City Council Scorecard: Anatomy of a Do-Over
The City Council Scorecard peels back the layers on the council’s April 6 vote on a $520,000 contract that put the issue of MLGW leaving TVA back on track after six months in limbo.
Bill Dries
Reporter
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.
There are 4051 articles by Bill Dries :
-
April 2021
-
City of Memphis -
City of Memphis City council plans return to in-person meetings
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.
-
Premium
MetroOpinion: The past was too present at Mud Island River Park
The seven flagpoles on the Mud Island River Park’s southern end were removed this week. The park, beloved as a memory that in some ways may be too faithful to its 1980s trappings, will get some much-needed maintenance this spring.
-
Elections Corker talks of Senate ‘burn-out,’ divisiveness, possible return to politics
Corker surfaced as former President Donald Trump was leaving office, prompting speculation Corker may be looking at a presidential bid in 2024 or some other bid for elected office in the 2022 midterm elections.
-
City of Memphis Pandemic end game: Many changes in brief time
The co-leaders of the countywide vaccination distribution effort talked on “Behind The Headlines” about a move this week to no appointments for some and why the federal vaccination presence at the Fairgrounds is unique.
-
City of Memphis New Housing and Community Development director nominated
Ashley Cash led the team that developed the comprehensive Memphis 3.0 plan that covers residential and commercial development across the city.
-
City of Memphis Tom Lee Park overhaul gets $3.2M in corporate funding
The $60 million capital campaign to remake Tom Lee Park reached the 80% mark Thursday, April 8, with $3.2 million in funding commitments from three health care corporations as well as AutoZone and First Horizon Foundation.
-
Update
CoronavirusPipkin has no-appointment evenings, other vaccine incentives
City also giving MATA riders free rides to Pipkin and making blocks of slots available to groups, including businesses.
-
City of Memphis MLGW to get energy bids; council to get more info in process
The City Council voted Tuesday, April 6, to approve a consultant’s contract that is the next step leading to recommendations by the end of this year. But there was some dissent on the council before the vote.
-
Update
City of MemphisOvertime, emergency contracts get Cordova, Area E garbage picked up
On April 10, the city could terminate its contract with Waste Pro for poor service or determine that Waste Pro has made good on dealing with the backlog of trash. The council voted Tuesday calling on the administration to cancel the city’s contract.
-
City of Memphis Watkins confirmed as new city court judge
City Council also endorsed a general plan for athletic fields by Christian Brothers University on 7 acres at the intersection of Avery Avenue and South Hollywood.
-
City of Memphis Fairgrounds redevelopment price goes up as city preps bonds to finance
A timetable for the Fairgrounds conversion has the new youth sports complex opening in the fall of 2022.
-
City of Memphis Mike Ryall named interim MPD chief as new candidate joins the mix
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced Monday, April 5, that he is appointing police Deputy Director Mike Ryall as interim director effective immediately.
-
City of Memphis Fairgrounds financing, MLGW contract, trash troubles top council agenda
The April 6, council session includes a vote on $75 million in revenue bonds for the Fairgrounds renovation as well as a vote on the $520,000 contract to explore alternatives to TVA as MLGW’s electric power supplier. And council members review a month of vocal complaints about trash pickup.
-
City of Memphis Plan detailed for slowing Riverside Drive traffic
Memphis River Parks Partnership has city administration approval for a plan to slow traffic on Riverside Drive while keeping it open to auto traffic.
-
City of Memphis Mud Island preps for Memorial Day opening
The river park’s closing last year due to the pandemic allowed Memphis Parks Partnership to save some money that is going into improvements, such as repairing the Riverwalk and resodding the south lawn.
-
City of Memphis Behind the Headlines: Getting vaccine to the isolated
Rev. Keith Norman of Baptist Memorial Health Care and Meritan CEO Melanie Keller talked about the vaccine outreach to the homebound and homeless on “Behind The Headlines.”
-
Shelby County White says Germantown schools transfer bill gets all sides to the table
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.
-
City of Memphis MICAH calls on Strickland to open up police director selection process
Social justice group seeks to be part of the discussion and decisions about police reforms and the selection of the next Memphis Police director.
-
Update
City of MemphisCity disputes Waste Pro claim it rejected Good Friday pickups
The Thursday, April 1, press release from the company is the latest salvo in an exchange between the city and the company that went public last week.
-
Premium
ElectionsShelby GOP chairman won’t seek another term
Tutor says the next local party chairman has a chance to win back countywide offices in 2022 that Republicans lost due to what Tutor says was the result of anti-Trump sentiment.
-
City of Memphis Lawsuit cites six years of spotty garbage pickup in Cordova
Six Cordova homeowners have filed a civil lawsuit against the city and MLGW seeking $38.8 million in damages for a group of 35,000 households.
-
-
March 2021
-
City of Memphis MLGW board approves contract that gets TVA process back on track
The $520,000 consulting contract is a close but not exact match of the one the City Council rejected last October. The rejection stalled the process of considering an exit from TVA by six months. The new contract goes to the council for approval next week with price estimates due by the end of this year.
-
Shelby County Ford grant investigation poses broader questions
A February exchange of letters between County Mayor Lee Harris and County Commission Chairman Eddie Jones shows there are difficult questions about whether the legislative duties of Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. should be limited when he hasn’t been charged with a crime.
-
City of Memphis Strickland nominates county EOC administrator as city court judge
If approved by the Memphis City Council, Carolyn Watkins would fill the vacancy created by the January death of City Court Judge Teresa Jones.
-