When A C Wharton and his supporters come to the Hall of Mayors for today's noontime inauguration, they might look around at the portraits of all the city mayors who came before and ask: Has the City of Memphis ever had a truly great mayor with popularity that trascended race and socio-economic status? And if not, why not?
Generations of Memphians have taken history from University of Memphis historian Charles Crawford, and he often makes the point that the problems that plague Memphis, with roots dating back to the 19th Century, are so vast and complicated that even the best and boldest civic administration would have difficulty solving them. Each subsequent generation of Memphians -- and by Memphians we include all those who live in the eight-county Memphis metroplitan area -- wants to believe that problems just shot up out of the soil, but in fact things like deep-seated poverty, violent crime, lackluster universal public education and a low-wage low-skill job base have been here for a long time.
"He will run into the traditional Memphis problems that previous mayors have run into and that I won't say are impossible but are intractable," Crawford said in a story we have running today. "Some of these things are outside the capacity of anyone as mayor to solve."
Forget going through the entire roster of mayors, dating back to Marcus B. Winchester in 1827 (and who can forget William Spickernagle, 1841-42?), and just look at the four people elected mayor since City Council-Mayor structure began in 1968 and introduced what is known in public policy as the strong mayor form of governance.
That would be Henry Loeb, Wyeth Chandler, Dick Hackett and Willie Herenton. Supporters of all three could point to some successes, but with each of them, critics could point to the bottom line. To use a sports analogy, did any of those mayors provide championship-caliber leadership? And yet, excepting Loeb after his term began with the hardline mishandling of the sanitation workers strike, they kept getting elected, such that someone like your humble blogger, born in 1971, has had only four elected mayors run his hometown.
As Crawford puts it: "They've all passed it on to the new mayor with all those problems still unsolved."
So here's your question to begin a morning of transition: Can A C Wharton's administration rise above the "traditional Memphis problems?" Can Memphis have great mayor?
Answer: Yes. To be great, you need to have vision, a plan to achieve that vision, and the ability to get the plan accomplished. Wharton appears to have what it takes. As a Memphian by choice, I am rooting for him.
It's hard to break the cycle of deep-seated social and economic problems. A break down in the family and a lackluster school system are at the heart of the problem.
Drugs, teen parents, bad parenting/bad role models/gangs, family violence, lack of parental support for education, etc. are some of the principal causes that have led to the overall dysfunction.
Government cannot make people behave decently or be responsible, decent, loving, supportive parents. 201 Poplar is full of criminals/sociopaths, who in many cases, have parents who failed them miserably.
"Great" would have to be used very loosely to describe any Memphis mayor. If it must be applied I would pin it on E H Boss Crump and Dr Willie Herenton. Both men faced huge obstacles during their times.
Dr Herenton's obstacles were mainly racially based. He was hounded by a bigoted news media throughout his tenure, but he lead Memphis from Antebellum to the 21th century. He kicked down many doors. Consequently, AC Warton has a fair chance to be great.
Boss Crump took control of a backwater river town and started it on the road to functionality. He brought efficient and economical government to Memphis. Crump was later forced to resign because he would not enforce prohibition laws.
The service that both of these mayors gave Memphis was the best of all the mayors, in my humble but weighed opinion.
We can also show the Southern manners that us Memphians are known for. Calling our mayor by his first name is insulting and a display of bigotry.
No Memphis mayor was ever called by his first name before Dr. Herenton. This practice is being lead by the news media as dispayed by Zack McMillin, the writer of this blog.