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Should Memphis/Shelby County Consolidate?

Rardy

By Rardy
in Memphis

Should Memphis & Shelby County Consolidate  

57 members have voted

  1. 1. Taking into account all factors...

    • Yes - all of Shelby and Memphis should consolidate
      23
    • Yes - but only consolidate Memphis and unincorporated areas of the county
      14
    • No - it will hurt property values and drive even more people out of the county
      10
    • Maybe - but it'll never happen
      9
    • Other (please explain below)
      1

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Rardy Burg

Rardy

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Well...it looks like Herenton just opened up the consolidation can of worms all over again, saying that it's one of his goals for his last term in office:

Herenton said a metro government would be more efficient, lower the tax rate and make the city more competitive.

"This is a song we've been singing too long without people getting excited about it. I'm gonna open that hymn book up again. We need to make it happen."

Herenton said he eventually wants to see schools consolidated. "This duality in funding does not allow us to put more money where the needs are. We need to change that."

Herenton even appeared to make an overture to the suburbs, noting that suburban mayors under a metro government get to "keep their identity."

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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Let's face it, much of the consolidation issue revolves around race.

A consolidation requires a majority of Memphis votes AND Shelby votes outside of Memphis. I'm not sure whether individual cities themselves, e.g., Arlington, need a majority vote to join the consolidated government, or if it's just done on a Shelby vote.

In any case, I imagine Shelby County outside of Memphis will be majority black in the next few years. At that point, I would expect a consolidated government--even if that government excludes the 140,000 people in Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Millington, Arlington, and Lakeland. If those areas are still predominately white, they won't vote for it. If their individual city votes don't matter, they'll be included regardless.

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  • 2 months later...
Rural King Town

Rural King

Posted
Posted

The Mayor was all over the Memphis news talking about school and county consolidation last night after the swearing in ceremony.

He was very confrontational in his tone towards the suburban communities and the county, with his ultimate solution for attaining consolidation being going to the state legislature and the Governor to get the law changed in how a government and/or school consolidation vote would proceed. He is wanting the legislature and governor to provide legislation for Shelby County that would only require a county-wide majority to pass consolidation instead of requring both the county and city political units pass consolidation seperately.

I am all for consolidation of services if the county and city both want it, but I am not for Memphis or any other city obtaining the political power to over-ride the will of county electorate in this fashion. I think this would be a horrible political precedent to set.

I'd rather see the Mayor push for dissolving the city school charter to force change and school consoldiation before this. At least that is within the scope of the city's current authority. The county has the legal obligation to provide schooling, while the city does not. Thats not to say the city would be allowed to do that over-night, as courts would surely get involved and force a transitional process.

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The Memphian Whistle-Stop

The Memphian

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Posted
The Mayor was all over the Memphis news talking about school and county consolidation last night after the swearing in ceremony.

He was very confrontational in his tone towards the suburban communities and the county, with his ultimate solution for attaining consolidation being going to the state legislature and the Governor to get the law changed in how a government and/or school consolidation vote would proceed. He is wanting the legislature and governor to provide legislation for Shelby County that would only require a county-wide majority to pass consolidation instead of requring both the county and city political units pass consolidation seperately.

I am all for consolidation of services if the county and city both want it, but I am not for Memphis or any other city obtaining the political power to over-ride the will of county electorate in this fashion. I think this would be a horrible political precedent to set.

I'd rather see the Mayor push for dissolving the city school charter to force change and school consoldiation before this. At least that is within the scope of the city's current authority. The county has the legal obligation to provide schooling, while the city does not. Thats not to say the city would be allowed to do that over-night, as courts would surely get involved and force a transitional process.

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

Posted
Posted
The Mayor was all over the Memphis news talking about school and county consolidation last night after the swearing in ceremony.

He was very confrontational in his tone towards the suburban communities and the county, with his ultimate solution for attaining consolidation being going to the state legislature and the Governor to get the law changed in how a government and/or school consolidation vote would proceed. He is wanting the legislature and governor to provide legislation for Shelby County that would only require a county-wide majority to pass consolidation instead of requring both the county and city political units pass consolidation seperately.

I am all for consolidation of services if the county and city both want it, but I am not for Memphis or any other city obtaining the political power to over-ride the will of county electorate in this fashion. I think this would be a horrible political precedent to set.

I'd rather see the Mayor push for dissolving the city school charter to force change and school consoldiation before this. At least that is within the scope of the city's current authority. The county has the legal obligation to provide schooling, while the city does not. Thats not to say the city would be allowed to do that over-night, as courts would surely get involved and force a transitional process.

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Fellowmann20 Whistle-Stop

Fellowmann20

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I agree that he is going about this consolidation all wrong. Everybody in the county should be able to decide whether the county and city should consolidate not just the Mayor. I also believe the mayor wants to consolidate so he can try to cover up what he has done to the educational system even before he was the mayor. If anything he should be focusing on the crime in the city and not consolidation. Thats just my take on it.

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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I agree that he is going about this consolidation all wrong. Everbody in the county should be able to decide wether the county and city should consolidate not just the Memphis. I also believe the mayor wants to consolidate so he can try to cover up what he has done to the educational system even before he was the mayor. If anything he should be focusing on the crime in the city and not consolidation. Thats just my take on it.
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Fellowmann20 Whistle-Stop

Fellowmann20

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I'm kind of afraid of people leaving the county because of the way the mayor is going about the consolidation, especially with what he wants to do to the schools. I think people in the county would probably like it better if Memphis City School charter was dissolved and the county could take over, like RK said.

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Rural King Town

Rural King

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County Mayor A.C. Wharton in his State of the County address came out in support of a hybrid version of city-county cosolidation according to the Commercial Appeal. Mayor Wharton cited the cost benefits of consolidation into a metropolitan form of government over the current dual system, but stated that as long as he is County Mayor he will fight to prevent the consolidation of Memphis and Shelby County School systems under any consolidation plan. The suburban mayors seemed open to discussing a hybrid form of consolidation with Mayor Wharton and expressing their concerns, which can only be seen as step in the right direction to start moving forward with the concept.

So the question is: Is Mayor Wharton onto something here? Would the county residents and suburban cities be willing to consolidate police, fire, etc. with the exception of the school system? Are the school systems the stumbling blocks that if removed would make the plan passable in the county under the current process? Or does Herenton still pose a hinderance even if the school issue is removed?

It seems plausible that Mayor Wharton could use his popularity to over the next few years usher in a vote on some hybrid version of consolidation. He would also be the logical candidate and front-runner for the new metro mayor's post.

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Rural King Town

Rural King

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Suburban Mayors according to a story in the Commercial Appeal are divided on their response to County Mayor Wharton's new position on looking into county-city consolidation, but all appear to agree that Mayor Wharton is more friendly and respectful of the suburban communities and citizenry than Mayor Hernton is in their tact towards addressing the issue.

The Mayor of Arlington is clearly against consolidation with Mayor Russell Wiseman stating he was "shocked" at Wharton's new warmness at looking into consolidation in some hybrid fashion. Germantown's mayor Sharon Goldsworthy also stated her city's government's opposition to the idea of consolidation.

Millington Mayor Terry Jones and Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald seemed more inclined to look at Wharton's proposal and did not appear to be against the proposal right out of the gate as the Mayors of Arlington and Germantown were. So it will be interesting as to how warm Millington and Bartlett city governments (or at least their mayors) might end up being toward Mayor Wharton's proposal.

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