Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Mayor Says MSARC will Stay with City
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Mayor Willie Herenton went before the City Council's executive committee today to update them about the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center.
He told them he would not turn MSARC over to county government and that MSARC was still a national model.
Selected remarks from his comments after the jump.
[Again, these are selected comments. I've cut things for clarity.]
"I'm responsible to the council and that’s why I’m here today. In the myriad responsibilities I have — it may surprise you to know that — never visited MSARC. It doesn’t mean it is not important. It is quite important.
"I’ve never seen a perfect organization.
"The leader has got to take responsibility for the performance or non performance of his or her subordinates. That’s what a CEO does.
"I was not moved by the television appearances of some of the council members. I was not moved by the private interests groups. I was not moved by any segment of this community.
"The MSARC organization, I know a lot about this center now. I didn’t before.
"This controversy forced me to find out what it does. It is a nationally recognized model. It has been and it still is. I do not accept anyone's assessment that a national model program is no longer there. I reject any notion of that.
"Does MSARC face some challenges? Of course, it does.
"Thank god for Le Bonheur. The new partnership that we'll forge ahead will add immensely to an already nationally recognized program. You couldn’t have a better partner.
"In my best assessment, and my best judgment, the client population served by MSARC will be better served by maintaining MSARC as an entity of city government. That’s a decision after a lot of assessment, a lot of analysis.
"That’s the decision I have made and that’s a firm decision. With Le Bonhuer being a partner, it reinforces the commitment to this program.
"I disagree with you that this ought to be transferred to the county.
"I do regret that my office was not shown proper respect. I don’t care about people liking me but I care about people respecting me.
"I don’t question anyone’s agenda, but I’ll tell you what mine is: Maintaining an entity for rape victims. That is my only motivation. I'm not here to assess blame.
"As Mr. Obama said, the reason I hadn’t spoken was because I didn’t have the facts. I don’t want to bore you with my overall assessment but there was a cultural change, a management change that impacted MSARC. There was personnel issues.
"It’s called human behavior.
"It serves no useful person purpose (sorry, bad muscle memory) for me to go back.
"How do we move forward and maintain a quality program?
"Several weeks ago, people wanted to talk about [public services director] Ken Moody and [deputy director] Yolanda McFadgon. I have respect for all personnel and if I think there is reason, I discipline people. If I think there is no reason, I don’t discipline people. That’s my call.
"Another issue: Why didn’t someone answer Bill Gibbons’ letter? He will get a full response and it will come from the mayor.
"I couldn’t respond to him at that particular time beause I did not have the facts.
"I feel comfortable with the information I have now. There may be some organizational changes in the future but I will make that decision.
"Whether or not it will be going to the county, I’ve already made that decision. It won’t be going to the county."
"The city of Memphis has continuously provided quality care for the city and the overall region.
"If these issues arose in fire or police services, would those services be moved to the county? Of course not.
"True leaders do not punt their challenges to others."
Council members are currently asking the mayor questions.
Comments (11)
Showing 1-11 of 11
I'm sort of multi-tasking right now, so I didn't get this all down, but the mayor just implied that this was an issue divided by race. Take that how you will.
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Yes, because we all know black women never get raped and it's not an issue that "resonates" with black people...he's such a complete ass...
Discussion is still ongoing, as concerned citizens are getting three minutes each to speak to the council.
However, part of the discussion has centered around whether the services for victims of sexual assault, regardless of age, should be in one site.
The mayor disagrees and says that community members should know where the services they need are located.
Let me just say this: MSARC isn't a service like a community center or a library.
No one wants to need the services that MSARC provides.
So saying victims should know where to go when it happens to them is just cold.
Not even all the council members knew where MSARC was located.
And we're talking about a crime that people aren't always that forthcoming about reporting in the first place.
Okay, Strickland just proposed moving it to the county. I've put that in a separate post.
RE: Strickland's question concerning Health Dept. and differences between it and MSARC.
As I was live tweeting this, I thought I heard the Mayor go off and say the reason he was opposed to sending MSARC to county like we did with Health Dept. was because of "hidden political agendas" in both City & County Gov't. and by activist groups/media. Did I hear that right?
I thought MSARC's location was kept quiet as a safety issue, and that the cops/EMTs were supposed to deliver victims there.
If that's not how it is, that's how it should be.
Steve, yes, you heard that.
B, I've never heard that specifically. If the police are called first, they do deliver victims to MSARC and stay with the victims until the exam and evidence collection are completed.
If you put a convicted felon in charge of anything,You got problems.It's not race,It's sex.She looks good.I'm sure she takes care of Willie. Just when you think willie has done his worse to this dying city.Look out.I look forward to the day I can get out of this crime infested roach-hole our mayor created. Hey willie,Thanks for the memories.
Am I reading this right??? "Only a few of the people involved give a damn about rape victims"?? Did he really say that?? That's appalling even for him. That alone should get him removed.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local…
Only a few of the people involved in this really give a damn about the rape victims. It was all about impacting the reputation…When you come up or any of you and you have a hue and cry because there are some well connected people in the community who got your hot button, got your attention and you think I’m going to be moved by that? Hell no. I got a lot of crimes. That’s just the reality of it
Perhaps the 'only a few' refers to the fact that a lot of good employees who did care were chased off by the Mayor's gang.
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