There are 226 article(s) tagged Tami Sawyer:
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.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said the sheriff’s office SWAT team used C.S. gas, or “tear gas,” in a May 31 protest Downtown after bricks and bottles were thrown at them as they blocked some protesters from trying to get on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.
Alisa Haushalter provided guidelines for residents to follow that will help move the county toward Phase 3. Additionally, she addressed Shelby County Commission's decision to provide additional funding for hiring 141 new positions.
The call to "defund" police during three weeks of daily protests in Memphis has grown as action moves from marches to specific issues. The terms doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone, however.
What makes these protests different for me is that I’ve seen how they can influence conversation and bring about change – in both Minneapolis and Memphis.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer and protesters Monday addressed an incident in which two drivers drove through a protest in Cooper-Young last week. One woman was injured when she was hit by a SUV.
The plan to balance the county budget came apart when the commission put too much weight on the idea that federal reimbursements for county dollars spent on the pandemic freed up about $4.8 million. It didn't. Then a move to cut the sheriff's department budget brought two weeks of protest over the George Floyd incident into the discussion.
Shelby County commissioners got within $11 million of rebuilding County Mayor Lee Harris’s consolidated county budget proposal before calling it a day and leaving the rest for a Monday commission meeting.
The Memphis City Council could vote this week to require citizens to wear face masks in public places. The facial coverings have touched a political nerve and divide, although proponents of the push for masks say it's not political.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer also talked about the rift between the Democratic county mayor and the eight-vote Democratic majority on the commission.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer talks about the County Commission’s budget struggle, almost two years in office with a Democratic majority and the politics of face masks.
The resolution urges Health Department officials to require Shelby County residents and visitors to wear masks when out and about.
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.
Many county commissioners said their constituents don't like the wheel tax, don't know how it's used and thought it was going away.
The Shelby County Commission's public transit ad hoc committee's work will be reviewed, but there won't be more money in the budget for transit.
Period supplies will be available for free Saturday until supplies run out.
Shelby County's proposed budget for fiscal 2021 includes $13.5 million in cuts and prioritizes COVID-19 necessities.
Remember Scott Briggs from Laid Off Lawn Care? He had his tools stolen on Thursday, but Memphis came to the rescue.
As Shelby County's elected officials continue to spend, county Mayor Lee Harris said there could be layoffs next fiscal year.
Shelby County commissioners were given a coronavirus update Monday that touched on testing for individuals in juvenile detention, Easter church services and MLGW.
Frayser church volunteers its property to become needed testing site in the neighborhood.
Governor Bill Lee will sign Executive Order 23 requiring that Tennesseans stay home unless they are carrying out essential activities as data shows an increase in citizen movement across the state.
Expanded testing and continued social distancing are necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus, experts told Shelby County Commissioners.
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.
As COVID-19 impacts tax revenues and creates other demands for Shelby County government, funding MATA will probably have to wait.