Council chair allegedly pushed staff for donations
A complaint filed against Jana Swearengen-Washington outlined several instances when Swearengen-Washington asked staff to contribute money to Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) church causes. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
The former chief administrator for the Memphis City Council was fired after accusing the council chairwoman of using her position to benefit herself and her family, according to documents obtained by The Daily Memphian.
In May, administrator Brooke Hyman raised concerns about how Jana Swearengen-Washington, the council chairwoman, sought to use city resources for herself and her husband’s church. Hyman also accused Swearengen-Washington of using city funds to buy 100 copies of Kamala Harris’ book, “107 Days,” and keeping a number of those copies for personal use.
Hyman was fired a week later.
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Samuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise reporter who focuses on government and politics. He began his career at the Tulsa World where he covered business and 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 Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on the intersection of government, public policy, influence and how public dollars are spent.
Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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