There are 74 article(s) tagged JB Smiley Jr.:

• October 2021

  • Cohen endorses Smiley in Democratic primary for governor

    In a statement released Tuesday, Oct. 12, by Smiley’s campaign, Cohen touted Smiley’s connection to the state’s major cities.

    By Bill Dries October 13, 2021

• September 2021

  • City Council makes it more difficult to build pipelines near water wellheads

    The measure is one of three proposals to limit and require local government approval and regulation of new oil pipeline projects. It’s broader than the other two measures delayed Tuesday over lingering legal questions.

    By Bill Dries September 21, 2021

  • City Council member JB Smiley enters governor’s race

    The first-term City Council member claims the numbers are there to first win the August statewide primary and then the November general election. That’s despite no Democrat winning statewide office in Tennessee in 15 years.

    By Bill Dries September 08, 2021

  • JB Smiley Jr. ready to take his shot at being governor

    Memphis Councilman JB Smiley Jr. plans to run for governor of Tennessee. 

    By Bill Dries September 08, 2021

• August 2021

  • Smiley considers bid for governor

    City Council member JB Smiley began telling local officials last week he was considering a bid for governor next year, starting with the August 2022 Democratic primary. The field for the race is already forming to challenge Republican Gov. Bill Lee.

    By Bill Dries August 30, 2021

  • City Council to discuss consolidation charter commission

    The first step toward consolidation shows up on the City Council’s committee list for next week. 

    By Bill Dries August 12, 2021

• July 2021

  • Raleigh used car lot controversy takes turn toward kayaks and bike rentals

    Car lots and gas stations are getting more scrutiny from the Memphis City Council. But the idea of a proposed used car lot on Old Austin Peay Highway becoming a bike and kayak rental business instead is a new twist. 

    By Bill Dries July 23, 2021

• April 2021

  • Council members split over blight priorities

    Meanwhile, the council delayed for two weeks a first reading vote on historic overlay district status for the Crosstown area.

    By Bill Dries April 21, 2021

• March 2021

  • Ban on retail sale of dogs and cats voted down by City Council

    The final vote Tuesday shifted dramatically after the owner of a Petland store in Wolfchase that prompted the ban ordinance complained he had been harassed by city inspectors who cited him for three violations last Friday.

    By Bill Dries March 17, 2021

  • Petland store debate goes to the math of pet sales

    During this week’s council discussion, sponsor Worth Morgan asked for a list of pet breeders used by the Wolfchase store franchisee. When he didn’t get it but an offer of a guided tour, Morgan compared it to inspecting a nuclear facility in Iran.

    By Bill Dries March 04, 2021

  • Council members make case for exempting city from state residency bill

    Council member J.B. Smiley argues that if the city accepts police and fire applications from outside the city, more effort will have to be put into screening candidates.

    By Bill Dries March 02, 2021

• February 2021

  • ‘We have to be intentional’ about getting vaccines to all, councilman says

    On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member JB Smiley Jr. says the Health Department needs “boots on the ground” in Black communities to remedy a racial disparity in who is getting the COVID-19 vaccines.

    By Bill Dries February 14, 2021

• December 2020

  • Decorum guide gets modest tweaking as council discovers limits of disciplining one of its own

    Council Chairwoman Patrice Robinson said council members who behave badly, as council member Edmund Ford Sr. did two weeks ago, can’t be removed or suspended. And restoring order is “a question of judgment” by the chairperson.

    By Bill Dries December 01, 2020

  • Council ethics complaint against Ford to be dropped

    The outburst by City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. two weeks ago still raises questions about how to apply rules of conduct to elected council members. And it’s a discussion past councils have had about Ford and others on the body.

    By Bill Dries December 01, 2020

• November 2020

  • Smiley files ethics complaint over Ford outburst at council meeting

    Council member JB Smiley is also seeking a change in council rules that would allow the chairman of the body to bar a council member who does what Ford did twice during Tuesday’s council meetings.

    By Bill Dries November 19, 2020

  • Differences emerge in police reform

    Two conversations about police reform show the more detailed the proposed reforms become, the more differences they reveal.

    By Bill Dries November 16, 2020

• July 2020

  • Smiley says look for more City Council moves on police reform

    On “Behind The Headlines,” the first-term council member said the proposals to come will push further on changing the Memphis Police Department beyond nonbinding resolutions approved last month. 

    By Bill Dries July 01, 2020

• June 2020

  • George Floyd’s death leaves police and fire residency ballot question in new light

    A city task force on public safety started its work this week with several calls for hiring local in the police and fire ranks. Meanwhile, an effort to remove from the Nov. 3 election ballot a proposal for allowing the city to hire police and firefighters who live outside the county may be picking up momentum.

    By Bill Dries June 19, 2020

  • Council asks Strickland to hold up valet parking contract with Flight

    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.

    By Bill Dries June 16, 2020

  • Police reforms on City Council agenda Tuesday

    The Memphis City Council has three resolutions on its Tuesday, June 16, agenda dealing with law enforcement.

    By Bill Dries June 15, 2020

  • Daily Memphian records request inspires resolution to improve MPD transparency

    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.

    By Marc Perrusquia June 11, 2020

  • Introduction of police reforms encounters little resistance

    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.

    By Bill Dries June 09, 2020

• March 2020

  • Maybe easing grooming standards would help police recruitment

    Three of the six new Memphis City Council members talked about the larger issues on "Behind The Headlines." They are the latest council members in more than a decade to take up the topic of residency.

    By Bill Dries March 02, 2020

• January 2020

  • ‘A new day dawning’ with a diverse, younger City Council

    'We must be a unified and united body. If we are not, we run the risks of watering down our legislative authority and allowing outside entities comprised of individuals not elected by the citizens of Memphis, essentially, to make legislative and budgetary decisions.' 

    By JB Smiley Jr. January 19, 2020