That Shelby County needs a new jail has been a given for a good hunk of the current term of the county commission, but, as that term, which began after the election of 2018, enters its final year, commissioners are no closer than they’ve ever been to resolving when, where, and how a new jail should be built.
Monday’s commission meeting hit several snags and saw several revisions of prior intent as the body attempted to come to a point of relative closure on the matter.
At least one certainty emerged from Monday’s meeting: A proposal to locate the new facility at the old Firestone plant in New Chicago, pinpointed by a consulting firm and once regarded as inevitable, was called into question. Two reasons for that predominated in a brisk discussion: (1) There are environmentalist concerns linked to residues of the plant’s industrial past; and, most importantly, (2) residents of the North Memphis area have clearly communicated their reluctance to hosting the project.
Responding to complaints raised most vividly by Commissioners Henri Brooks and Britney Thornton, Chair Michael Whaley (helming his final meeting) successfully proposed the qualifying term “rebuild or relocate” so as to broaden geographical prospects for the new jail, and the commission went on to adopt terminology expanding possible relocation sites to those not based on county-owned property.
Various other changes were bruited back and forth in an animated and extended discussion that Commissioner Amber Mills objected to as being unnecessarily “needle-nosed” inasmuch as the debate had made clear that the commission was hopelessly mired in “front-end” considerations.
Ultimately and accordingly, Commissioner Shante Avant, chair-elect for the coming year, called for referral of the jail issue to the commission’s forthcoming September 17th committee date.
• The current jail, housed in the county facility at 201 Poplar, has been the source of abundant problems and adverse commentary — ranging from critics’ comparison of it to New York’s notorious Rikers Island facility for its alleged harsh and unsafe conditions to the reality of relatively frequent inmate deaths there.
The latter fact went far toward subverting the chances of success in the 2023 Memphis mayor’s race for Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who at one point had been considered a frontrunner but who finished behind ultimate winner Paul Young.
For his part, Bonner, now in his final term, has complained of underfunding and understaffing and is currently involved in litigation against the administration of County Mayor Lee Harris seeking the restoration of millions of dollars withheld from currently unfilled positions.
Harris has countered by asking what Bonner has been doing with his available funds, given “the condition of the jail, his inability to staff the youth detention facility, and the rampant drug trafficking inside his facility.”
• Even as Sheriff Bonner remains at the center of controversy and county policy discussion, events point toward the more-than-likely accession to power of his chief deputy, Anthony Buckner.
The position of sheriff is among the major county offices up for election next year, and competition for it so far seems minimal — unlike the case with the position of county mayor, for which numerous named candidates are vying.
To be sure, various other hopefuls have floated the prospect of their running for sheriff, but the chief deputy’s head start — in fundraising as well as in name ID — is beyond significant.
As of the candidates’ second-quarter financial disclosures, Buckner had raised $206,082.65 and showed cash on hand of $165,618.53.
The other declared candidates’ cash-on-hand reports, in descending order of magnitude: Keisha Scott, $10,007.86; Reginald Hubbard, $8,183; Brad Less, $1,440; Michael Pope, $570.02.
Nothing is impossible, but Buckner’s rivals have some serious catching-up to do.