Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced Friday, May 7, that he is proposing bonus pay for police and firefighters over the next three fiscal years.

The Second Gentleman and the U.S. Labor Secretary pushed Thursday, May 6, for support of the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan proposal in Whitehaven and Downtown. They offered different definitions of infrastructure and what is necessary beyond the pandemic for economic recovery than the state’s two Republican U.S. Senators.

The temporary fix of cart paths on the golf course could wait to get a feel for what a larger makeover similar to that underway on the Overton Park golf course might involve. 

Decarcerate Memphis, a criminal justice grassroots coalition, has given MPD’s new police chief 100 days to tackle reforms it says are needed to change the “culture and structure” of the department. 

Memphis could soon have a daily reminder that we don’t have “time for things with no soul.”

The council also approved a new seven-year lease between the city and the Withers Collection Inc., which has been behind on its rent.

Council unanimously approves a resolution opposing the proposed configuration that would eliminate Scott Street’s southern connection to Poplar Avenue.

Mayor Harris is gathering more advice this week, including hearing from the municipal mayors. 

Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis became the new leader of the Memphis Police Department Tuesday, May 4, in a council vote that was almost unanimous.

On Tuesday, both sides in the pipeline dispute agreed to put their actions on hold until July.

What began as a more general ban of underground pipelines in the city is now a specific ordinance that allows existing underground infrastructure to be grandfathered in. It also allows companies to seek exceptions from the council to the ban.

The Tuesday, May 4, council day includes a possible vote on the nomination of C.J. Davis to be the new police chief. And the council has a proposal to change eviction set-outs 16 years after its last attempt to bring some order to the process.

A budget committee meeting Monday, May 3, drew 12 of the 13 council members together at City Hall for the first time since mid-March of 2020. The in-person meetings continue Tuesday with a full slate of committee meetings before the 3:30 p.m. session of the council. 

Douglas Emhoff and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh are among a blitz by the administration to promote President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion “American Jobs Plan.”

As Durham Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis awaits confirmation from the Memphis City Council as the new leader of MPD, city leaders, former colleagues and activists from her past weigh in on her law enforcement career. 

The retreat Saturday, May 1, marks the first in-person council meeting in more than a year. It included new details of $16 million in bonuses to city employees in Mayor Jim Strickland’s $716 million budget proposal and a flap over whether team-building exercises and a tour of the Renasant Convention Center were open to reporters.

City Council budget committee Chairman Worth Morgan said that the drop of the city property tax rate below $3 as appraised values have increased could set the stage for a tax rate hike.

Memphis Police Chief nominee Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis met the public on a limited basis Friday, April 30, during a one-hour online Q&A session with screened written questions. 

The annual Juneteenth celebration is moving from Robert R. Church Park to Health Sciences Park, held on the grounds where Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue once stood.

On “Behind The Headlines,” the incoming CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission says federal pandemic relief funding due the city will likely make up the loss. The drop in sales tax revenue for the TDZ comes as sales tax revenues across the city have exceeded bleak projections at the outset of the pandemic.

Plains All American Pipeline is launching a full-on offensive against the proposed legislation with the help of organizations that support the oil and gas industry. 

Related story:

Existing pipeline makes Byhalia Connection unneeded, environmental groups say

Members to meet Downtown for budget retreat.

Some business leaders are expressing concern that an ordinance intended to block the controversial Byhalia Connection oil pipeline could hinder their businesses and hurt economic recruitment efforts in the city.

Related story:

Byhalia Pipeline spokesman says group interested in talking

Chase Carlisle said he plans to bring a resolution to the City Council May 4 opposing the city and TDOT’s recommendation to shut Scott Street off from Poplar.

The offer to talk came Tuesday, April 27, at a Memphis Rotary forum at which the pipeline companies and the most visible pipeline critic each spoke. Proposals are pending before the council that would require more local approval.