A soft-spoken, but nevertheless scrappy Mayor Herenton
began his Tuesday afternoon address to the Memphis Rotary Club by taking his
critics to task. Professing amazement that anyone with a “sense of history”
could look at his record and find much fault, he dismissed his critics’
“ridiculous” assessments, ticked off a number of accomplishments, and
name-checked former county Mayor Jim Rout as a witness and co-conspirator in
many of his achievements. He declared the city fiscally sound before getting
down to business.

“Memphis is challenged,” he said, allowing that most
cities are. “Crime,” he continued, “has no respect for neighborhoods, counties,
or states.” He then charged his audience not to blame Police Director Larry
Godwin, and asked in a manner that seemed at once earnest and obtuse how either
the mayor or the police hief could be at “every point of crime.” After claiming
not to be a politician but a sociologist and a psychologist, he noted that when
it comes to reported crimes, Memphis has an 80 percent apprehension rate. He
then repeated his belief that adding 500 police officers to the force will help
to ameliorate the problem.     

Herenton put on his sociologist’s cap, blaming urban
blight for instilling criminal values in Memphis’ less fortunate communities
before turning to one of his pet issues: consolidation. He’s still for it.   

“I ain’t gonna change,” he said, acknowledging that some
people are turned off by his ides and his directness. He then provided an
example of said directness by suggesting that critics who have lived in Memphis
for some time don’t appreciate the city as much as newcomers. He said that
people “not provincial” who move here tell him they like it. Those who complain,
he said, “have blinders on.”

Without much explanation the mayor said that Memphis
will likely see an expansion of rail-related industry  

The extremely casual speech drew to a close with the
repetition of one of the Mayor’s most recently controversial statements.
Claiming not to care whether or not anybody agreed with his rhetoric he
announced that those who love Memphis the way he loves Memphis are welcome to
stay and help make it a better place, and those who don’t can leave.

Mayor Herenton did advance the ball a bit concerning his
stated desire to build a new football stadium. He said that it was unfair for
anyone to compare the construction of the Fed-Ex forum to the creation of a new
football stadium, and he shared his vision of future Memphians having a lovely
time in a “state of the art” facility. He said he would provide two plans for
financing in about a month. When asked how the stadium might pay for itself the
Mayor said that naming rights and “luxury suites” both come with a price tag.