MEMPHIS- The Coalition for a Better Memphis (CBM) today issued the 2006 Shelby County Voter Guide. The voter guide provides evaluations of some of the candidates in the August 3rd election including Shelby County Mayor, Shelby County Sheriff, Shelby County School Board, Shelby County Commission, Memphis City Council and the Memphis Charter Commission.

"The 2006 Shelby County Voter Guide is an important tool to help provide voters with information necessary to make informed choices on election," said Roby S. Williams, co-chair of the Coalition and president of Black Business Association. "We feel it is critical for voters to have a real understanding of each candidates' qualifications and their commitment to key issues facing Shelby County."

"The Coalition has worked hard to evaluate the candidates. We hope our efforts will help to further educate Shelby County voters as they head to the polls on August 3rd," said Bobbi Gillis, co-chair of the Coalition and executive vice president of FaxonGillis Homes.

The evaluation process is exceptionally thorough.  The Coalition members agreed that there were two sets of qualities that voters should consider in deciding which candidates to vote for. First, it is important to know the candidates' general qualifications for holding office including the candidates' belief system and their experience. Second, voters need to be aware of the candidates' understanding of and commitment to key issues facing Shelby County today.  Candidates are asked to fill out a questionnaire and submit to personal interviews with the Coalition.

How to Use the Evaluation Tables

1)       CBM teams evaluated candidates on the basis of a variety of qualities. If you believe that each of these qualities and issues is equally important in a candidate, please refer to the "overall score" at the right of each table. The overall score represents each candidate's average score across the eight categories.

2)       However, if one or two of these qualities or issues are more important to you than the others, the please give special attention to how candidates rated in these areas.

            Category scores and overall scores are one 1 to 100 scale with 100 being the highest possible score.

The overall scores are listed below:

Shelby County Mayor

AC Wharton, Jr...........................93

John H. Willingham......................71

Shelby County Sheriff

Reginald French.........................77

Mark H. Luttrell............................91

Shelby County School Board

District 1

Teresa Price..............................84

Dorothy Ray...............................Candidate chose not participate

Herman Sawyer..........................82

District 3

Anne Edmiston...........................Candidate chose not participate

District 5

David A. Pickler..........................88

District 7

Ernest Chism.............................81

Larita Mitchell.............................89

Shelby County Commission

District 1

Position 1

Mike Ritz..................................89

District 1

Position 2

George S. Flinn.............................Candidates who were running unopposed in the primary election where not evaluated by CBM

District 1

Position 3

Mike Carpenter............................86

Deangelo Pegues........................Unable to contact for evaluation

Shelby County Commission

District 2

Position 1

J.W. Gibson II..............................80

District 2

Position 2

Henri E. Brooks............................69

Novella Smith Arnold.....................69

District 2

Position 3

Deidre Malone..............................Candidates who were running unopposed in the primary election where not evaluated by CBM

Shelby County Commission

District 3

Position 1

James Harvey................................71

District 3

Position 2

Sidney Chism.................................77

District 3

Position 3

Joe Ford........................................Candidates who were running unopposed in the primary election where not evaluated by CBM

Shelby County Commission

District 4

Position 1

Joyce Avery..................................Candidates who were running unopposed in the primary election where not evaluated by CBM

District 4

Position 2

Wyatt Bunker.................................77

District 4

Position 3

David Lillard...................................Candidates who were running unopposed in the primary election where not evaluated by CBM

Shelby County Commission

District 5

Steve Mulroy..................................86

Jane Pierotti...................................81

Memphis City Council

District 4

Dedrick Brittenum Jr........................83

Michelle Smith................................ Candidate chose not participate

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 1

Willie Brooks..................................83

Felicia Corbin-Johnson.....................Candidate chose not participate

Joseph Fox....................................71

Horace B. Jones.............................Candidate chose not participate

Charles Walker...............................79

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 2

Bill Boyd.......................................87

Sylvia Cox....................................77

Dean Deyo....................................92

Jack Eaton...................................Candidate chose not participate

John Malmo..................................89

Michael Sadler...............................66

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 3

Marsha R. Campbell......................Candidate chose not participate

James A. Daugherty.......................67

Sherman Kilimanjaro......................Candidate chose not participate

Charles Strong..............................70

Darrell K. Thomas..........................81

Keith Williams...............................Candidate chose not participate

Andrew Withers.............................Candidate chose not participate

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 4

Fred Davis...................................Candidate responses can be viewed at                                                                  www.bettermemphis.org

Janice Fullilove..............................77

Johnny Hatcher Jr..........................Candidate chose not participate

Howard Richardson Sr.....................65

Stanley Tyler.................................Candidate chose not participate

Buckner Wellford............................90

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 5

John Branston...............................82

George Brown Jr............................81

Russell Hensley.............................86

Larry Henson................................Candidate chose not participate

Robert Wayne West.......................Candidate responses can be viewed at                                                                  www.bettermemphis.org

Mary Wilder.................................Candidate chose not participate

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 6

Debra Grundy-Chalmers..................Candidate responses can be viewed at                                                                  www.bettermemphis.org

Rodney Jeffery..............................Candidate chose not participate

Williams Mims................................72

Frank P. Palumbo...........................Candidate chose not participate

Paul Schaffer.................................67

Perry Steele...................................Candidate chose not participate

Reginald Tate.................................Candidate chose not participate

Patsy Turner...................................67

Sharon Webb..................................75

Mondell B. Williams..........................67

Memphis Charter Commission

Position 7

Jeff Johnston..................................70

Myron Lowery.................................83

Anthony Milton................................67

Jenny Robertson.............................Candidate chose not participate

To view the full evaluation tables, please visit http://66.162.17.146/cbm

About Coalition for a Better Memphis

The Coalition for a Better Memphis is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization composed of a diverse group of Shelby County individuals, businesses and organizations focused on enhancing the quality of life for residents of Memphis and Shelby County. The Coalition's goal is to serve as an information channel to better educate citizens and enable them to more effectively participate in the process of making Memphis and Shelby County a better place to live and work. www.bettermemphis.org