There are 940 article(s) tagged Memphis City Council:
The Memphis City Council approved the requirement Tuesday by a 9-4 vote on its third and final reading. But questions remain about enforceability as county health officials still only recommend wearing masks.
The action came with word that owners of the restaurant were buying out their partner in the business venture. The council also passed three resolutions on law enforcement that are the first acts by the group in the discussion about the role of police and use of force policies.
The Memphis City Council has three resolutions on its Tuesday, June 16, agenda dealing with law enforcement.
Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter says despite the recent spike in daily confirmed cases, she sees little reason to put off a move to Phase 3 on Monday.
Memphis City Council member JB Smiley is pushing a resolution to urge Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration to put data, complaints and other information regarding police misconduct and use of force on the city’s website.
Following an increase in new cases over the past two weeks, the Shelby County Health Department announced Monday plans to delay a move into Phase 3 until at least June 15.
The first reception to the council resolutions presented Tuesday comes with a record of past resistance that indicates it probably won't be as easy as a council vote. The resolutions are advisory.
Council members expressed alarm at the rise in the daily COVID-19 case count locally and are prepared to call a special meeting Friday to enact a mask requirement in public places within Memphis.
Passing the $707.8 million city budget saw $1.8 million from a dozen line items moved around to items council members wanted and the use of city reserves that leaves the rainy day fund at a low level of 7% of the budget that starts July 1.
Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson said a lack of federal regulations on the use of $113.6 million that came to Memphis is "crazy," but warrants careful use of the money.
As Memphis sees a spike in coronavirus cases and plans move forward to expand testing, some medical professionals say it's not a great idea because of the risk of false-positive results.
Councilman says consensus from local officials could come soon if a recent uptick in coronavirus cases continues.
The council also takes a final vote on a mask ordinance and talks about rules to better regulate lobbyists at City Hall.
The review by the council budget committee continued Wednesday with no major changes to the $708.8 million operating budget proposed by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. The full council is scheduled to take final votes on the budget and a stable city property tax rate next week.
The city council approved a resolution that asks the mayor to seek specific information on what it would take for MLGW to break ties with TVA and pursue another electric power supplier. But the effort will wait at least until a first draft of a comprehensive report commissioned by MLGW is released May 29.
The call for an executive order by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is the latest, including three lawsuits pending in Nashville. Lee has said he will not issue an executive order dropping state law's present restrictions on the mail-in ballots.
The testing money would come from the city's $113.6 million allocation of federal CARES Act funding. Strickland's proposal, presented Tuesday to the Memphis City Council, also includes an immediate $2.7 million to beef up health department contact tracing and long-term city funding of the health department beyond that.
Up for discussion Tuesday is a move to get a proposal from a specific TVA competitor and a legal opinion that could put off an electric rate hike scheduled to take effect July 1.
The elevation of mask-usage into a kind of political symbol is a drag — it’s flat-out dumb — but it’s happened, and I’d worry that a government requirement, even a loosely enforced one, would increase the political strife around the issue without a commensurate increase in compliance.
The $26 million in red ink is mostly from drops in sales tax revenue because of the closing of "nonessential" businesses in the pandemic. The plan for the current fiscal year, including more use of the city's reserves, was presented to city council members Monday with a vote possible at Tuesday's council session.
Fred Davis, a charter member of the Memphis City Council, may have left elected office more than 40 years ago, he never stepped aside.
Fred Davis was an early advocate of black-owned business growth even before the city had a majority African American population. He was also on the city council during the 1968 sanitation workers strike.
City council member Martavius Jones, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, said a proposal to cut MATA funding by $10 million is the first item in the city budget book that got his attention.
City council budget committee chairman Martavius Jones talks about the city budget season and the effect of the pandemic on city finances.