Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
There are 3905 articles by Bill Dries :
The City Council Scorecard focuses on a short-lived plan to give old police motorcycles to Collierville, a first vote on a pipeline measure and qualms about setting a minority business percentage.
The proposal by Assessor Melvin Burgess would have moved the cycle of countywide property reappraisals for taxation purposes from once every four years to every other year.
The commission also approved a $161,250 contract renewal with Global Tel*Link Corp. for maintenance and licensing of the telephone and video communications system at the Shelby County Jail.
Cary Vaughn is the new chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party as Democrats outline a long-term data-driven strategy and the county’s only Republican elected official opens her re-election campaign.
The commission delayed two earlier votes on moving to an every-other-year cycle for property reappraisals from the current four-year cycle.
Memphis has an emergency contract with Team Waste in Area E, probably until the end of 2021. In the interim, officials are considering whether to keep using a private waste company to manage the area or expand city services to cover it. Related stories:
The solid waste route system covering Cordova, Hickory Hill and East Memphis began as a first step toward privatizing all city solid waste collections during the tenure of a different mayor. Related stories: City faces critical decision on one of its most basic services
Here is the history behind the city’s solid waste fee and how it compares to what the city’s new private contractor for Area E is being paid and what the previous contractor was being paid. Related stories: City faces critical decision on one of its most basic services
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor talks about new discussions with county commissioners two months after the Election Commission voted to go to court in the simmering dispute.
The Daily Memphian Scorecard on important commission votes reveals the votes are close for now when it comes to the idea of a property reappraisal for taxation purposes every other year. And it shows commissioners willing to give one more chance to resolve a long-running contract controversy.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris cited the ongoing impact of the pandemic in saying there would be no attempt to raise the tax rate after recertification. Harris also outlined a six-year, $32 million plan to beef up the county fire department.
In a recent interview, Memphis’ nominee for police chief talked about officer training, violence intervention, and why she initially pulled her application from the city’s search for a new head of police.
Meanwhile, the council delayed for two weeks a first reading vote on historic overlay district status for the Crosstown area.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is proposing a $716 million operating budget and an $89 million capital budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It also includes 2% pay raises for firefighters and police.
The mayor has offered no clues on the specifics of the budget, but he is not expected to propose a property tax hike. However, setting the property tax rate will be more complicated this year.
Cerelyn ‘C.J.’ Davis, chief of police in Durham, North Carolina, has been named to head the Memphis Police Department, becoming the first woman to lead the agency in its 194-year history.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Greater Imani Pastor Rev. Bill Adkins says the case can be made for a new director from MPD ranks or for someone from the outside. Adkins also said he sees a new indifference to violent crime that calls for new solutions as well as new ways of policing the city.
Proposals by Memphis City Council members and Shelby County commissioners emerged during a second joint meeting Thursday of the two bodies. But other elected officials expressed concern that just talking about changes in economic development incentives could put the city and county at a disadvantage.
The second joint meeting of the County Commission and City Council includes several proposed changes to economic development incentives used locally to grow the Memphis economy.
The permit is a critical juncture in the $60 million project. In an update for donors and potential donors Wednesday, April 14, park planners said the Tom Lee statue in the park will not be moved and will be a focal point of the park.
Since the position was created in 1972, the department has had a dozen directors. A new era is set to begin with the April 14 retirement of Michael Rallings.
Shelby County election commissioners chose Brent Taylor Tuesday, April 13, as the new chairman of the five-member body.
A $450,000 joint county-federal grant would study 10 areas of land in northern Shelby County for flood control projects that could double as public recreation areas when they are not underwater. One project is already underway near Big Creek in Millington.
The funding is to maintain 171 Health Department positions specifically for the pandemic.
Short-term extensions to the Wellpath contract have been a constant for the current commission since the group began their current term in September of 2018.