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.
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The Political Roundup looks at some sparks in the early field for Shelby County in the 2026 county elections and examines the political divide over what kind of a relationship a majority Democratic or blue city should keep with leaders of a red state.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the set of seven votes on a new county property tax rate that brought the county’s budget season to an end.
The Commission meets in special session Monday, June 30, to vote on a budget amendment that would undo some of the $23.4 million in amendments it made to Mayor Lee Harris’s budget proposal. County Commission Scorecard: Tracking budget and tax-rate votesRelated content:
“Here in Memphis, anywhere from seven to 10 people every day at least are arrested by ICE in these quiet operations,” an attorney said.
The Shelby County Election Commission chairman and the elections administrator talked about low voter turnout and election off year mechanics on “Behind The Headlines.”
Memphis City Council member Chase Carlisle called the the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s budget “underwhelming.”
A majority of Shelby County commissioners favored some kind of small property tax hike in the new budget, but ultimately couldn’t get seven votes on how to split up the additional revenue.
The council also talks Tuesday, June 24, about an MPD plan to install license plate readers along the city’s rights of way of state highways as a crime-fighting measure.
Construction on the Memphis Art Museum, what the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will become when it moves Downtown, has continued. So has construction on the Metal Museum’s location in the Memphis College of Art building.
A potential property tax hike looms as the Shelby County Commission tackles its budget and the Sheriff’s Office fights for funding.
County commissioners wrestled with budget amendments Wednesday totaling well past the $100 million mark, including the county mayor’s proposal.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris plans to sign an executive order that will adopt United Nations Minimum Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Mandela Rules, for county prisons.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is changing the county property tax rate his administration is proposing to match the state’s certified rate.
County mayor accused Ford of “not taking seriously” the federal indictment against him. At stake, right now, is a nearly $180,000 grant for an entertainment industry nonprofit.
Also in the Political Roundup: City vs. county at Southwind High, a short history of going from the Senate to the governor’s mansion in Tennessee and Lee Harris on his successor and his next campaign.
Budget Committee Chair Miska Clay Bibbs said commissioners have little time to iron out details of 23 amendments to Mayor Lee Harris’ budget proposal.
The expansion and ribbon-cutting at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church follow Meharry’s acquisition of four Sanitas USA Inc. medical clinics in Memphis last month.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon talked about the ongoing county budget season, a proposed wheel tax hike and a new jail on “Behind The Headlines.”
The county property tax rate proposed by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is four cents higher than the state’s certified rate, but he said it’s not a tax hike.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office commissioned the study by Jim Hart, a jail management consultant with the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Advisory Service.
In a social media post, Kuhn described the county as being “in crisis” and touted her expertise in county government.
The pay raises and an agreement on MATA funding were the two biggest additions to Mayor Paul Young’s second city budget.
Council member Pearl Walker proposed the amendment that would give all city employees a flat 3% raise across all divisions, superseding the 5% raises the City Council passed in May.
The arrangement between the state and the City of Memphis is separate from an independent crime lab for Shelby County being pursued by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and District Attorney General Steve Mulroy.
Ronald Terry and Tim Johnson were in the same street gang and died five days apart in 2019. The investigation led to a guilty verdict in Memphis federal court last week and told the story of violence within the gang known as the Ghost Mob.Related stories: