Suburbs

Now, Lakeland wants in on the bantering over changing its city charter.

Germantown is already in the midst of considering a referendum to adjust its charter to accommodate a full-time mayor rather than the office’s part-time status.

Lakeland Commissioner Connie McCarter is leading a charge to shift that city’s style of government from a commission form run by a city manager to a Board of Mayor and Aldermen approach.

Reporter Michael Waddell has written a couple of stories on the issue recently, including one this week where McCarter and former Lakeland Mayor Mike Cunningham took umbrage with a point made during the discussion about the process.

McCarter called on James Lewellen to break down the pros and cons of changing the government. Lewellen has a long history in suburban leadership, serving as assistant city administrator in Germantown, town administrator for Collierville and now an expert in such matters for the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service, otherwise known as MTAS.

Full disclosure: Lewellen and I have been talking about Mississippi State football, various acquaintances and Jimmy Buffett music for, oh, maybe 35 years or so. So long that he once recorded a bunch of Buffett songs for me — on cassette tape.

Anyway, I think his longevity in a lot of local government roles speaks to his knowledge and experience on the matter.

During the discussion about the potential change, Lewellen presented a scenario where the city could lose its charter. A worst-case scenario, for sure. But one of the things to consider as even a remote possibility.

McCarter and Cunningham disagreed with his interpretation. Said there were fail-safes to avoid such a disaster. That Lewellen’s nightmare scenario was not a thing.

But Lewellen was who McCarter picked as an expert to tell them how it could work. She wanted him over the city’s attorneys. But then takes issue with what he tells them?

Of course, some of this bantering is a product of social media. A loud voice in the town square, complete with finger-pointing, chastising and name-calling. As usual, that caused more anxiety than the discussion on the suggested change.

From Waddell’s coverage, there are many similarities between Lakeland’s current form of government and the McCarter proposal. The change doesn’t seem to be as evident as Germantown’s idea of shifting from part-time to full-time mayor.

I also wonder what brought this forward. What caused the question about changing the style of government? Is it district representation? Maybe. But Lakeland doesn’t seem to be large enough that decisions made aren’t benefiting the entire city. And in previous stories, Commissioner Jim Atkinson, a former city manager, makes a good point that having representatives from various sections of the city can result in neighborhood vs. neighborhood or trade-offs between elected district representatives rather than what is best for the entirety of Lakeland.

While that certainly is a proper approach for a city as diverse as Memphis, it seems unnecessary for Lakeland.

I’m just trying to read the tea leaves from afar, but while an idea brought forth by a sitting commissioner is worth study and consideration, I will be interested to see if they get the requisite number of signatures on the petition to move the proposal to a referendum.

Because the idea doesn’t seem to have the backing of any of the other elected officials on the Board of Commissioners.

Now, if all this results in Lakeland abandoning its election approach where everyone runs for in the same election and the top vote-getters for the available seats are elected, that may be worth considering. -Suburbs editor, Clay Bailey

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