Officials go two-by-two into Forum as Grizz ready renovations
Memphis police officers direct traffic before a Memphis Tigers game at FedExForum on Jan. 5. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Throughout the past week, pairs of elected officials — one Memphis City Council member and one Shelby County commissioner — have entered FedExForum two by two, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The people said the elected officials are being briefed on the mundane details of FedExForum’s first phase of renovations. The City of Memphis could soon allocate about $80 million for this phase, part of a $550 million multiyear project.
The piecemeal tours led by Memphis Grizzlies executives have allowed elected officials to be briefed privately on a significant expenditure of public dollars without violating the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The Daily Memphian granted anonymity to people who knew about the tours so they could speak freely about a process that has largely occurred out of the public eye.
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Samuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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