Adieu, Mr. Mayor

He did it, folks.

The longest-serving (and arguably most influential while in office) Mayor of Memphis retired effective tomorrow, as his pension was approved, he gave official notice to Council Chair/Mayor Pro Tempore Myron Lowery, and had a lovely retirement party in the Hall of Mayors, complete with his 88-year-old mother in the front row.

As we have been rough on him over the years, it is all too often easy to forget that no Mayor in my lifetime (or yours, either, I'd bet) did more to revitalize Downtown. It's easy to forget that his first three terms were the best of ANY Mayor in the city's history. When one examines the entirety of his tenure, he's still the one to beat, no matter how many times he pissed us off.

And yes, he was the first African-American elected to serve as Mayor of this city.

We have to remember that he did not cause the economic downturn that saw jobs and people exit the city, just as he did not cause the boom of the 90s. For most of his tenure, he had the right people in the right places, and they reported to him and he oversaw their work, which is what an executive is supposed to do.

Loyal readers of this blog could be expected to jump up at this point and yell WTF???? You have been beating this guy up for 4 1/2 years now, why the kisses on his exit? First, I wasn't blogging during his first three terms, when he deserved every kudos he could get, except when he was supporting Republicans. Which also means that secondly, I was blogging during his later mayoral years, when, let's face it, he was bored and wanted out, but didn't like his potential replacements. Since I was openly supporting one of them, I kneecapped him often.

Yet, he endured, and walks away, if too late, with the knowledge that no one, at least for the first three terms, has done this job as well as he has.

This, of course, does not mean I am in his corner for his Congressional race, t-shirt or no t-shirt. That, of course, is for another day and another time down the not-too-distant future.

In conclusion, Mr. Mayor, go have fun, get some rest, and we'll see you on the campaign trail. I may not necessarily be on your side in that race, but I would never count you out.

On the health front, I'm going into move mode and a defense of the Mayor

Pick those jaws up, just because my T-shirt may be en route as we speak is not why I say what I am about to say.

First, I am better, thanks for asking, as I have been fighting an ear infection with antibiotics; I still hear poorly, but it's improving. It had better improve, as I am moving in with my beloved, who has decided she can endure any challenge or obstacle. Did I mention that Lauren is a saint? I digress.

As brother Ross has advised, there are SERIOUS flaws in the process for mayoral succession that the recent Charter Commission, and the City Council COMPOUNDED them with their approval of the minutes of the July 7 meeting, where they decided to accept Mayor Herenton's retirement of July 30, even though HE SENT THEM WRITTEN NOTICE OF RESCISSION.

Now, I believe he IS retiring, and retiring this year; you don't clean out your office for your health, you do it because you are leaving. He is tired of being Mayor and is ready to move on to the campaign and being in business with his son.

I do NOT for a second believe that he will leave office on July 30; I believe he will ask the Pension Board to strike that from their minutes on July 30, and submit a new letter with a new date at that time.

While the Election Commission, who should have listened to Shep Wilbun and Myra Stiles, might be able to back away from their decision to plan for a special election, it is the Council that will receive the brunt of the criticism for declaring a vacancy where none existed.

Had they listened to Harold Collins and approved his motion to delay approval of the July 7 minutes until 5:01 PM on July 30, they wouldn't be in this situation.

People I like and respect, like Myron Lowery and Jim Strickland and Shea Flinn voted for this, and I want to know why. Did you not see that you were being baited?

The Mayor was elected to serve between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011, and he can leave at any time, but he has the right to rescind his retirement (which is why I believe the Mayor took great pains to use the word retirement rather than resignation) under the law.

Now, if the Mayor decides to postpone his retirement a week or two, he can (and WILL, I believe) challenge the special election in court due to the fact that there was NO OFFICIAL WRITTEN NOTICE OF RETIREMENT at the time they approved the vacancy.

This hurts any and all Councilors seeking to replace the Mayor in the special election, which will take place, but not at the time previously set. Bad move, folks.

The Mayor is in the right, here, folks, whether you agree with him or not. As you know, this blog hasn't exactly been a campaign site for Mayor Herenton over the years, but fair's fair. This NEEDS to be cleared up, and people need to ensure that when it happens, an orderly transition will take place. Mayor Herenton has serious, legitimate questions that need to be answered, and this is NOT about him, it's about US and the Memphis he leaves us.

Ok, let's put it it this way:

What Steve Ross said. Go read it NOW.

Carry on.

In his own words

The Mayor sits down with Les Smith of FOX 13

Once again, Brad Watkins has the answer

From the comments on the post below:

Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #462

General Ross unveils a new and very unorthodox strategy for dealing with the Hulk. Ross orders his men not to fire, nor even pay any attention to the Hulk. When asked why Ross explains, that the Hulk is like a child acting out in reaction. The Army chasing him for all these years only escalated the situation, giving Hulk the thing he really wants, which is to prove that Hulk is the strongest one there is.
So once Ross ignore the Hulk, to the point of paying no attention to his rants and roars. The Hulk, very confused leaped away.

I'm just saying.

This is not rocket science, people

The Mayor can clear this drama up very simply and very quickly. All he needs to do is provide a new letter to the Chair of the Council, Myron Lowery, advising that he will retire as Mayor of the City of Memphis effective on July 30, 2009. A-Ha, you say, he already DID that! A-Ha, I say, he then RESCINDED that yesterday.

This is why today's Council executive session stepped away from the resignation issue: the Mayor has rescinded his retirement/resignation. There is no effective letter at this time. If the Mayor doesn't issue a new letter between now and July 30, he's not going anywhere.

And if that happens, I am going to blame some of the people in this room, and that I do not forgive. The "community leaders" who begged the Mayor to stay on until February 2010 are the very people from whom Myron Lowery won't taken any mess. Leaders? Not so much.

This is is why I'm proud to have Steve Cohen as my Congressman

No matter how many times Fox13's Ernie Freeman tried to goad Steve into responding to the Mayor with an attack, he never did, he was as cool as the other side of the pillow, to steal a Stu Scott phrase. Here's the video, H/T to Kleinheider:

Let's think about that video and the upcoming interview, shall we?

By the way, the video was LWC post 1500, some applause, please! Thank you.

Now, you can call Mayor Herenton many things, but stupid isn't one of them. It has been suspected by many that he didn't leave until now because he wanted some say in who replaced him; he said he ran in 2007 to protect the city from Herman Morris and Carol Chumney. Well, while Carol's not doing so hot in our poll over on the right, she's giving Wharton a run for his money at this WREG poll.

Maybe he realizes that Wharton has had slippage because people are a little tired of him as well, and because they are figuring out that he wants Wharton to succeed him. What better way to get AC back in the good graces of those East Memphis and Midtown white folk than to take veiled shots at him like "it would have been UGLY" and "I would have DESCRIBED him"?

The Mayor did not fall off the turnip truck yesterday, people, given the last thing that he wants is a Chumney victory.

Well played, sir, well played, I doff my cap to you.

THIS looks awesome!

Jackson interviewed Hizzoner for this week's Flyer Cover Story, called The Exit Interview. It will hit the stands tonight, and on the website tomorrow. For a taste of what's to come, check out this video on the dinner Mayor Herenton had with Mayor Wharton:



Good Googily Moogily!

Bloody hell.

First, the expected (the passing of Farrah Fawcett), the somewhat expected (the resignation of Willie Herenton), and now the completely unexpected (Michael Jackson is dead of a heart attack at age 50).

This day is too much for me.

The Mayor tells us why he's running for Congress.

HIZZONER writes in the Defender about why he thinks he would be the best choice for Congress:

Let’s keep it real. Many citizens will be concerned with race and representation. There is strength in diversity, but currently the Tennessee Congressional Delegation is not inclusive.

(snip)

During the last 30 years, I have gained invaluable experience and knowledge by serving as superintendent of one of the nation’s largest public school systems and as Mayor of the eighteenth largest city in America. It seems clear to me that the nation and the Ninth Congressional District could benefit from my vast executive experiences and those are just a few reasons I am seeking the office of Congressman of the Ninth Congressional District in the United States of America.

Read the rest here. Yeah, a 70-year-old guy who has been used to telling people what to do as an administrator for 30 years is going to do really well as a rookie Congressman who will be told to sit down, shut up, and vote as we tell you to. Yeah, that should work out JUST FINE.

Oh, and did he mention he's black and Steve Cohen isn't? Just in case you had forgotten. This, of course, means Cohen, despite the intensity with which he has represented his district, just can't represent this District like Herenton could, except that Cohen has been the best Congressman since Harold Ford Sr.

Mr. Mayor, I know you are going to be a fierce campaigner, since this is going to be your last attempt at public office, and I know you've never lost...YET. Your ONLY hope is to make this a black/white issue, and hope that the memories of 1991 carry the day. I have no doubt that Steve Cohen understands the difficulties of this campaign, and is preparing for it as I write.

However, it's not 1991 any more. You may not be Nikki Tinker, but Cohen isn't Herman Morris or Carol Chumney, either. The African-American community know how hard he busts his ass for them, because he HAS to. What would you do, other than sit in committee meetings trying to stay awake while wondering when the next lobbyist contribution comes in?

In the long run, Mr. Mayor, it is YOU who sullies the legacy of your first three terms by overstaying your welcome, bored and grumpy. Now that McGhee's leaving, you may have to work at being Mayor AND run for Congress. Good luck with that.

In the end, you may well be a historic figure, but at the rate you're going, you'll wind up on the scrap-heap of history. And as you are someone who was a role model to a whole community for a long time, that's a damn shame. However, there's no one to blame but the man in the mirror.

See you at Sidney's.

It's ON, BAYBEE!!!!!!

The Thrilla in Manila won't have anything on next year's TN-09 race, as Mayor Herenton made it official today by filing his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the 9th District seat held by Steve Cohen.

I had thought he was bluffing in order to push Rep. Cohen into speeding up the process of selecting a new US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. However, I'm sure when he heard about the new alliance between old adversaries Cohen and Harold Ford Sr., he decided that it was damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Here are my pros and cons for Herenton as he runs.

Pro: He has a very solid base that has come out for him in every single mayoral election.

Con: He has only achieved a majority in one of the last three elections (2003, when he faced John Willingham), and it is not at all clear that people who vote for him for Mayor will vote for him for Congress. It's difficult for legislators to get elected to administrative positions and vice versa.

Pro: He has a large donor base.

Con: Not as large as it used to be, which is not good because, by federal law, he CANNOT use any of the money in his mayoral campaign account for the Congressional campaign, meaning he starts from zero in a bad economy. Better get on those phones, Mr. Mayor.

Pro: The Democratic primary is going to be primarily African-American, which should favor Herenton.

Con: While it's true that African-Americans will make up a vast majority of the electorate, this WMC-TV poll indicates the community is very happy with Steve Cohen and will vote to keep him in Washington.

Pro: Since there will be a heavily-contested Republican primary for Governor, Republicans won't cross over to vote for Cohen.

Con: While this is true, if the WMC poll is accurate, it won't matter.

Pro: People who hate the Mayor may well vote for him to get him out of town.

Con: Not in enough numbers to make a difference; after the MSARC fiasco, no one really wants him anywhere in government.

No one doubts the Mayor will pull out every stop imaginable against the Congressman, who needs to let Herenton make as big an ass of himself as possible. Cohen needs to play mistake-free campaigning, with as few slip-us as possible.

All things being equal, I see Cohen winning, making for a truly grim last year in office for Mayor Herenton, for whom the arrow is pointing down.

Expounding on the poll

This, I believe, is a combination of things. First, people of all colors, races, religions, etc. are HAPPY with Steve Cohen representing the 9th District in Washington. Memphians are notorious for keeping legislators in legislative positions and not letting them move into executive positions, and vice versa.

As hard as Cohen has worked in and for the African-American community, it is not surprising that they have responded so favorably.

As for the Mayor, well, that's another story. 16 years in office, especially as high-profile as the Mayor has been, can wear down any group of constituents. As Steve Ross notes in this comment, Herenton only got 42% of the vote last year. Had Morris dropped out, Carol Chumney would have won.

This, of course, is even before you get into the ongoing investigation of the Mayor. My own belief on this is, if you have something, it had better be strong and not just grasping for straws. Unless you have videotape AND a smoking gun, leave it alone, the city can't handle that much stress right now.

In any event, the Mayor is weakened right now, and while I don't doubt his base areas would support him against the Congressman, this race seems ill-advised. However, it should teach the Congressman NOT to take anything for granted, and ALWAYS keep fundraising!

While I fight with Gmail, please read Vibinc

I am battling once again with Gmail, who once again is trying to force me to Google Groups, and I AM NOT GOING.  That's why you haven't gotten anything this morning, campers.

Now, in the interim, I want you to read Vibinc's latest regarding Hizzoner, the possibility of his indictment, and the PR problems it presents for the US Attorney's office here.

Miss Chumney wishes to respond.

In response, no doubt, to the published reports that a Wharton campaign for City Mayor in 2011 (or before, perhaps?) is in the planning and fund-raising stage, Carol Chumney has issued the following statement:

I am surprised by the attention given to the potential announcement by County Mayor Wharton that he will begin raising money for a City Mayor election over three years away. Perhaps he has some inside information from his good friend Mayor Herenton that he should share with the citizens.

The people of Memphis should keep in mind that Herenton has made it no secret that he intends to hand-pick his successor. However, the people now know after the last election where Herenton was nearly defeated, that they do have the power to elect their first choice as City Mayor from the many serious contenders who are well-qualified who have their eye on that position.

I do wish Wharton the best during the remainder of his term as County Mayor in addressing the county’s growing fiscal problems, getting the Med properly funded, working to save babies' lives and reducing our ranking as having the highest infant mortality rate in the country, reducing our growing poverty rate, and moving our county up from 11th in the state in terms of economic growth. These problems certainly deserve his full attention.

It’s a new day in politics. On the national level, we are seeing both the Democratic and Republican parties open the door for ground-breaking candidates that will bring real reforms and needed change, and reject the old time good old boy politics of cronyism and corruption. We can do this too in Memphis, and have energetic leadership with the passion, drive and dedication to bring reforms and positive change.

We must make our city safer for families, bring efficiencies to help bring jobs to Memphis, and improve education to help every child have a chance to succeed. We deserve better, and it’s now up to the citizens of Memphis to make their voices heard.

All righty then.

This sums the whole Herenton situation up beautifully

Dwayne commented on the post below, and well, you just need to read this:

Henry Loeb was mayor when I was a teen, developing my political views. In addition to being a racist, Loeb was a narcissistic elitist who put his own ego above the welfare of the City. He made me gravitate towards the Democratic Party. His successor, Wyeth Chandler, was similar in philosophy to Loeb but more laid back. In fact, downtown and much of the rest of the City stagnated under his rein. Dick Hackett came after him. Hackett was a petty and immature micromanager who managed to let Holiday Inn and almost St. Jude go.

While Herenton did well for his first two terms, I believe his own personal character flaws have affected both his administration and the self image of many Memphians. He seems to adopted many of the same characteristics of his last three predecessors, especially Loeb, with similar polarizing effects. The white community is unified against him as was the black community against Loeb. Like Loeb, Herenton has lost many moderates of both races and relies on the race card for support. Like Chandler and Hackett, he has adopted a crony system versus reaching out to talented innovators in Memphis and beyond.

This administration is spent. The only question is when will he be gone - this July or later.

Willie Herenton as the black Henry Loeb - Damn.

Hire me as Superintendent or I'll kill this dog!

OK, so Mr. Conspiracy used this at the Pesky Fly last week but I thought it appropriate.

The Mayor of the City of Memphis now says that if the Board of Education does not hire him as the new Superintendent of Schools, he will NOT resign as Mayor. Hmmm, a little extortion, eh?

Mayor Herenton, you DON'T want to be Mayor, why stay? Do you need money that badly? The real estate implosion killing Banneker Estates? Too bad, ace. This is nothing more than what the title implies, only think of the dog as 650,000 people (and reducing daily).

I'm through being nice: take your old ass home and count your money, unless it's shrinking, too. You're done here, you've proven your point, so take a hike and let AC or Carol or Thomas or whoever is crazy enough to try to follow you have a shot and fixing this mess.

Go, and don't let the doorknob hit ya where She split ya.

UPDATE: Here we go again. I doubt this will be any more successful than the last one, either, because the Mayor has a base that would follow him into the Mississippi River if he led them there.

WOW. What a day.

I was about to do a post in tribute to John Wilder, as, outside Shelby County, this, along with Belmont's near-upset of Duke, is the big story in the state today, as it should be.

However, I got an email from Bob of 55-4o fame asking me if I'd heard anything about a resignation; I replied that all I'd heard was about Wilder not running for re-election.  Then, five minutes later, VIBINC called me to drop the bombshell that HIZZONER was stepping down.

OK, it's usually over at Pesky's blog that Mr. Conspiracy shows up.  However, I'm borrowing the franchise for a moment, as VIBINC and I talked briefly about how odd it was that A) David Kustoff was bailing early as US Attorney, then B) Herenton decides to exit, either C) to return as MCS Superintendent or D) inexplicably, challenge our Congressman for the 9th District seat.

As much as he has talked about the downward plummet of MCS since he left there, I think that's what he really wants to do.  Unless, of course, he's developing senility and thinks Senior is still the Congressman, which I seriously doubt.  His skillsets are NOT suited for being a legislator, but they are for administrating, which he could do up a storm, when he chooses to do so.

Of course, no one knows what that pesky Grand Jury is going to do with that ongoing investigation of city and county government, either.  This could all be a blowing of smoke in the event an indictment of the soon-to-be ex-mayor comes down, at which point he could pronounce that those HATERS will do whatever it takes to stop him.

Well, maybe not.  I was having a discussion with one of the ladies who works on my floor about this.  She, like me, is an Obama supporter.  She, UNlike me, has supported the Mayor all along, but her conclusion: "He needs to take his old ass home and count his money".

All righty then.  It's going to get more curious every day, and all we can do is grab some popcorn, sit back and watch.

UPDATE: Jackson Baker weighs in with an excellent take on the future, and I hope he's right as usual.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mayor of the City of Memphis has told the Commercial Appeal that he is resigning effective July 31.

Does this have anything to do with the Grand Jury investigation, or is it just that he wanted one last electoral victory to say F--- YOU to those who wanted him out?

Here we go again!!!

Hi, Mr. Mayor. Could we talk for a minute?

First, Happy New Year, here's hoping you are well.  I want to be supportive here, as this is one of those subjects on which we agree, consolidation.  It would clearly be better for all citizens in this county if all services were consolidated.  We'd have to let G-Town keep GPAC, and Bartlett could keep BPACC, but still, it's a wise deal for everyone.

I understand your frustration here, but maybe your suggestion about how the referendums should be conducted might not have been the best way to approach the part of the County outside Memphis.  Oh, I know, they would still get a vote as County residents, and it might have been represented by at least one media outlet as the equivalent of tanks rolling down Poplar Avenue, but still, it DID seem a bit heavy-handed.

Look, don't take this personally, we're on the same side here and I want to see this happen as much as you do.  I think you should listen to Calvin Anderson here, I think he's going in the right direction.  You need to work on this quietly, and take yourself out this as much as you can.

I want to address this as delicately as I can, so here goes:  if you REALLY want to see this get through, you should make a public announcement that you would NOT consider running for a consolidated County Mayor's office.  Simply put, you are a lightning rod, and there are a LOT of people who would vote for this if you were out of the equation.

Look, don't get offended, I KNOW that there are lots of people out there who want Memphians to continue to subsidize their lifestyle so they don't have to pay their fair share of property taxes.  However, there are more people out there than you might think that will support consolidation.

Look, you know yourself who should be the front person for this effort, it's your buddy across the mall, you know he could sell refrigerators in Alaska in January.  Sadly, sir, this is not one of your strong points, even after 16 years in City Hall.  Take yourself out of the equation PUBLICLY, if not privately, and this can get done.

It might even be your crowning achievement, but you have to take one for the team.

Thank you for your time!