The Daily Memphian On the Record

One of the county's most vocal advocates for a new voting system with hand-marked paper ballots says the push for such a system isn't part of the national political movement that contends Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

City Council member Chase Carlisle distinguishes between the case for consolidation and the case for drafting a consolidation charter. He also acknowledges getting the votes to form a charter commission will not be easy.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Shelby County Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor went partisan in the dispute with the Shelby County Commission over a new voting system for the 2022 elections. And he talked about a possible compromise as he held firm in his belief paper ballots would cause chaos at the polls.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Cohen also described the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection as "Snow White and the six Democrats." But he said the panel is necessary to answer questions about whether the violent march into the Capitol was connected to former President Donald Trump.

The author of the definitive 2008 biography of the anti-lynching crusader and NAACP cofounder says the statue of Wells defines the city as well as honors her in a city whose leaders once talked of killing her. 

National Civil Rights Museum President Russell Wigginton said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that he hopes state education officials will consult with the museum as they set the guidelines for school systems to navigate the new state law banning teaching about systemic racism and how the history of race impacts the present.

The summit comes during an off-election year in Shelby County politics, which Rev. Earle Fisher said is useful to emphasize the coalition's focus on issues and policy.

The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast recaps local political development including the county's budget season and campaign openings for the 2022 county elections. Also, the partisan divide among area legislators remains in place on voting rights and the infrastructure bill.

Some of the changes proposed and outlined on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast address issues that came up in the allegations made against county commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. in an independent investigation made public last month in The Daily Memphian. 

The city's director of Housing and Community Development talks on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about the citywide strategy to be developed by the fall. Mairi Albertson says the lessons of the pandemic include broadband that can handle several people online at the same time.

The former Tennessee Governor talked on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about the state's path to Republican dominance and his call on Christian conservatives to pull away from the nation's partisan political divide.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the leader of the coalition of nonprofits calling for different budget priorities questions the resetting of the city and county property tax rates by state law. Cardell Orrin says the city and county rates should stay where they are and not be viewed as a tax hike for all.

Shelby County commissioner Tami Sawyer says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that this close to county elections there is no political will for a tax hike. She also backs a quick budget passage next month and a second look at the budget in the fall once federal American Rescue Plan funding is in play.

The new edition of The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast runs down recent political events including sorting out what became of the idea of a "Super Chancery Court" proposed in the Tennessee Legislature.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the two-time Democratic nominee for the Tennessee Legislature talks about the new Latino Democratic political action committee Fuerza that she serves on the board of. And Gabby Salinas talks about whether she will challenge Republican state Senator Brian Kelsey in the 2022 elections.

City Council budget committee Chairman Worth Morgan said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast 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. His comments come ahead of a Saturday, May 1, budget retreat by council members.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor talks about new discussions with county commissioners two months after the Election Commission voted to go to court in the simmering dispute.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Greater Imani pastor Bill Adkins says the case can be made for a new director from the MPD ranks or for someone from the outside. Adkins also said he sees a new indifference to violent crime that calls for new solutions as well as new ways of policing the city.

No date has been set for the return to City Hall by the council but it comes as budget season approaches. Meanwhile, the city's political scene remains active,  as chronicled in The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, state Rep. Mark White acknowledges the bill doesn't address many of the complexities of the local schools merger and demerger that kept the three namesake Germantown schools in the Shelby County Schools system.

The University of Tennessee expert in property appraising, Joe Griffin, talked on The Daily Memphian podcast about how the proposal to move to reappraisals every two years instead of every four years would change the resulting tax rates locally and set a precedent for the state's other major cities.

During a wide-ranging interview on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, state House Speaker Cameron Sexton also questioned whether the new federal COVID stimulus package is necessary for Tennessee.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, council member Rhonda Logan says the police force needs more officers but also needs to change the way those officers are used with a return to community policing.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member Chase Carlisle talks about bargaining with TVA for a new contract with MLGW without a specific plan for an alternative, his call for the resignation of the Shelby County Health Department's embattled leader and the 2022 race for Shelby County mayor.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Shelby County Chief Information Officer Sandra Perry talks about the lasting impact and the security challenges of work-at-home government services and what happens when one part of county government wants its own computer system and network.