Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton reached out to another candidate this week in the growing special election to replace Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton.
County Commissioner James Harvey, who has officially become a candidate, said when he met with Wharton Wednesday at the Little Tea Shop, the county mayor did not explicitly ask him to drop out of the race. Instead, Wharton proposed the two collaborate on an economic development project in an area of Harvey's interest.
"We had a little discussion about potentially my not running in the race and instead working on a special project with the mayor addressing some of the under-served issues with small business," said Harvey, a former mortgage lender and chair of the commission's economic development committee.
"We didn't talk about any special deal, we didn't talk about being compensated," Harvey added. "We talked about a business partnership that was in the interest of the growth I would like to see."
Harvey gave no indication that Wharton's "proposal" would be enough to lure him out of the special election.
"At some point I may change my mind, but right now I'm in the race," Harvey said.
Wharton did not return calls seeking comment.
The meeting at the Little Tea Shop occurred one day after Wharton said he was "troubled" by the growing field of potential candidates - as many as 15 -- who could split the votes in the special election to replace Herenton. He said Tuesday that he would be open to meeting with fellow candidates to discuss best plans for the city.
Harvey said Wharton is smart to try for a partnership with him. The county mayor might have the backing of the business community, but "the people in my district are not ranting and raving for AC."
Harvey won 4,724 votes in the 2006 Democratic primary (his general race was uncontested), a base which, Harvey says, could siphon away votes from Wharton in the South Memphis district.
"Mayor Wharton has been smart trying to partner with some of the candidates in the race so at the end of the day there's only one," Harvey said.
"Wharton did not return calls seeking comment."
That just can't bode well for the paper and the public.
Newspaper articles refer to Herenton as "slick Willie". Maybe, it's time to call AC "slick".
Damn, that sound's so easy if you think about it.