The Memphis City Council Chair's Recap for November 5, 2019

Good morning Memphis!

We are still riding a huge blue and silver wave of excitement after that Big Tiger Win on Saturday. Memphis has momentum and the world knows it. The sea of Tiger Blue stretched from the ESPN Game Day set on Beale Street to the Liberty Bowl at the Iconic Fairgrounds. It was an incredible sight. The game and coverage reached a national audience of more than 1.5 million viewers.  Thanks to everyone who showed up and thank you for bringing your Memphis' soul!

It was an extraordinarily busy Council Tuesday and there is much work to be done. Council meetings began at 7:45 am with a jam-packed schedule of items that are important to Memphians. Yesterday, we tackled 48 issues during Committee meetings and heard 64 items in the Full Council Meeting and the full picture can be found here. As we approach the end of 2019, the Council will finish out the year, and our term, strong, completing a bold and rigorous legislative agenda. This agenda includes the Loews convention center hotel development, Union Row, Memphis 3.0, Solid Waste Improvements, accelerating police hiring, MLGW infrastructure upgrades and a five-year budget, and much more.

Sales Tax Referendum Update: Mayor Jim Strickland joined us during the Executive Committee to discuss the Public Safety Referendum that was passed during the October Election. Most alarming was information that ~600 public safety employees could immediately retire when implemented, which is the exact opposite result of what the Unions communicated during the campaign.

Discussions around this issue will continue well into 2020 as the County determines if it will work to claim half of the revenue and the State of Tennessee has to approve any changes Memphis makes.

Athleticism and Academics at Humes Middle School: Under the leadership of Head Coach Torio “Chaz” Wiseman, Coach Mark Cannon, Coach Adrian Goodrich, Coach Cameron Mayfield, and Coach Anthony Paige the Humes Middle School Tigers won the City and State Championship. Driven by the determination of Quarterback Keyshawn Poole, Rodriquez Minor, and Johnquavious Howard, who led the Tigers all season, in addition to a full host of talented student athletes, these young men earned the school’s first state championship title just three years into the new football program at Humes Middle School. Councilman Berlin Boyd recognized these young men during our Council Meeting and we join him in congratulating these student athletes. We all hope we have a few Future Tiger Football stars in our midst. 

Solid Waste Improvements: The Solid Waste Division has implemented several new policies to improve solid waste collection. The improvements have led to decreased missed collection requests and improved service. The improvements have also highlighted the need for Capital Improvements including new Transfer Station for the collection of Solid Waste. While a lot of work has been done, there is more wood to chop.  The Council was very clear in the belief that additional options should be presented that did not include a 40% increase in fees for citizens when employees are only working 4-5 hours each day.

Discussing Utility Rates: Memphis, Light, Gas & Water presented their upcoming budget to Council for initial review. The Budget includes a modest rate increase to fund necessary infrastructure improvements. Council will discuss the rates on November 19, 2019 during a Public Hearing to Approve the MLGW Budget.

MLGW also presented an efficiency and infrastructure from Baker Tilly and HDR, Inc.  

Making Public Art Accessible to all Memphians: Councilman Boyd has worked with various departments to streamline the approval public art projects and ensure community input. The creation of art and presence of positive images in public spaces encourages unity and civic price for our City and the installation of temporary artwork pieces builds community participation and promotes the beauty of our city in unexpected places. The ordinance requires that all temporary public art projects submit an application and seek approval from the Public Art Review Committee. This ordinance passed on third and final reading.

Thanksgiving must go on: Each year the City of Memphis provided the Convention Center as a venue for a non-profit organization to provide a Thanksgiving Meal at the Convention Center for our transient and homeless neighbors. Due to the modernization of Convention Center, this venue was not available. As such, The City of Memphis Took Care of Business and will be hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at City Hall on Thursday, November 28, 2019 from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. Volunteer sign ups are available here or online at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040d48afa723a0f58-thanksgiving. 

Other Items Of Note:

• Councilmembers-Elect Edmund H. Ford, Sr., J.B. Smiley, Jr., Chase Carlisle, and Dr. Jeff Warren joined us again today to get an understanding of the issues impacting local government. We are impressed with the drive and initiative of these newly elected officials. We are all confident that Memphis is in capable and willing hands. Our future as a city is bright and for that I am truly thankful.

 

• I wanted to thank the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Department of Transportation for getting the grass cut this summer. We have been working with our partners to improve the appearance of our state roads and highways. We are currently working for a sustainable solution for 2020 and beyond.

 Thanks for reading this far and have a great week!

 

Believe Memphis,

 

Kemp Conrad

Chairman

Memphis City Council