Ford tests new commission chairman with ARPA budget amendments
The commissioner’s attempt to reopen the county’s ARPA budget ran aground when Chairman Willie Brooks and others said he is abusing the process.
There are 224 article(s) tagged Tami Sawyer:
The commissioner’s attempt to reopen the county’s ARPA budget ran aground when Chairman Willie Brooks and others said he is abusing the process.
The ad hoc group, made up mostly of county commissioners, included in its top 3 a map that drew the ire of commissioner Brandon Morrison last week for endangering her re-election prospects last year.
Tennessee’s two Republican senators voted against the procedural motion this week that would have brought a Democratic voting rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer was among 25 activists arrested Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 19, during a No More Excuses rally in front of the White House.
When chairman Willie Brooks created a study group Monday on possible local government changes without a vote, some commissioners call it a consolidation committee in all but name, causing chairman Reginald Milton to quit.
The resolution to form a commission to draft a consolidation charter showed up in Wednesday committee sessions without notice. Like the City Council, county commissioners amended it to stop short of beginning to draft a charter and to include looking at changes to local government short of consolidation.
County Commissioner Tami Sawyer announced Monday she will not seek a second term in the 2022 county elections. Her decision means six new faces on the commission in the next election.
While proponents of merging the City of Memphis and Shelby County governments cannot promise that consolidation would mean a spike in economic development, they believe it is the straightest line to major growth. Opponents aren’t so sure and worry about negative fallout.
The delays to the Aug. 23 commission meeting followed a rancorous debate among commissioners and between commissioners and anti-maskers who taunted one commissioner online before Monday’s session.
Dr. Michelle Fiscus spoke Saturday, July 31, at a local forum in Binghampton following a state Democratic party rally nearby. Democratic party leaders say Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s handling of the COVID pandemic will be an issue in 2022 state elections.
In a world with ever-increasing access to news and information, Americans find it more difficult to trust in core institutions, such as government, business and media, and in each other. But perhaps on the local level, there is more hope. Opinion: Reporters and readers have a shared responsibility to pursue truthRelated story:
The $7 million expansion of the youth farm includes a new programming center for girls ages 5 to 18.
George “K-Rack” Johnson, 46, was booked in the Shelby County jail Wednesday and charged with misdemeanor assault.
An incident at Health Sciences Park goes beyond one opportunistic racist hothead with more Confederate flags than he has sense. It’s emblematic of the growing white resentment to America’s reckoning with race.
Police issued an arrest warrant Friday, June 4, on a charge of assault against the crew worker who berated and threatened Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer Tuesday in Health Sciences Park.
The Monday, June 7, session of the County Commission could mark the end of the 2021 budget season with a series of final votes on a $1.4 billion consolidated budget and a county property tax rate considered stable if it drops from the current $4.05 to $3.45.
The process of relocating the remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife began Tuesday at Health Sciences Park. The scene quickly became tense after workers put up Confederate flags around the site and began dumping debris on the letters of a Black Lives Matter mural around the monument.
Shelby County commissioner Tami Sawyer says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast she backs a quick budget passage next month and a second look at the budget in the fall once federal American Rescue Plan funding is in play.
The commission delayed two earlier votes on moving to an every-other-year cycle for property reappraisals from the current four-year cycle.
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.
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.
The four-hour online joint meeting of the two legislative bodies Thursday, March 25, was mostly questions and answers. The group agreed to start talking about proposals to change incentives at the second April 15 session with plans for a third joint meeting.
The Monday, March 22, meeting also featured the defeat of a resolution calling for federal officials to reconsider a nationwide permit for the pipeline project granted in February by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
On “Behind the Headlines,” Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer and Memphis City Council member Martavius Jones discussed their hopes for joint sessions on economic development reform. The two meetings come with a lot of advance planning.
Council member Chase Carlisle was sharply critical of health officials, the County Commission and county Mayor Lee Harris. The wording was later amended after a lengthy council debate.