City Council approves $1M for vaccines, debates blame
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.
Topic: Tami Sawyer
RSSThere are 225 article(s) tagged Tami Sawyer:
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March 2021
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January 2021
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PILOT reform discussions try to avoid PowerPoints and path of past efforts
Before Shelby County Commissioners and Memphis City Council members get together to talk about changing the most used tax incentive in local economic development, they want to do more than watch PowerPoint presentations on PILOTs – payments in lieu of taxes.
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Limits on surplus military equipment for Sheriff’s Office approved after lots of changes
The ordinance allows the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency and Homeland Security to acquire some surplus military hardware for protection and natural disasters. But most military hardware offered by the federal government requires a majority vote of the commission.
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PILOTs and compromise on military hardware limits top commission agenda
The Monday County Commission meeting includes a possible six-month moratorium on new PILOTs. And there is a compromise with Sheriff Floyd Bonner that would rewrite the ordinance requiring him to get approval from the commission to acquire surplus military hardware from the federal government.
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Commission advances ban on Trump honors, condemnation of Capitol attack
The resolutions were discussed as commissioners watched the presidential inauguration while working through committee agendas. The full commission votes on the matters Monday.
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Sawyer’s call for six-month PILOT moratorium finds little support
Sawyer wants to examine the ground rules for awarding the most-used tax incentive in Memphis economic development and the results of past or ongoing PILOTs.
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Local leaders get parts in ‘Say It Loud’ at Hattiloo Theatre
In a free, virtual series, actors will perform speeches by Booker T. Washington, Shirley Chisholm, Dick Gregory and John Lewis. They’ll be introduced by Shelby County Commission members present and past and a Rhodes College professor, among others.
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Last of county police reform measures delayed again
A proposal by Commissioner Tami Sawyer to require County Commission approval for any sheriff to acquire surplus federal military equipment was postponed.
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County Commission approves $2.5M restaurant, hospitality workers relief fund
Republican commissioners said their “no” votes were because of concerns about the use of county reserves to create the $2.5 million fund. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to reimburse the county funding with state money.
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Harris proposes county $2.5M restaurant workers relief fund
Harris took the proposal for grants of $1,000 per qualified worker to commission committee sessions Wednesday, Jan. 6.
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December 2020
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County Commission supports health directive, fines for violations
Shelby County commissioners voted Monday, Dec. 21, to support a health department directive announced earlier in the day and, in a separate vote, to give the health department the authority to cite and fine business owners for violating the directive.
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Some businesses already feel pain of possible lockdown
A new health directive is looming – one that could significantly tighten restrictions for the upcoming holidays.
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Increased ‘volatility’ is backdrop as commission calls for statewide mask mandate
Shelby County commissioners called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Monday, Dec. 7, to enact a statewide mask mandate, but the vote wasn’t unanimous. It was among a series of COVID-related measures.
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November 2020
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Mutual Respect: Commissioners Sawyer and Wright rise above political quarrels
They seldom agree, just like a couple of United States Supreme Court justices you might remember. But Shelby County commissioners Tami Sawyer and Mick Wright share a healthy respect for one another.
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A house divided: Political split often falls along city/rural lines
Political and cultural division in Memphis, the state of Tennessee and the country, is real. But as polarized as Americans might be, it has been worse and it can get better.
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Discussions spur dialogue for change
A variety of community voices spoke out on police reform during two discussions last week.
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County Commission to look at budget season deadlines
A resolution by Edmund Ford Jr. on setting deadlines and milestones for the county budget season is on the County Commission’s agenda for Monday, Nov. 9.
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October 2020
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County Commission votes down police excessive force ordinance
Shelby County commissioners voted down an ordinance that would have required the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to decertify deputies who use excessive force and to keep a record of officers who are fired or resign because of an excessive-force complaint.
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September 2020
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Public safety reforms go to County Commission for second reading
Ordinances that address use of force, the purchase of military equipment and the use of tear gas will go to the full commission without a second reading committee vote.
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Three county police reform ordinances get rough reception at County Commission
The trio of ordinances affecting the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and corrections officers advanced automatically in Monday’s first of three votes on the measures. A second reading will be held in two weeks and a third is tentatively set in October.
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Debate on police reform proposals at County Commission gets heated
The three ordinances are scheduled for the first of three votes on Monday. And still to weigh in on the proposals is Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner.
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August 2020
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Plans for new youth detention center up in air amid talk of renovation
Shelby County officials, who last year approved funding for preliminary work to build a new juvenile detention facility, are now exploring alternatives such as renovating a closed youth facility in Southeast Memphis.
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Six months in, we’re all living in ‘COVID World’
The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 in Memphis spawned new words, such as "Stranger Fever," and changed people's thoughts and actions. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its "social distancing" and "new normal" is not so different. History has provided an echo.
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July 2020
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Shelby County teachers stage die-in outside county building
Shelby County teachers held die-in in front of the county building Monday to demand safe schools locally, statewide and nationally as the coronavirus pandemic grows.
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June 2020
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County Commission passes first police reform resolutions
The nonbinding resolutions approved by the Shelby County Commission call for adoption of “8 Can’t Wait” use of force measures for law enforcement and call racism a pandemic with associated health issues for people of color.
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