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Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
There are 3662 articles by Bill Dries :
The MSCS board chairwoman, who in August won a second four-year term, referred to the board’s $480,000 severance package for superintendent Joris Ray as a “challenge” in which the school board showed leadership.
The 10 reappointments were voted on individually Monday. There was only one no vote against any of the nominees.
The council discussion is the second since a series of violent crimes earlier this month that have raised new questions about how police and the community are battling violent crime.
The four new commissioners fill all vacancies in the ranks of the entry point for many defendants in the criminal justice system. The Shelby County Commission also set dates for filling a vacancy on the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board.
The set of a dozen appropriation resolutions topped a relatively uneventful council agenda Tuesday, Sept. 27. Memphis City Council to consider resolution enforcing curfew for juvenilesRelated story:
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says it’s too early to tell if there were police missteps in how they handled the violent crimes of the last three weeks because investigations are still underway.
Mayor Jim Strickland touted the proposal, on its way to the Memphis City Council for the next budget season, as a way to retain and recruit public safety employees in the police and fire departments. For the police and fire unions, the proposal is the second part of a two-part push to restore what the City Council cut.
“It’s important to this community. … It’s one step in a number of steps that we will continue to make to support the process,” the governor said.
A set of long-range plans for the city and region are starting to take shape. A trio connected to the developments talked on “Behind The Headlines” about the change from “a culture of planning.”
The Commission Scorecard looks at critical votes and decisions at the Sept. 26 meeting, including a second grant this year for Choices: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health and appointing four new judicial commissioners.
The new voting system makes its countywide debut Oct. 19 with the start of early voting in Shelby County, ahead of the Nov. 8 election day.
Doug McGowen has been COO since Mayor Jim Strickland took office in 2016. With council confirmation, Chandell Ryan would become the first woman to run city government on a day-to-day basis.
Young said he is “the youngest and the most experienced” candidate in the still-forming pack of contenders. The kick-off comes one year to the day before the Election Day to decide who succeeds Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
Next year’s mayoral race will have historical implications, and there’s been quite a bit of maneuvering to get city charter amendments on the Nov. 8 ballot this year. What the past 16 Memphis mayoral elections tell us about the next oneRelated story:
A review of the 16 Memphis mayoral elections under the mayor-council form of city government before and after the city runoff provision was abolished.
The appointment of Doug McGowen to head the utility and the appointment of Chandell Ryan to succeed McGowen as city chief operating officers are not on next week’s committee agenda for the council to consider.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland reacted Friday to a call from City Council Chairman Martavius Jones to conduct a national search for the next president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.
The commission split along the same partisan lines that split a vote by the previous commission this past January on funding for the center for reproductive health that has nothing to do with abortions.
The groundbreaking Friday, Oct. 7, for the renovation of the 84-year-old school building ends a 40-year debate about whether the Orange Mound landmark should be renovated or demolished.
The deadline to register to vote on Nov. 8 ballot is Tuesday. Shelby County Election Commission numbers from July show growth since 2020 in the numbers of voters ages 28-37 and 38-47.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says he is ready for the council to act on his appointment to lead MLGW. But council chairman Martavius Jones says it’s not on the agenda Tuesday and he wants a national search.
A nonbinding resolution asks the Shelby County Commission, which funds the county-owned hospital, to pressure the hospital to allow counselors to approach crime victims. Group Violence Intervention Program updates City Council on progressRelated story:
The council has unusual back-to-back meetings this week and next week, which might have been a factor in delaying what could be a standoff over the appointment for another week.
An outline for the working group that could suggest deeper changes in the boundaries of council districts ahead of the 2023 elections started to form Tuesday, Oct. 11.
The November ballot features four proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution, which will be presented by Shelby County’s new voting machines.