conscious in order to financially benefit his insurance company.
"I have never seen that," he said. "He publicly distanced his insurance company from city government. There were no city contracts with the Crump Insurance Company that I have been able to find. He was a successful businessman and made a lot of money and had one of the largest insurance companies in the South. But the evidence suggests they took great pains to separate those two."
Dowdy adds, however, that any diligent politician can gain favor by putting a fire station in a neighborhood because "if your house is ever damaged you want firemen there quickly." And a prudent businessman, needing some property insurance, might well decide, all things being equal, to buy it from the agency bearing the name of the most powerful man in town.
So I say, let's give the old boss a break. Our fiscal problems have more recent causes.
Without mentioning Crump, Mayor A C Wharton passed out a handout to members of the Memphis City Council this week purporting to show that Memphis spends three to four times as much of its operating budget on police and safety than Nashville, Knoxville, or Chattanooga. The implication was that some cuts may be forthcoming.
If so, you can expect cops and firemen to squawk. Several members of the police brass were on hand at the council the other day when the mayor spoke in executive session. When the budget goes downstairs, we can expect to see a lot more of them.
Footnote: Wharton's handout had some puzzling numbers in it. For example, it gives the population of Memphis as 602,435. I can't find a number that low in any census in decades. The most recent numbers are 670,902 in 2006 and 669,657 in 2008. Nashville's population in the handout is pegged at 668,428, although the 2006 census estimate puts it at 552,120. Few things can throw a debate off course more quickly than city-to-city comparisons using bad numbers.
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
I find it hard to believe that Warton, who spent years as county sherrif, wouldn't know there's a damn good reason we spend much more on police and safety than Nashville and the other big cities in the state: We need it. The police dept. is underbudgeted and understaffed on the patrol level and civilian level (the folks who do the clerical and grunt work at the stations) and he's looking to slash the budget?
Yeah, good luck making that sound good.
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Freezer: Please, everybody knows that John Branston was the sheriff during that time.
No, no, no. Bobby Lanier was the sheriff. I should know -- I shot him. But I did not shoot the deputy, Tom Jones.
In the 50s Ed Crump would attend the High School football games and give out peter paul mounds candy bars. As a band member and a recipient of free candy I would never have a bad thought about Mr. Crump nor will I ever say an unkind word. May he rest in peace.
I can understand starting the conversation with population statistics and expenditures (assuming they are accurate), but don’t we need to look at average response times and/or geographic coverage as well?
The problem with the MFD now a days (aside from the lack of leadership and quality personnel) is that it is still run/staffed/managed the same as it was in the 40's and 50's. The MFD along with it's almighty IAFF union, have not only the people of Memphis, but everyone in the US brainwashed that the fire department is the best thing since sliced bread. Now granted they do a have a dangerous job, and there are quite few truly dedicated firefighters here, BUT that does not excuse the department for not keeping up with the times. There is a great potential for tax payer savings with a massive overhaul of the fire department starting with the appointed positions on the command staff that were created during the King Willie years. From there they could begin restructuring the ranks and how the equipment is staffed. Plus the ambulance service not only should be, but desperately needs to be separated from the fire department. The MFD has clung to EMS and actually attempted to embrace it to bolster their falling run numbers for fire services every year, while EMS calls continue to rise.
I'll stop there for now, but I could go on for hours.
@ urbanut
Average response times are not as big of a factor as they were once thought to be. I'll have to locate the latest research coming out of Canada. Also, Memphis is the 18th to 23rd most populated city in the US (depending on which source you use), yet maintains the 10th largest fire department in the nation. Not to mention one of the higher paid ones at that, especially when one factors in the cost of living here. Now granted the city sprawl does influence the number of employees a bit, but it shouldn't influence it that much. There are many changes that need to be made to bring the MFD into the 21st century.
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