There are 137 article(s) tagged Martavius Jones:

• March 2020

  • City Council online meeting features minority-business spending clash

    No one was at City Hall for the meeting which was all on-line except for roll call votes by voice on matters for an institution that has had electronic voting for nearly 40 years.

    By Bill Dries March 25, 2020

  • City Council: Grants process to remain unchanged ... for now

    For now, the city council will keep its ground rules for dispensing $2.6 million in grant money at $200,000 per council member. But the council continues to battle what is a longer line of organizations seeking a limited amount of money. 

    By Bill Dries, Linda A. Moore March 09, 2020

  • Move to take city residency referendum off ballot fails again

    After coming up short in council committee two weeks ago, a move to take a referendum on residency for police and firefighters off the November ballot died Tuesday, March 3, with a full city council vote.

    By Bill Dries March 04, 2020

• February 2020

  • Questions surrounding MLGW break from TVA surface at meeting

    Those who will make a recommendation on whether the Memphis utility supplier should cut ties with the TVA want a scenario on switching to Midcontinent Independent System Operator included in the research.

    By Bill Dries February 27, 2020

  • Inventory of old projects could ease some of city’s budget tension

    The roundup of line items with relatively small amounts of money comes as the Strickland administration offers its first details of what the coming city budget proposal will include in a "tight" budget season at City Hall.

    By Bill Dries February 20, 2020

  • Looks like voters can decide residency rules for police, firefighters

    A proposal for a broader residency requirement for Memphis police and firefighters will remain on the November ballot citywide. City Council members settled the matter Tuesday after a debate that rolled across the first six weeks of the new council's term of office.

    By Bill Dries February 19, 2020

  • Sanford: Put the police residency requirement to a vote

    The unspoken sentiment behind objections to relaxing residency rules appears to be the prospect that white officers from small towns in North Mississippi, West Tennessee and Eastern Arkansas would be policing unfamiliar territory in North Memphis, South Memphis and Orange Mound.

    By Otis Sanford February 13, 2020

• January 2020

  • Most of Strickland second-term team approved by council

    A slate of 15 city division directors and chiefs were approved Tuesday, Jan. 21, by the Memphis City Council after a two-week delay and several attempts by some on the council to further delay the vote Tuesday.

    By Bill Dries January 21, 2020

  • Jones to attempt removing residency referendum from November ballot

    The ballot question on broader residency for Memphis fire and police officers was approved by the council that left office at the end of December. During council committee discussions Tuesday, some of the six new members who joined the council this month had a chance to weigh in on the matter.

    By Bill Dries January 21, 2020

  • New City Council delays OK of Strickland’s slate of directors, chiefs

    The second-term slate of 13 Jim Strickland administration directors and chiefs drew some resistance from several council members in committee sessions Tuesday at City Hall. The decision to delay the vote on the slate for two weeks saw some of the new council members on different sides of the question at their first council meeting.

    By Bill Dries January 07, 2020

• November 2019

  • Residency proposal changes, new members at City Council

    The council approved a November 2020 referendum on a residency requirement for police and fire fighters Tuesday on the first of three votes. 

    By Bill Dries November 21, 2019

  • Third attempt at multi-year MLGW rate hikes prompts questions

    City council members got their first look at not only the MLGW budget that includes rate hikes but the efficiency study that is being used to leaven the impact of the rate hikes. The council reviews all of it again in two weeks and could also vote at the Nov. 19 council session.

    By Bill Dries November 05, 2019

• October 2019

  • Behind the Headlines Podcast: Memphis City Council

    City Council members Martavius Jones and Gerre Currie discuss police residency, the sales tax referendum and more with Bill Dries, reporter for the Daily Memphian, and Eric Barnes, host.

    By Natalie Van Gundy October 25, 2019

  • Jones and Currie say restoration of fire and police benefits is iffy, could involve property tax hike

    Two Memphis city council members say they have doubts about restoring city pension and health benefits to police officers and firefighters with a half-cent sales tax hike approved by city voters earlier this month.

    By Bill Dries October 24, 2019

  • Council delays votes on Memphis 3.0, art regulations

    The city council delayed final votes Tuesday on two measures.

    By Bill Dries October 15, 2019

  • Residency issue has been recurring for 16 years at City Hall

    At their first session since the Oct. 3 city election day, city council members take up a familiar issue -- residency requirements. A new proposal would allow police and fire brass to hire outside Shelby County if voters approve it in a November 2020 referendum. It would be the third residency referendum in 16 years.

    By Bill Dries October 15, 2019

  • Full-time city legal officer ordinance delayed after surprises in draft

    A proposed ordinance requiring the city’s chief legal officer to work full time for the city included a few surprises.

     

    By Bill Dries October 01, 2019

  • City Council members talk over city’s chief legal officer post

    Memphis City Council members will talk more Tuesday in committee sessions about a proposal to require all city division directors to be full-time city employees.

    By Bill Dries October 01, 2019

• August 2019

  • Foote Homes’ first phase nears completion

    Three council members took a look around the new Foote Park at South City Tuesday with plenty of questions and discussion around the larger issue of how to keep the city's development boom from displacing Memphians.

    By Bill Dries August 07, 2019

  • Some on council question city’s $3M toward tennis center expansion

    The city's $3 million commitment to the $19 million undertaking would come from a source some city council members say could have been tapped for other priorities.

    By Bill Dries August 07, 2019

• July 2019

  • Allen takes broader view in council Super District bid

    Cat Allen, a first-time contender in the City Council's Super District 8, sees a wave of progressive candidates for the council and has some concerns about what's happening in Super District 9, which is just a few blocks from her home.

    By Bill Dries July 29, 2019

• June 2019

  • Council delays Graceland vote, warns EPE against changing terms

    Memphis City Council members delayed a vote Tuesday setting up Tourism Development Zone funding to partially finance an $80 million expansion of Graceland.

    By Bill Dries June 18, 2019

  • City Council could finalize 2019-2020 budget Tuesday

    Two council members expressed concerns last week about the Strickland administration's "brilliant at the basics" philosophy, but that probably won't affect votes on a 4% raise for police and firefighters. 

    By Bill Dries June 04, 2019

• May 2019

  • Memphis budget season offers different path to resolution

    The city council still has some difficult decisions to make. But past budget seasons show there is also still some compromise possible between what the mayor proposed and what the council decided last week.

    By Bill Dries May 25, 2019

  • City budget proposal could grow by $6 million

    The Memphis City Council votes Tuesday on recommendations from seven impasse committees, and that could leave the city's budget for the new fiscal year in the red.

    By Bill Dries May 19, 2019