There are 218 article(s) tagged Tami Sawyer:
The incumbent’s attendance record and the backlog of criminal court cases are issues in the race in the four-way Democratic primary for General Sessions court clerk. The winner of the Republican primary was decided at the filing deadline last year.
With an ability to cross racial lines, the outgoing Memphis mayor was a boss who knew how to delegate and trust experts but did not abdicate responsibility for making decisions.
The clerk’s office is the only countwide office on the March 5 primary ballot and with Sawyer’s entry the Democratic primary has three candidates. The filing deadline for the Democratic and Republican primaries is Dec. 14.
Republican-controlled county commissions in other parts of Tennessee have moved fast when state legislative seats open up, appointing replacements in less than a month.
County Commission Chair Willie Brooks denied that the meeting was called to try to hide the 8-0 vote on emergency funding for the project.
The MATA funding has also become an issue in the May Republican primary for commission District 4.
The $13 million in additional funding found from a group of seven county budget line items brings the total cost of the project to around $30 million including the $3 million the county paid for the Old Getwell building that is being renovated.
The funding would provide for notices to Shelby County voters about changes to precincts and polling places. Renovation costs for juvenile detention center more than doubleRelated story:
The commission delayed votes to receive and file two financial reports from Memphis Shelby County Schools until it gets dollar figures on the rebrand.Related story:
The commission won’t fill the vacancy until next month but most if not all of the names on the list are expected to be those running in the August primaries for a full four-year term in Nashville.
Meanwhile, Jason Martin slams Gov. Bill Lee’s state of the state address and calls for the legalization of pot in all forms. And a look at the May and August ballots ahead of Thursday’s deadline to get on the May county primary ballot.
The commission debated Monday whether it should fill the District 33 seat Robinson was expelled from last week by fellow Senators. Part of the argument is whether it amounts to an endorsement of the Senate action.
The County Commission Scorecard finds basic ideological differences remain on the 13-member body, as it moves into the home stretch of its four-year term.
Commissioner Brandon Morrison wants the county commission to rehire the lobbying firm it has used in the past and called for a “compromise to purple.” Commissioner Tami Sawyer said the call for bipartisanship “makes absolutely no sense at all.”
The commission’s Democratic majority approved a $25,000 grant to fund a playground at the center in Midtown. People on both sides of the abortion issue had a lot to say before the vote.
Three county commissioners voted against the $1.44 million purchase of 180,000 tests in 90 kits with two tests a piece. One cited comments by Dr. Ben Carson on Fox News earlier this week complaining that more tests would mean a rise in COVID cases.
The County Commission Scorecard looks at the second- reading vote on pay raises for some of the county’s top elected officials and the political perils of raising your own pay while preparing to run for re-election.
The 21% raises garnered only two yes votes and two no votes in the first of three readings with seven county commissioners abstaining. The final vote is set for Dec. 20 and will take nine votes to be approved.
The redistricting map approved Monday keeps a new Cordova-based district, restores the Collierville 7 precinct to District 2 and Germantown 4 to District 4. It also separates two incumbents expected to run again.
The commissioner’s attempt to reopen the county’s ARPA budget ran aground when Chairman Willie Brooks and others said he is abusing the process.
The ad hoc group, made up mostly of county commissioners, included in its top 3 a map that drew the ire of commissioner Brandon Morrison last week for endangering her re-election prospects last year.
Tennessee’s two Republican senators voted against the procedural motion this week that would have brought a Democratic voting rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer was among 25 activists arrested Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 19, during a No More Excuses rally in front of the White House.
When chairman Willie Brooks created a study group Monday on possible local government changes without a vote, some commissioners call it a consolidation committee in all but name, causing chairman Reginald Milton to quit.
The resolution to form a commission to draft a consolidation charter showed up in Wednesday committee sessions without notice. Like the City Council, county commissioners amended it to stop short of beginning to draft a charter and to include looking at changes to local government short of consolidation.