• JB
• Interim county mayor-elect Joe Ford

No rice and no dice either for John Vergos, the former Memphis city councilman who sat hopefully in the county building auditorium last week and did so again Tuesday. Nor for Jack Sammons, still serving as acting CAO for departed county mayor A C Wharton, now residing as the newly elected Memphis mayor over at City Hall across the way.

Nor for county commissioner J.W. Gibson or his once-and-future colleague, commissioner and acting mayor Joyce Avery, who once again let themselves be nominated and took front row seats, prepared to wait it out the as their fellow commissioners voted again on appointing an interim Shelby county mayor.

Only there was no wait this time Nothing like the marathon 24 separate ballots that took place Monday of last week as Gibson and commissioner Joe Ford deadlocked over-and-over again with repeat vote totals of 5-to-5, interrupted only by the occasional spurt of tentative votes for someone else — Avery or commissioner George Flinn or county CAO Jim Huntzicker. But the stalemate never broke.

It did this time around. On the second ballot, commissioner James Harvey shifted away from Gibson and, in the manner of the talented Gridiron Show thespian he is, delivered a properly cadenced and dramatic apologia for reversing himself, all in the name of ending the commission’s ordeal, then cast his vote for commissioner Joe Ford, and — Bingo! There was your new county mayor for the next several months, the first member of his politically illustrious family to hold the executive title of mayor.

And there was celebration and jubilation all around, as much because there would be no ordeal like last week’s as because of Ford’s victory over Gibson. The palpable mood of deliverance would doubtless have been there had the nod gone to Gibson — who, as if anticipating the outcome, had earlier, in obligatory remarks making the case for himself, had pointedly, almost concessively, expressed gratitude merely for having been nominated.

Also having an earlier moment had been commissioner Steve Mulroy, a dedicated Ford supporter (and no mean thespian himself), who also seemed to have seen what was coming, making a speech renouncing whatever hopes he might privately have nursed of being a fallback mayoral choice.

Standing off to the side of the post-selection hoopla, eschewing any dramatics whatsoever, was commissioner Henri Brooks, who had really been the decision-maker on Tuesday. It was Brooks, an immovable Gibson vote last week, who had made the first break toward Ford, from the very first ballot. All Harvey had done was follow through on the implied offer he had made during last week’s session to cross over if he had company.

Why did Brooks provide the occasion? “I just listened to my constituents,” was her only explanation.

When Ford made an impromptu acceptance speech, he promised as mayor to institute the same kinds of “task forces” on this or that governmental issue as he had while serving as the commission’s chairman a few seasons back. And he could hardly be blamed for expressing a bit of resentment at the public venting that had been given his several personal problems — mainly financial — during this last week.

Ford advised his listeners to believe “very little” of what they saw on television and “nothing” they read in “the newspaper.”

Ah well, now that this showdown is over, maybe there’ll be an easing up of the odd polarization on the commission — one that owes nothing to either ideology or political party but rather to the kind of personal motives and ad hoc alliances you could expect to find on any organized body of people. Maybe commissioner Mike Carpenter, a co-chair of Memphis mayor Wharton’s transition team and the subject of nonstop rumors that he’s City Hall-bound himself will feel free now to make his move.

As for Ford, he maintained a poker face, even in triumph.. That eased up for good only when somebody remarked to him that, after all those years of people conjecturing about there being a “Mayor Ford,” meaning his brother Harold Sr., a former congressman now doing high-stakes lobbying from a base in Florida, there is one such. And this Mayor-elect Ford is named Joe.

At that thought he finally smiled.

In any case, Saturday night found current council chairman Harold Collins facing a challenge from colleague Jim Strickland. Strickland himself does not aspire to the chairmanship but has been known to cross swords with Collins on some issues and to have worked hand-in-glove with him on others. The outcome of their set-to Saturday night could well affect the balance of power.

As of Saturday night, there were rumors — taken seriously by Collins — that Myron Lowery, the former chairman who yielded the position to Collins when Lowery became acting mayor at the end of July, might want the job back now that his interim mayoral tenure is over. Lowery, however, did not compete in Strickland's garage Saturday night.

In any case, and whatever its import, the suspenseful Strickland-Collins match went down to the wire.

Commentators' voices on this video are those of Ed Ford Jr., and Jackson Baker. The score as given is shorthand (i.e., the video begins late in the game and a score of "eight," say, actually means 18. It saves breath to call it out that way. Or something. Quite the opposite of the prolix commentaries heard in your average city council meeting.)

For best effect, watch match in full screen mode.

The Tennessee Conservative Union held one in Knoxville earlier this month in which the four major Republican gubernatorial candidates were measured. Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey of Blountville won that one with 123 votes; Knoxville Mayor bill Haslam had 80 votes, and Chattanooga congressman Zach Wamp had 70. Memphis’ GOP entry, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, had one (count’ em, 1).

That might seem devastating for the Memphian, who also trails the others in fundraising, but, interestingly enough, Gibbons’ Republican rivals concurred at this past weekend’s Pasta & Politics Dinner in Memphis with his own skepticism toward the Knoxville straw poll’s possible meaning.

Most interestingly, Wamp, who has wondered out loud about Gibbons dropping out of the race, pooh-poohed the results as an indicator of Gibbons’ long-range potential.

“All these things don’t really matter in the big scheme of things,” said Wamp “Most often they’re a matter of how many tables a candidate buys, or how many tickets a candidate buys to an event.” The Chattanoogan said a “scientific survey” would give a better idea, and cited one he had done in July, which showed himself leading but the other three candidates — including Gibbons — bunched close behind.

“Gibbons actually was pretty strong in the Memphis media market, and this is a big county,” Wamp said.

He noted, as did the others (and, as had Gibbons himself) that the Memphis D.A. is not from the Knoxville area but will likely have a chance to get better known there.

Bill Haslam, who is from Knoxville and, in fact, serves as the city’s chief executive, said, “I think straw votes are valuable, but it’s always dangerous to read too much into them. They’re fun for everyone,but I wouldn’t read much into them. I wasn’t there, and Bill wasn’t there, either, and he’s not from there.”

Nor would Ramsey, who won that poll, draw too many conclusion ns from it. “I did well, and that’s all I care about,” he said.

And only this past weekend there was a straw poll for Democratic candidates that engendered more skepticism than credibility.

This one was held at a Democratic Party event in Kingsport that was scantily attended – most likely because of a University of Tennessee football game held at the same time on Saturday. Only three gubernatorial candidates attended – Memphis state senator Jim Kyle, Dresden state senator Roy Herron, and Nashville businessman Ward Cammack – and the number of people who gathered to hear them numbered no more than 50, at best.

Yet straw-vote results, based on tickets sold for the pot-luck affair, were given out as follows: Herron, 85; Jackson businessman Mike McWherter, 20; Kyle and Cammack, 12 each; and former state Rep. Kim McMillan, 9. There were 12 votes cast as undecided. All of that totals 150.

Cammack counted 149, and commented on his campaign website:” The Sullivan County Straw Poll. Amazing. 47 people in the room, yet 149 votes cast. And, all counted before the speeches. Hmm. Some attendees denied votes. Subtlety Rating: Unimpressive. And, not worth the drive.”

Kyle was similarly bemused by the announced vote totals and thought of passing along a tweet on the subject but was talked out of it by his aides.

As for Herron, he trumpeted the results in a press release which was headed “Roy Herron Wins 2nd Straight Straw Poll” and which included this sentiment: ““I am humbled and grateful to the voters of Sullivan County. The people here in northeast Tennessee are just like those I represent in middle and west Tennessee: hard-working, family-loving, God-fearing people. I’m grateful for their kindness to me today.”

• Candidates Kelsey; Pakis-Gillon

The reasoning for such a refusal is the obvious one: Why give an underdog a position of parity?

So when the Memphis/Shelby County League of Women Voters, roughly a month ago, sounded out both Adrienne Pakis-Gillon, the Democrat running in the December 1st special general election for state Senate District 31, and former state Rep. Brian Kelsey, her Republican opponent, about a joint appearance, it was not surprising that Pakis-Gillon should accept right away.

Nor was it extraordinary for Kelsey to put off giving a positive response. He, after all, was heavily favored — for reasons of name recognition, because of an impressive campaign war-chest, and, not least, because he was the Republican running in an area, centered on Germantown, that is historically Republican.

Neither the League nor Pakis-Gillon wanted to leave it at that, however. They persisted in trying to get a straight up-or-down answer from Kelsey.

It is fair to say that the response Kelsey gave to the Flyer Thursday night was fairly categorical: “Why should I waste my time with the League of Liberal Women Voters when I’m trying to deal with real voters?” Kelsey said, “Nobody’s been more accessible to the voters than I’ve been,” and he pointed out that early voting in the special-election race had started and said that he was spending considerable time every day at polling places greeting voters. “It’s too late to be talking about this now, anyhow,” he said.

As for debating Pakis-Gillon, Kelsey said, “What’s to debate? She’s a Barack Obama big-spending liberal, and I’m a conservative in tune with the conservative sentiments of this district.”

In short: No to the idea of debating.

Peg Watkins, president of the MSCLWV, professed to find Kelsey’s characterization of her organization “amazing,” maintaining that the League was formally non-partisan and studiedly neutral concerning elections. “I’d be happy to send him a copy of our mission statement,” she said.

And, indeed, when Kelsey was reminded that the immediate past president of the League, Dee Nollner, was a Republican, he grudgingly acknowledged the fact. “Okay, there are a few, but mainly they’re the League of Liberal Women Voters, and I don’t have time for them.”

For her part, Pakis-Gillon said that she intended to represent the entire community, Democrats and Republicans. “I don’t put a label on myself,” she said. “I’ve worked with members of both parties on community projects, and they’re all entitled to representation in the Senate.”

The December 1st election will determine who fills the seat vacated by former state Senator Paul Stanley, who resigned last summer after becoming involved in a sex-and-blackmail scandal involving his legislative intern.

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• Mayor A C Wharton exchanged business cards with 91-year-old veteran Frank Mullinax after ceremony at West Tennessee Veterans Cenmetary in Germantown.

Memphis mayor A C Wharton got in some smack talk Wednesday in response to Shelby County Commissioner Joe Ford’s critical remarks Monday about the financial prowess of Wharton’s recent administration as county mayor. Ford made the remarks in the course of his still unresolved contest with fellow commissioner J.W. Gibson to become interim county mayor.

Midway of the nearly 30 ballot-marathon that failed to produce a winner, both Ford and Gibson bridled at Commissioner Deidre Malone’s attempt to break a recurring 5-5 impasse in the voting by nominating a would-be compromise candidate, current county CAO and finance director Jim Huntzicker, who occupied that position under Wharton.

Gibson, the beneficiary of Malone’s votes up to that point (and later) seemed mildly put out, saying to Malone, “You never cease to amaze me.” But Ford used stronger language, suggesting that the “former administration” was guilty of outright fiscal mismanagement that could result in “disaster” if its financial practices were to be continued for the next several months.

Asked his reaction following a Veteran’s Day ceremony Wednesday, Wharton said Ford was off base with the criticism, which he said showed little understanding of the facts. “That’s one place he should never have gone,” Wharton said, suggesting that Ford’s remarks were made for political effect and nothing else.

Wharton was asked if Ford’s criticism should therefore be regarded as “ill-founded,” and responded, smiling wryly, “He doesn’t even know enough about the question to have any idea whether what he’s saying is ill-founded or well-founded or whatever.”

Here's how Mulroy did it at his most recent fundraiser/reception at a "House Party to Re-elect Steve Mulroy in 2010" at the Midtown home of Jonathan Cole & Paul Linxwiler.

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• Commissioners Gibson and Ford listen as acting county mayor Joyce Avery makes the case for herself.

What did figure were complex personal relationships (both pro and con), paybacks for previous alliances, patently opportunistic calculations on the part of some commissioners, and suchlike. The only time the standoff became heated was when Huntzicker was nominated by Malone as an expedient to break the impasse.

In addressing the commission for the nth time on behalf of his candidacy, Ford denounced the "former administration" (current Memphis mayor A C Wharton's as much as Huntzicker's) for fiscal irresponsibility. In his turn, Gibon took verbal potshots at the "negative old politics," which he linked to Ford by name.

Malone was not the only one who tried to end the stalemate. At one point, Harvey implied unmistakably that he might consider going over to the other side if another Gibson advocate would go with him. None did. So Harvey, too, stayed put.

Former Memphis city councilman John Vergos was a presence in the county auditorium through Monday's session, and he made it clear that he hoped to be considered as a compromise candidate. His time didn't come Monday, and it may never.

Between now and next week, other third-party names will be considered, and the partisans of Messrs. Ford and Gibson (and mayhap of Avery and Flinn as well) will sound out their colleagues on such deals (Sunshine Law or no Sunshine Law) as may break the tie and produce a winner.

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• Acting county mayor Joyce Avery: "I'm going for it."

And she says her name will be placed in nomination by another GOP colleague, George Flinn, who had previously indicated that he himself would be an active candidate for interim mayor — a position that will be held by somebody until the election of a permanent mayor in the regular countywide election cycle next August.

As for Flinn’s own ambitions, they would apparently be shelved — at least until the late rounds of what could be extended balloting by commission members on Monday.

“He said he’ll see how it goes,” Avery said on Sunday, taking a break from a reception in her honor at her Arlington home. In any case, “George is going to nominate me. And he has never said anything to me that he hasn’t followed through on.”

Avery had told the Flyer last week that she would be a candidate for interim mayor but later amended that to say that she would only be available as a fallback possibility in case of a deadlock between other candidates. That reticence is over with now.

”I’ve really been praying about this,” Avery said on Sunday. “I’ve had so much feedback, from both Republicans and Democrats who have encouraged me to seek the office. I’m going for it tomorrow.” She noted that she was “the first sitting county commissioner to be invited on The Med board” and said that primary goal would be to “really push funding for The Med.”

Avery, who had been serving as the current commission chair, is currently eligible to be acting mayor for up to 45 days from the date of her temporary accession on Monday, October 26, the day A C Wharton resigned as county mayor to take over the job of city mayor that he was elected to last month.

That means she could have easily served as acting mayor until the second week of December before an interim mayor had to be named according to the terms of the county charter.

Avery doesn’t pretend to understand the reasons for a rush to name someone earlier. “I had barely sat in my chair for an hour before Ritz brought forth a resolution,” she says.

But, while considering the rush to judgment “disrespectful,” she says she asked both Ritz and another GOP commissioner, Wyatt Bunker, for their support in case the candidate both are supporting at this point, Democratic commissioner Joe Ford, doesn’t make it.

With Flinn’s apparent withdrawal from the nominating process (though not necessarily from late-ballot consideration), the likely active nominees on Monday are Ford, fellow Democratic commissioner J.W. Gibson, former Collierville mayor Linda Kerley, and now Avery.

Flinn’s change of status would also change the numbers from a partisan point of view. Active nominees on the commission are precluded from voting, as is Avery as acting mayor. On a body now constituted, at full strength, of eight Democrats and five Republican, that means six Democrats and four Republicans will be eligible to vote.

If Flinn should be nominated, the numbers of those eligible would be six Democrats and three Republicans. Flinn’s participation in the voting could be considerable indeed.

• Chancellor Perkins

Chancellor Perkins denied the immediate injunctive relief sought by Common Cause of Tennessee and associated counsel, including University of Memphis law professor and county commissioner Steve Mulroy, but explicitly invalidated the persistent claim by defendants Hargett and Goins that no acceptable voting machines are available to carry out the act’s mandates.

What the Act, passed by the Tennessee legislature with virtual bi-partisan unanimity in 2008, calls for is that all 95 Tennessee counties be outfitted with optical-scan voting machines in time for the 2010 election cycle. The machines would electronically process paper ballots.
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Hargett and Goins have raised several objections — the most noteworthy being that the Act requires machines meeting 2005 standards of the Federal Election Assistance Commission, a monitoring body established under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). In his ruling after Thursday’s ruling on a motion by Common Cause to require immediate action by Hargett and Goins, Chancellor Perkins summarized the key points this way:

“The TVCA does not require the voting system to be implemented by the State of Tennessee to meet 2005 standards. The Court determines that the State is obligated to take prompt, effective steps to meet the statutory deadline using compliant voting systems.

“Without making a direct ruling at this early stage about what HAVA requires, the Court determines that the State has discretion in determining whether to utilize the 2002 or 2005 standards, as long as this choice of standards does not jeopardize meeting the legislative mandate to implement a voting system that uses compliant precinct-based optical scanners on or before the November 2010 general election….”

Chancellor Perkins declined at this point, however, to find that the defendants in the suit had “wrongfully” intended to obstruct implementation of the act, and the sentence granting them “discretion” on the matter of standards weighs in the defendants’ favor, just as his warning that they may not “jeopardize” implementation of the Act weighs in favor of the plaintiffs.

The bottom line is that both sides appear to have enough wiggle room to continue a protracted struggle that has taken on discernibly partisan outlines.

In his statement on the ruling, Secretary of State Hargett invoked another major argument against immediate implementation of TVCA — that of exorbitant expense, concluding: “…Responsible legislators argue with these hard economic times upon us, it is not the time for additional taxes or government spending. As I stated earlier, we are preparing to go back to paper ballots as directed under current law by the November 2010 election. We understand this debate will continue in the next legislative session."

While Hargett’s statement would appear to be guardedly compliant with the Act and Thursday’s ruling, the references to “current law” and to the prospect that “this debate will continue in the next legislative session” would seem to validate the fears of TVCA supporters that Hargett andf Goins mean to postpone any effort to implement the TVCA in the hope that the General Assembly, meeting in January, will amend the Act, negate it, or postpone the date of its implementation.

The unspoken premise of the showdown — which, in political terms, matches key Republicans like Hargett and Goins against Democratic spokespersons — is that next year’s elections will determine the shape of federal and state reapportionment in the elections of the next decade. Demcorats have been outspoken that only a “paper trail” can prevent electronic hacking or other potential distortions of election results.

Various proponents of the Act have rebutted claims, asserted by Hargett, Goins, and others, that the Act would impose prohibitive expenses on the 95 Tennessee counties, maintaining that $35 million in federal HAVA funds already dispensed to the state are more than enough to offset the costs of implementation.

Mulroy issued a lengthy statement interpreting Chancellor Edwards’s ruling as a qualified victory for the plaintiffs and said, “If the Defendants do not promptly implement, the Plaintiffs will have an additional opportunity to seek relief from the court.”

State Rep. Gary Odom of Nashville, Democratic leader in the state House, said in a statement, “…The court has ruled that it is time for the secretary of state’s office to stop dragging its feet and to provide for paper balloting for all of our voting machines in Tennessee elections by 2010.”

And state Senator Roy Herron (D-Dresden), a candidate for governor, said, “…I call on Secretary Hargett to implement the Voter Confidence Act and begin purchasing new voting machines with paper ballots without delay. The time to protect our vote is now….”

A statement by Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Chip Forrester included this assertion: "...Mr. Hargett cannot use the bogus claim anymore that the machines do not exist. Now maybe he will follow the law and do the job he was sworn to do."

But all indications were that, pending another court test or ruling in the next two months, the battle may well continue into the General Assembly in January before anything definitive is done.

Another statement by Hargett suggests as much by indicating that the shape of a "request for proposal" (an invitation by the state for competitive bidding to supply the machines) cannot be determined until December or January and that "[a]t that time, we will issue a RFP to purchase machines certified to the strongest standards."

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• Joyce Avery on the day of her swearing-in as acting county mayor

Then Republican commissioner George Flinn formally applied as a candidate. Other candidates, including businessman/activist Anthony Tate, have also applied.

The latest possibility to succeed Avery is Avery herself. The acting mayor, a Republican, said Tuesday she had been encouraged by “numerous” women and by two Democratic colleagues on the commission to become a candidate for the interim job, which would extend until the election of a new mayor in August. Avery said she would make herserlf available in case of a stalemate on early ballots of Monday's formal voting by the commission for an interim mayor. (Democratic commissioner Steve Mulroy is another fallback possibility.)

“I’m enjoying the job,” said Avery, who said she would not run in the regular election, however.

After conducting interviews with candidates on Wednesday, the commission will elect an interim mayor at its regular Monday meeting.

For most people, even political junkies, that was the crux of the day, after which nothing much — nothing political, anyhow — mattered much. Actually, a great deal went on afterward, and who is to say that the five public events — count ‘em, 5 — that occurred later on Thursday evening, more or less simultaneously, were not equally momentous? Not the participants, surely!

First, at the Homebuilders building on Germantown Parkway, Republican county commission candidate Terry Roland (District 4, Position 3) got ready to meet and greet his public at a reception. Taking no chances, Roland doubled up with a cardboard cutout of himself.

[image-1]

Next, Danny Kail, Democratic candidate for Probate Court clerk, held a fundraiser at 200 Wagner Place downtown. Among the attendees were quasi-namesakes Dan Norwood and Danny Presley (first and fourth in this lineup, from left), along with Bobby Lanier and Judy Palmer. Kail himself is second from left in the picture.

[image-2]

Not far from the Kail affair, at Earnestine and Hazel’s Restaurant downtown, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Kyle was meeting and greeting — in his case, members of Memphis’ legal community. Here, Kyle (left) says hello to brand new author D’Army Bailey (right), as Karl Schledwitz adds his own welcome.

[image-3]

Also going on downtown was a forum —“Is Health Care a Right?”— at 80 Monroe Avenue. Participants in the event, sponsored by the American Constitution Society, were (from left) Dr. Arthur Sutherland, Dr. Frank McGrew, moderator Steve Mulroy, and attorney Charles Key.

[image-4]

Finally, members of Shelby County’s Republican community gathered at the Woodland Hills Country for a well-attended dinner/fashion show/talent contest/fundraiser sponsored by the Republican Women of Purpose club. Among the acts (to keep on using the forward-slant key on our computer) was radiologist/broadcasting magnate/Shelby County commissioner/blues harmonica player George Flinn.

[image-5]

• Physics pathfinders Einstein (left) and Herenton

Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton seems to have done just that — or to have given the concept a good college try — in his letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, released Tuesday.

In the letter, which follows one to him from the U.S. Attorney's office formally confirming that he is a target of investigation, Herenton complains to Holder that the probe, into a business transaction of his involving the relocation of a Greyhound Bus terminal, represents “a well-orchestrated attempt to influence the outcome of the Congressional election next year.”

Herenton goes on to allege that “the involvement of law enforcement agencies and the Justice Department in local politics and in attempting to influence the outcome of an election is not only unethical but also crosses the line of acceptable political discourse."

The problem with this is that the first news reports of the Justice Department probe -- into Herenton’s complicated involvement for profit with the sale of the Greyhound property, which then mayor Herenton had advocated on public-policy grounds -- appeared in The Commercial Appeal in January, while the mayor’s declaration of a congressional candidacy did not come until April, a full three months later.

Until we see the former mayor’s proofs, we will have to take it on faith that he has indeed reversed the processes of causation and time, so that events under way in January were somehow brought into being by another event considerably later in time.

At such time as these proofs emerge, and in light of high honors recently won by other notable politicians (yes, we’re talking about President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize), we are prepared to insist, in all fairness, that our former mayor be given serious consideration for the Nobel Prize in physics.

Meanwhile, there are skeptics who would suggest that traidtional chronology should apply here, and that Herenton's accusation is in fact a red herring designed to discredit the federal investigation, or even that his announcement of a congressional race itself was such a red herring, desiged to deflect the consequences of an already ongoing investigation.

We would suggest that such skeptics should furnish their own proofs — with or without the assistance of the Justice Department.

And, er, yes, folks, this article is a spoof. Or at least we think we're kidding!

But former mayor Herenton is not. He made the claims reported here in dead seriousness.

• JB
• A C Wharton at Friday night's fundraiser

First, in a 10:30 ceremony in the Shelby County Commission chambers comes the inauguration of commission chair Joyce Avery, a Republican, as acting mayor of Shelby County. Avery will assume the office being vacated by A C Wharton and will serve as mayor for 45 days, at which time the commission will designate an interim mayor, whose term will run until the installation of a duly elected county mayor in the general countywide election of 2010.

Commission chair pro tem Sidney Chism, will assume the duties of commission chair.

Next, at noon, comes the inauguration in the Hall of Mayors of Wharton as Mayor of Memphis. In keeping with the demonstrated universality of his voter base in an election which saw him garner 60 percent in a 25-candidate field, the new mayor is expected to make an appeal to unity.

In remarks made Friday night at a downtown fundraiser for his longtime friend, State Representative G.A. Hardaway, Wharton presented a somewhat different side, alternately playful and tough.

Deferring to Hardaway and to TV’s Judge Joe Brown, his former law partner who had preceded him, Wharton began with a modest note but quickly escalated that into an unusually assertive statement: “I am not the mayor, but I’m the man of the minute. This is just the intermission. I’ve taught him [Hardaway] how to stomp people. It ain’t enough just to win, G.A. You’ve got to stomp people….”

Wharton would conclude his brief remarks this way: “If you let the so-called experts tell you they know this city and who the voters are, they don’t know jack. We know, and the numbers show it. We know, and let me tell you right now, anybody who contests or tells you they know better where the hearts and minds of Memphians are, they do so at their own peril. If they didn’t learn this time they’ll learn next time.”

Next time, presumably, is the regular general election of 2011, and the new mayor’s challengers have been duly warned.

• JB
• U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp

Some of the stops for Wamp during his Thursday/Friday stop over were: a meet-and-greet in Collierville, appearances on the Ben Ferguson show on WREC and at meetings of Guns and Ammo and the NRA, a get-together with local supporters at the Crescent club, and a Friday morning tour of the Kipp Academy, a local charter school.

After the Kipp Academy tour, he talked briefly with the Flyer, citing his recent endorsement by the conservative organization Red State (which he quoted as saying, “the last thing we need is any more squishy moderates in the state of Tennessee.”

Wamp also indulged in some speculation about possible future-tense dropouts from the Republican gubernatorial field by Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and District Attorney General Bill Gibbons of Memphis. He himself vowed to stay in “whether Ramsey stays in and whether Gibbons stays in” or whether the GOP primary is “a two-man race, a three-man race, or a four-man race.”

As for presumed Republican frontrunner Bill Haslam, the mayor of Knoxville, Wamp said the “question of the race for October” that he got from people on the stump was, ‘We know you would make the best governor, but what about Haslam’s money?’” Wamp concluded about the Haslam campaign, “If that’s all they have after ten months of campaigning, that’s an empty suit.”

More on Haslam: “His money’s going to give him some name recognition, but there’s not much to connect the money to.” As for Haslam’s door-to-door campaigning in Bartlett last month, Wamp was scornful: “That’s a Tom Ingram stunt. It’s trying to make a rich guy look like a regular person.”

• JB
• Judge Joe Brown

Judge Joe Brown we’re talking about, who was elected to Criminal Court in 1990 on the slogan “Send Brown Downtown” but who couldn’t be confined in that space and, operating from a base in Los Angeles these days, has gone on to be a formidable media presence with his syndicated daily TV show called — what else? — “Judge Joe Brown.”

Judge Brown still maintains both a residence in Memphis and an interest in local affairs, however, and he was in town this past week, materializing at several public events, including a fundraiser on Friday at the Beignet Café downtown for state Representative G.A. Hardaway. Brown was a guest of honor, along with Memphis mayor-elect A C Wharton.

On his arrival, Brown was greeted with someone’s teasing reminder that his celebrity might be of some small aid to namesakes seeking political office locally.

His response, delivered with a wince, a sidewise cock of the head and a lingering wry expression, was “Yeah, I heard about it” — clearly indicating he’d read about or been briefed on the behavior of councilman Brown in first challenging the appointment of blogger Steve Ross to the Metro Commission and then unloading some bizarre smack on colleague Shea Flinn, who’d nominated Ross.

““I'm a real black man. I hope you're a real white man,” was the somewhat inscrutable logic councilman Brown used to characterize their differences.

'Black and white' no more

While Judge Brown did not reference the councilman directly, he did seem to take note of the controversy in his public remarks on Hardaway’s behalf at the fundraiser.

“Now, I’m not about black and white any more, because I’ve seen it’s no longer a black-white issue,” he said early on. And, though he would excoriate various members of the local power establishment in his speech, the TV jurist dutifully stayed miles away from anything resembling racial profiling.

Though Judge Joe Brown said nothing explicit about Ross (who had, seemingly, been dropped from the Commission list by a consensus-seeking mayor-elect), he did reference media matters briefly. Full (and self-serving) disclosure: What he did was single out a “fine local newspaper, the Memphis Flyer,” going on to say, “Unfortunately, it’s weekly and not daily. It is a fine newspaper, and they approach things in an objective way.”

He immediately segued from that grace note into this generalization about the state of things locally: “What we’ve got to understand is that it’s no longer a white-black problem here. It is a problem of perspective, and we’re not going anywhere in this town until we learn that we’ve got to get past the color line and work with everybody. The problems that everybody is having have got to do with what’s going on in people’s heads — what they think, what they don’t think, what’s real and what’s not real.”

Clearly, Brown’s encomium to the Flyer had much to do with the fact that, at the moment of saying it, he was some five feet away from, and eyeball to eyeball with, a representative of the Flyer, Yours Truly. And conceivably similar verbal courtesies might have been bestowed on other outlets, had journalists representing them been present.

So it may be gilding the lily somewhat to interpret Judge Brown’s remarks as endorsing the course of media developments over the last several years — including the emergence of alternative weeklies like the Flyer as major forces in their communities.

This is not to discount the continuing importance of long-established institutions like The Commercial Appeal, which, for all its well-publicized labor and circulation problems, is an undisputed touchstone in the coverage of local news. (One of the more outlandish phenomena of recent years has been the habit, in certain circles, of referring to the CA, a guardian of various enduring traditions, as “the Communist Appeal.”)

But the CA’s of the world, already having adjusted their practices to deal with competition from the broadcasting media, have long since had to respond to the presence of papers like the Flyer as well. And this circumstance has been accentuated in the Internet age, which sees all media mounting a 24/7 free-for-all competitive challenge via their websites.

Latter-day media bashing

Which brings me to the Ross controversy, which I haven’t weighed in on up until now. I have from time to time over the years tipped my hat to the independent blogging community. Though most blogs are oriented to point of view rather than to objective journalism per se, the best bloggers have made enormous contributions to news coverage and thoughtful consideration of the public weal. Everybody else — the CA, the Flyer, the TV and radio stations — have had to take note. Increasingly, blogs break important news, and no self-regarding “traditional” journalist can risk not having several blogger URLs on their computer bookmark lists.

No one has been more worthy of note in this regard than Steve Ross, whose voluminous “Vibinc” postings in the last year or two have covered public issues in impressive depth and illuminating detail. For Shea Flinn to have nominated Ross to the Metro Commission was essentially a matter of paying attention to real-world developments and giving credit where credit was due.

Would that Ross, who was graciousness itself about the withdrawal of his name, had been allowed to serve. And I would console Ross and the rest of the blogging community with this thought: Councilman Brown's reaction was less simple scorn than it was latter-day media-bashing. Consider it as a sign that you've fully arrived.

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• JB
• Commissioner Myra Stiles (l) listens as colleague Shep Wilbun announces his departure to E.C. chairman Bill Giannini

“I’ll miss you,” said Shelby County Election Commission chairman Bill Giannini.

”As the only remaining Democratic commissioner, I’ll miss you even more,” said E.C. member Myra Stiles.

The “you” in this equation was Shep Wilbun, who had just announced his resignation from the Election Commission in order to run in next year’s countywide election to regain his old job as Juvenile Court Clerk.

Wilbun, who was unseated from the clerk’s position by Steve Stamson in the election of 2006, pointed out that next year’s Democratic primary comes in March; so there was no point in delaying his departure. He said he had made recommendations for a successor to state Rep. Larry Miller, who will be in charge of the Shelby County Democratic legislators’ effort to appoint a new member.

“I had actually decided to do this back during the mayoral campaign, but I withheld announcing it until after the election,” Wilbun said.

As a result of the 2008 statewide elections, which gave the Republican Party a majority in both the state House and the state Senate, the G.O.P. is now the official majority party in Tennessee, empowered to name three of the five positions on each Tennessee county’s election commission.

In other action, the Election Commission certified the results of last week’s Memphis mayoral election, which made Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton the mayor-elect of the City of Memphis.

And the Commission announced the names of the five candidates who filed by the deadline of noon Thursday for the vacated state House seat in District 83.

The candidates are Republicans Mark white and John Pellioccitti, Democrats Guthrie Castle and Ivan Faulkner; and independent John Andreucetti.

The party primaries for District 83 will take place on December 1, with the general election to follow on January 12. December 1 is also the date for the general election contest in state Senate District 31 between Republican Brian Kelsey and Democrat Adrienne Pakis-Gillon. It was Kelsey’s resignation from his District 83 House seat that necessitated the special election for that seat.

• JB
• Brooks in the commission dock

Brooks, who had been on the losing end of the commission’s final vote — 7 to 4 in favor of Buehler —- was nevertheless being congratulated for her frustrated efforts to derail Buehler by a group of her constituents and supporters, and she advised me to “hold up for a minute” while she dealt with them.

Essentially, her support group was working out on the theme of “respect” — something they believed Brooks had been denied in the course of the two-and-a-half-hour meeting just concluded. They assured her that she was fully deserving of their respect, and, in return, she reassured them that “this will come up again Monday at 1:30.”

Huh?, I thought — because, even though this meeting, downstairs in commission chambers, had been held on Wednesday, committee day for the commission, it essentially was a continuation of last Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting. A vote on the Buehler matter had been delayed then, mainly because Brooks had cited a provision of the 1981 law enabling the state Homestead Act which called for available lots to be publicly advertised — a step which the commission had either skipped or overlooked.

That oversight had since been corrected by publishing notices in several media outlets, and Wednesday’s meeting had been called to complete action on the matter before pending deadlines on available state and federal authorization and funding could expire.

No friction?

Brooks, however, persisted in believing that Wednesday’s meeting had been merely “a special hearing.” Her interpretation of other events was equally idiosyncratic. When she paused momentarily in her conversation with her supporters, I asked her about the obvious tension between herself and commission chair Joyce Avery, who several times had attempted to enforce limits on Brooks’ speaking time so a vote could be called.

“There was no friction,” Brooks maintained.

Had the two not audibly snapped at each other back and forth?

“No. I didn’t snap. I didn’t think she heard me. I needed to speak, and she didn’t hear me. I wanted to speak and my constituents expected me to. I needed to do my job, and I want to keep my job.” Brooks ventured a self-effacing laugh. “I want to keep my job,” she continued.

I asked Brooks if she thought, as her constituents nearby clearly did, that she’d been disrespected. She deferred to them again and one woman responded. “These people work for us. The people!” she said, “these people” being the commission, and she went on at some length about how she, as an audience member, had wanted to speak for three minutes and had only been allowed to speak for one.

“One minute” per audience speaker had been a rule established by Avery on the front end of Wednesday’s meeting.

I asked Brooks if the chairman didn’t have the prerogative to set rules for discussion, especially if they were clearly enunciated in advance, as they had been Wednesday.

"You can't touch me!"

As she was meditating on an answer, Omari Fleming of WREG, News Channel 3, began trying to affix a mini-mike to Brooks’ lapel.

She suddenly barked out: “Excuse me, you can’t touch me without asking me!”

“I apologize,” a stunned Fleming responded.

Brooks remained unforgiving. “You ask before you do that!” she said.

“I didn’t mean to touch you,” the contrite reporter said, trying to explain that all he meant to do, as unobtrusively as possible, was to attach the mike so as to expedite what he intended as a forthcoming interview.

“But you didn’t say a word to me.,” Brooks retorted.

“Because you were talking to somebody. I didn’t want to…”

“You were just sticking that microphone…” Brooks began. But by this time, Fleming waved off and began politely backing away, clearly changing his mind about wanting an interview.

I took advantage of the caesura and resumed. “Does the chairman not have the right to articulate procedures and then require members to adhere to them?” I asked again.

“We have rules. She said I had 10 minutes…,” Brooks began, and she was off again on her version of events, whereby the commission chairperson had somehow “misheard” the fact that she had something to say and somehow overlooked the amount of time that she, Brooks, had to say it in.

In this scenario it was Avery who had ignored the rules, not herself, and to the extent that someone had been disrespected in their exchanges, it was she, not Avery, who had been. Add to this the fact that Brooks persisted in believing that Wednesday’s special meeting, climactic vote and all, had been but a run-through on the issue, with a follow-through and another vote to be held on Monday.

It is surely no stretch to say that, on all these matters, she differed with other members of the commission, certainly with the consensus of the body. Whatever she might have thought, Wednesday’s vote, which granted Buehler title on the 140 lots he sought, on condition that he paid up almost $1 million in back property taxes by the end of 2010, appeared to be binding.

And the flare-up with Channel 3’s Fleming seemed puzzling indeed. No reporter had been more faithful in reporting the views of Brooks and her supporters in the last few weeks, during which the Buehler matter, once regarded as routine, became the focus of a raging controversy. WREG has made a point of including background information on Buehler on its website, and Norm Brewer, the station’s veteran commentator, had taken the builder to task more than once on the matter of the unpaid taxes.

"We will vote!

The meeting had begun with Brooks insisting that she be allowed to speak on “a point of personal privilege.” Permitted to do so, she went to the commission dock and launched into a philippic against an organized picketing Tuesday of her South Bluffs townhouse.

Picketers organized by Buehler aide David Upton had stood on the pavement on the other side of a fence bracketing Brooks’ domicile and others and carried signs praising Buehler for providing rental homes in the inner city and noting that Brooks herself lived in rental property, albeit a plusher variety.

In the course of a sometimes distraught monologue, Brooks said she considered the picketing to have been a “threat to my family,” and, looking straight at both Buehler (whom she labeled “a parasite and a predator”) and at Upton, who sat nearby, warned them against a further demonstration near her home. “I promise you my retort will not be pretty,” she said.

At various points in Brooks’ somewhat rambling discourse, chairman Avery tried to interrupt, telling her she had exceeded her time limit. Brooks would respond by saying, “I am not finished.” Alternately: “I have something to say.”

She would repeat variations of that phrase during later debate on the Buehler matter whenever Avery tried to enforce time limits, attempting to throw responsibility for the overrun back on Avery. “You’re talking,” she would say, as if it were the chairman, not herself, who was holding back a floor vote.

“We wil vote,” Avery said firmly at one point, but was forced to wait indefinitely while Brooks kept on speaking. Just before a vote was finally called at the very end of proceedings, Brooks was attempting to question county attorney Brian Kuhn on a series of issues having to do with legal aspects of the state Homestead Act, under the terms of which the 140 lots sought by Buehler were made available.

"I've just begun to fight."

The weight of testimony Wednesday was clearly in Buehler’s favor.

Memphis Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery spoke before the commission on the premise that it would be folly not to develop the vacant lots Buehler sought title over (140 out of some 3,000 in the inner city, including many that were the result of arson and neglect). Antonio Burks, the former Memphis Tigers basketball star who was recently wounded by gunfire, showed up on crutches to extol Buehler for having provided Burks’ mother a rental home for the past decade.

Even a Klondike resident who had been featured in The Commercial Appeal as opposing Buehler rental property on style points was shown in a Buehler-produced video extolling the builder for having arrived at new designs. (Both the video and several posterboard displays of previous Buehler properties were stage-managed by Upton.)

Buehler opponents got up to speak, too, including one man who said,” We need to do a background check on this criminal.”

Besides Brooks, overt opposition on the commission itself was limited to another longtime critic of the builder, Mike Ritz, who succeeded in adding an amendment to Commissioner Steve Mulroy’s enabling resolution, one that required full repayment of Buehler’s delinquent taxes. Another Ritz amendment, which would have mandated approval of Buehler designs by community development organizations in all affected areas, was rejected.

In any case, Wednesday’s apparently definitive vote notwithstanding, Brooks announced that she intended to soldier on. “I’ve just begun to fight,” she said — though how and with what allies and to what end remained to be seen.

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• JB
• Jack Sammons

Sammons, a former long-term city councilman, is finishing up on two-months-plus service as CAO for Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery — a stint which won him plaudits overall. For several weeks now, Sammons has been the subject of rumors — perhaps encouraged, or at least acquiesced in, by himself — that he might remain in that position in the event of a Wharton victory.

Those rumors have persisted since Wharton’s smashing victory in last week’s election. Bur there is a general sense now that if the moment for such an appointment has not altogether passed, it may be passing — even as other names are being circulated, notably that of Shelby County Commissioner Mike Carpenter, a co-chair of .Wharton’s transitional team.

Friends of Sammons have urged that he contact Wharton and make explicit his desire to continue serving in the CAO job, but Sammons has resisted the idea of doing so. Meanwhile, sources close to Wharton acknowledge that the mayor-elect has been persistently lobbied on the Sammons matter by others, with both pro and con views.

Ranking members of the Shelby County Republican hierarchy have tried to persuade Sammons to be the party standard-bearer in next year’s county mayor’s race, but Sammons appears to have concluded that his days as an active candidate are over. Moreover, his political interests continue to be almost exclusively cityside.

That feeling, which Sammons is candid about, would seem to dispel another strong rumor — which has it that Republicans on the county commission might try to barter with key Democrats on that body for their support in arranging for Sammons to serve as interim county mayor next year. At least one GOP commissioner, however, dismisses that talk as the wishful thinking of somebody in the Republican hierarchy unconnected with the thinking of Republicans on the commission.

• Rick Maynard
• Connie and Antonio Burks

On Monday, Buehler and aide David Upton arranged a press conference at the North Memphis Buehler-built home of Connie Burks, mother of former Tiger and Grizzlies star Antonio Burks. Both mother and son were present and praised Buehler as a landlord and as builder.

Still on crutches in the aftermath of his recent shooting, basketballer Burks stood by his mother and confirmed her sense of satisfaction from 10 years of living in a home in the Hyde Park Community. “I’m doing this for my mother,” he said, recounting how, upon turning pro, he had offered to buy her a brand-new house but had been refused because his mother enjoyed living where she was.

Connie Burks contrasted conditions in her present home with those in other areas where crime was rampant. Nobody had ever broken in her dwelling, she said, and landlord Buehler had kept the place maintained.

Buehler also talked to the media at the Burks home, acknowlecdging he owed approximately $1 million in back taxes, something he partly attributed to serious vandalism and thefts at several of his properties. In any case, he was on a pay-back plan and had paid over $726,000 in county taxes last year alone,he said.

The veteran builder also addressed criticism concerning his home designs by noting that he had changed his designs to make them consontant with county review committee standards.

On Tuesday, protesters in support of Buehler picketed a South Bluffs townhouse which is being rented by commissioner Henri Brooks, a vociferous critic of Buehler’s bid for the available lots under the state Homestead Act.

The picketers suggested that Brooks, herself a renter and at a relatively luxurious location after losing her South Parkway home to bankruptcy, should be more appreciative of Buehler and his renters.

That action would seem to guarantee more fireworks s the commission meets in committee Wednesday morning to reconsider Buehler’s petition, which was deferred at the regular commission meeting on Monday after Brooks pointed out that a provision of state law requiring posting of the lots’ availability had been overlooked.

Not only was Brooks expected to be newly vocal on Wednesday, but another commission critic, Mike Ritz, who had been absent on Monday, will also be present and will renew his own objections to awarding Buehler title to the lots. Both Brooks and Ritz have applied the term “slumlord” to Buehler, and Ritz, whose objections have also focused on the back-tax issue, has prepared a series of constraining amendments to the resolution, sponsored by commissioner Steve Mulroy, that would award Buehler title.

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