There are 879 article(s) tagged Shelby County Commission:
From an ongoing budget battle to police reform and new voting machines, these are five critical votes by the Shelby County Commission in 2020 as chronicled in The Daily Memphian’s County Commission Scorecard.
The last County Commission meeting of the year included important decisions on governing in a pandemic, with a path to nine votes through compromise and the fine print of the newest health department directive.
The delay in the final vote on requiring County Commission approval for the sheriff to acquire surplus military hardware came after Sheriff Floyd Bonner complained he hadn’t been consulted. County Mayor Lee Harris disputed that assertion.
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.
The commission is taking final votes on an ordinance that would let Shelby County Health Department levy fines for COVID violations, and a requirement for Shelby County Sheriff’s Department to get commission approval to acquire surplus military equipment and weapons.
The ordinance cleared second reading Wednesday at a special commission meeting with seven votes. However, nine votes will be needed to approve the ordinance at Monday’s final vote of the commission.
The request would increase to about $50 million annually in the third year as the Memphis district hires more teacher assistants for students in K-2.
Last week’s budget retreat by the Shelby County Commission included word of a $27.5 million deficit and calls for the county to come up with a way to replenish its reserves and avoid short-term borrowing.
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.
Monday’s delay by the Shelby County Commission follows a similar delay in approval by the Memphis City Council.
The commission also votes on funding for a public health coordinator’s position at the Shelby County Health Department as part of the ongoing discussion about the county’s pandemic response.
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.
A group of two dozen business owners were critical of the new restrictions, telling county commissioners they will destroy businesses already on the edge. Some argued they are worse than the problems posed by the virus. Meanwhile, the first vaccine shipments could arrive in mid-December.
The Monday commission session also features a move toward a new disparity study in awarding county government contracts and a decision on increasing county funding to the conservancy that operates and maintains Shelby Farms Park on county land.
I’m a Republican serving with a Democratic majority, in a blue county of a red state. Shelby County government may not be the perfect model of comity, but the nation could take courage from how well we get along.
The latest hiccup is a higher-than-expected contract for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to run the county’s forensic center for the region, with the county dipping into its reserves for the difference.
Budget committee chairman Edmund Ford Jr. amended his resolution to stick with the county’s policy of keeping its financial reserves at 20% of general fund revenues. He has suggested a 15% to 20% guideline.
The commission will vote Oct. 26 on setting new parameters for the spring budget season. And the county’s CFO says it could be dangerous to lower the percentage of reserves on hand.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the final stand of a set of four police reforms applying to county law enforcement and what may be the last stand of the $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for the county.
The contract stirred the political embers of a recent budget season in county government as well as some spirited debate among commissioners about mask requirements.
A $5.8 million contract for a new voting system in Shelby County failed Monday, Oct. 12, in a 6-5 vote by the Shelby County Commission.
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.
The Monday County Commission agenda also includes a return to a $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for Shelby County and a moratorium on delinquent tax sales on property in South Memphis.