A local expert on the Memphis charter says there is nothing to indicate that City Council chairman Myron Lowery cannot serve both on the council and as the Mayor pro tem.
Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said this morning he plans on deferring his resignation until July 30 and wants questions answered, including whether it's appropriate for Lowery to hold the office of interim mayor and his council seat at the same time.
Rhodes political science professor Stephen Wirls has an answer: It is appropriate and there is nothing in the Memphis charter indicating that Lowery cannot serve as both interim mayor and council member.
"There shouldn't be any questions, the charter is very clear," said Wirls, a charter expert who advised the Memphis Charter Commission and the City Council on charter amendments approved recently by voters.
Wirls' comments stand in stark contrast to an opinion issued earlier today by City Council attorney Allan Wade, that said Lowery could not simultaneously serve on both the council and in the mayor's office. Instead, Lowery's council seat would be "frozen" until a special election determined the next mayor.
Wirls called that opinion Wade's "invention."
Wirls said the charter clearly states that if the Memphis mayor resigns, the mayor's office "shall be occupied by the chairman of the City Council" until a special election within 90 days.
"That phrasing suggests that that person shall serve on the City Council," Wirls said. "There's no suggestion there that if he occupies the office, he must no longer be a member of the City Council."
Wirls said the interim mayor did not fall under the same rules as the regularly elected mayor, meaning the same standards of separation of power do not apply.
"The mayor pro tem isn't the ordinary mayor," Wirls said. "It's a special position to accommodate in the best way possible an extraordinary circumstance that a mayor leaves mid-term. The reason behind putting the council chair in is you want someone in that temporary position who understands what's been going on in city government, who can pick up and run the city."
Commenting on whether the council could block Herenton from resigning on July 30 instead of July 11, Wirls said that may be difficult to do.
The charter says nothing about what counts as a resignation, meaning the city council will have a difficult time compelling the mayor to resign early.
"There's nothing in the charter that establishes a letter or statement or anything as binding in any way," Wirls said.
