There are 131 article(s) tagged Edmund Ford Jr.:
A total of 78 positions in various parts of county government are the latest exceptions to a hiring freeze. But as they approved the waivers Monday, county commissioners signaled they are about to make a decision on the hiring freeze’s viability possibly by the end of this month.
Shelby County Commissioners want to try a swap out of federal CARES Act funding similar to one city council members did a week ago. But tensions left over from a rough county budget season that ended in June are hanging around.
County commissioners vote Monday on a waiver of the county's hiring and pay freeze, and nearly 100 more waivers requested by officials are waiting in the wings. Commissioners say they need a budget book with specific line items and dollar figures to know whether the waivers would put the county in the red.
It's been a month since a county government budget was approved for the fiscal year that began July 1. But until that detailed budget is printed in black and white, there is still some wrangling underway, some distrust and the hiring freeze the county imposed may be melting.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the County Commission chairman says the differences between the two don't appear to extend to the rest of the commission. Mark Billingsley also said he hopes to move to lift the county hiring budget freeze once there is a reconciliation of the budget approved by the commission last month after rejecting Mayor Lee Harris's original proposal.
Some significant amendments to apply the program to private contractors pushed a final vote to July 21.
The Wednesday committee sessions drew most of the 13 commissioners, with the remainder attending online. Also debuting was a partitioned commission chambers with glass barriers between the elected officials and masks worn in the booths created for them.
The commission takes up the budget again Monday, June 22, at its regular meeting, a week after voting to use $16.5 million in the county reserves to balance expenditures and revenues. But since then, questions have emerged about the changes the commission made.
The six-hour special meeting Monday sets the stage for a final budget vote in a week. But there are questions about the dollar figures approved by the Commission and how much red ink there is to be dealt with after the moves. Two social media posts during the meeting by County Mayor Lee Harris also complained that there would be layoffs and cutbacks in critical county programs.
The county's $1.4 billion budget is a work in progress, but officials say they're close.
The commission calculated cuts and additions to the $1.4 billion budget, which must be approved by June 30.
Budget committee Chairman Eddie Jones and Vice Chairman Edmund Ford Jr. presented the proposal. Work on the budget resumes in a special committee meeting Monday before the full Shelby County Commission session.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris' administration officials answered questions as county commissioners prepare for another review of the fiscal 2021 budget.
Differences from years ago between Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. and County Mayor Lee Harris have carried over into the county's 2021 budget talks.
Shelby County's proposed budget for fiscal 2021 includes $13.5 million in cuts and prioritizes COVID-19 necessities.
Up to 30 people who have been tested for COVID-19 at Christ Community Health Services have seen their results delayed, including County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says in an exclusive interview with The Daily Memphian that he would not have gone with a Memphis In May delegation to Ghana had he had any idea of how quickly the coronavirus pandemic would explode.
The labor union official says the ordinance that allows some public safety workers to live outside the county is not "morally or fiscally responsible."
Amending the county's residency requirements for public safety workers is intended to help with hiring and retention.
If approved, an amended ordinance would let public safety workers live outside of Shelby County, but they would pay $2,500 in "residency compensation."
The funds for transit would be allocated through the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to the ordinance.
Shelby County Commissioners wonder what to do with $2.5 million for MATA that has not been used.
Extended funding for transit was approved by the Shelby County Commission in an ordinance on second reading that gives it 1.5% of county's CIP budget.
An ordinance that would put the question of residency requirements for employees to Shelby County voters failed in committee Wednesday.
Commission committees will be asked to consider raising the wheel tax by $20 to fund MATA.