Jones says City Council should have intervened to stop Ford tirades
City Council member Martavius Jones is the first member of the body to react to several angry outbursts by fellow council member Edmund Ford Sr. at Tuesday’s session.
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City Council member Martavius Jones is the first member of the body to react to several angry outbursts by fellow council member Edmund Ford Sr. at Tuesday’s session.
From calling a councilwoman “baby” to berating a city division director, Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. has a history of outbursts prior to Tuesday’s comments to two members of county government.
The Memphis City Council approved one pipeline ordinance but denied another that would have kept oil pipelines from locating within 1,500 feet of schools, churches and parks.
The council elected Jamita Swearengen as leader, rejected a convenience store with gas pumps at Broad and Tillman, gave final approval to a downzoning and approved more money for a fix of City Hall’s crumbling marble.
A move to form an ad hoc redistricing group for more public participation on the front end of drawing new district lines was tabled by the council in October. The sponsor brought it back briefly Tuesday, Nov. 16, in committee discussions.
Also on the Tuesday, Nov. 16, City Council agenda are final votes on measures requiring more local review of pipelines, more money for City Hall’s crumbling marble problem and electing a new chairman for 2022.
The new rules for gas stations are in the first of two City Council measures that include a downzoning of 20 areas of the city to limit the spread of auto-related businesses.
The Memphis City Council will take up the pipeline ordinances in two weeks after legalese and other factors led to to raucous environment at City Hall.
The percentage is a calculation that excludes the city’s spend in areas where it is determined there are no local minority businesses.
The council has final votes scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 2, on two pipeline-related ordinances. Also on the agenda are a contract to manage a North Memphis community center and a second look at a minimum wage for EDGE tax breaks.
An ad hoc group is drafting recommendations on new district lines for the Shelby County Commission.
The new district lines will reflect a drop of 16,000 Memphians by the U.S. Census count and populations gains in three of the seven single-member City Council districts as well as drops in the head count in the other four districts.
The higher minimum wage for EDGE tax break incentives was well short of seven votes Tuesday, Oct. 19, on the Memphis City Council. Opponents of the measure defeated a move to delay the outcome but there may still be some life left in the call for higher pay for tax breaks.
In other action Tuesday, Oct. 19, the council delayed a final vote on a comprehensive downzoning plan and approved funding for the start of the next phase of construction on the South City development.
The council tabled a move to put an ad hoc working group in place, similar to what the Shelby County Commission already has up and running. The delay came after a discussion about motives, snakes, the city’s method of redistricting and protecting incumbents.
Most of the early proposals for the council’s share of ARPA funding took a cut in their dollar figures in the compromise worked out by Chase Carlisle and Edmund Ford Sr.
The Tuesday, Oct. 18, City Council session also includes a vote on further commercial uses of the Annesdale Mansion and a vote on raising the minimum wage to qualify for economic development tax break incentives.
The approval of the spending, which includes $19.1 million for Regional One Health and $4.4 milion to expand health care access to uninsured Shelby Countians, is county general fund money available as the federal ARPA money goes to account for lost county revenues in the pandemic.
The council also delayed action on several resolutions awarding federal American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated for the council’s uses.
The City Council approved the pipeline right-of-way ordinance on the first of three votes Tuesday, Oct. 5. It covers the entire city, requiring a permitting process for any work done beneath or across city streets.
City Council members took a test vote of sorts in committee sessions on a proposal to make pay of $21 an hour the minimum for getting tax breaks from EDGE. The new Ford plant in Haywood County came up in the discussion.
The council is on record opposing TVA’s plan to truck coal ash from the old Allen Fossil Plant to a landfill in Capleville. The Tuesday council committee discussion also ventured into TVA’s role in the Blue Oval City Ford battery plant.
The $4.9 million in funding would replace much, but not all, of the 55-year old structure’s exterior marble veneer.
Barbara Swearengen Ware died Thursday, Sept. 30, 11 years after she resigned from the Memphis City Council after a plea deal on an official misconduct charge. She served 17 years on the council representing the North Memphis area that included the Douglass community.
Former Memphis City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware has died at the age of 82.