County Commission Scorecard: COVID tests, CHOICES playground and Juvenile Court
The County Commission Scorecard finds basic ideological differences remain on the 13-member body, as it moves into the home stretch of its four-year term.
Topic: Tami Sawyer
RSSThere are 231 article(s) tagged Tami Sawyer:
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February 2022
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Morrison, Sawyer disagree on bipartisanship and county lobbying firm
Commissioner Brandon Morrison wants the county commission to rehire the lobbying firm it has used in the past and called for a “compromise to purple.” Commissioner Tami Sawyer said the call for bipartisanship “makes absolutely no sense at all.”
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January 2022
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Playground at women’s center puts abortion debate before commission
The commission’s Democratic majority approved a $25,000 grant to fund a playground at the center in Midtown. People on both sides of the abortion issue had a lot to say before the vote.
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In split vote, Shelby County decides to distribute COVID test kits
Three county commissioners voted against the $1.44 million purchase of 180,000 tests in 90 kits with two tests a piece. One cited comments by Dr. Ben Carson on Fox News earlier this week complaining that more tests would mean a rise in COVID cases.
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December 2021
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County Commission Scorecard: The pay raise votes
The County Commission Scorecard looks at the second- reading vote on pay raises for some of the county’s top elected officials and the political perils of raising your own pay while preparing to run for re-election.
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November 2021
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County mayor and sheriff pay raise proposal does poorly in test vote
The 21% raises garnered only two yes votes and two no votes in the first of three readings with seven county commissioners abstaining. The final vote is set for Dec. 20 and will take nine votes to be approved.
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County Commission makes last-minute moves, approves final district map
The redistricting map approved Monday keeps a new Cordova-based district, restores the Collierville 7 precinct to District 2 and Germantown 4 to District 4. It also separates two incumbents expected to run again.
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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.
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October 2021
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Top 3 redistricting maps on way to Shelby County Commission
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.
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Hagerty and Blackburn again reject moving voting rights bill in Senate
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.
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Tami Sawyer arrested during D.C. rally
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.
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September 2021
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Chairman’s new committee causes rancor in County Commission
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.
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Consolidation charter commission proposal gets mixed reviews from commissioners
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.
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August 2021
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Tami Sawyer will not seek second term on County Commission
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.
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Pro-consolidation voices see business boom, but others not so sure
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.
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County Commission delays action on mask mandate, funding
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.
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COVID gets political as fired state health official visits Memphis
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.
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July 2021
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We don’t trust like we used to, but does it have to stay that way?
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.
Related story:
Opinion: Reporters and readers have a shared responsibility to pursue truth
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June 2021
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Girls Inc. wants Frayser impact to go beyond produce at youth farm
The $7 million expansion of the youth farm includes a new programming center for girls ages 5 to 18.
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Man who threatened Sawyer booked on misdemeanor charge
George “K-Rack” Johnson, 46, was booked in the Shelby County jail Wednesday and charged with misdemeanor assault.
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Opinion: With Confederate monuments gone, racist diatribes follow
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.
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Warrant issued in tirade, threats against commissioner
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.
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County Commission contemplates definition of stable property tax rate
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.
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Removal of Forrest remains begins with confrontation and threats
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.
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May 2021
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Too close to election for a tax hike, Tami Sawyer says
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.
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