Although Carol Chumney is not letting any opportunity pass to question Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton's record as mayor and desire to "quit," as she calls it, the hottest exchange came between Wharton and Charles Carpenter.
Carpenter took issue with Wharton for saying: "We implemented a debt reduction plan, and I am proud to say that our debt for the first time in a long time is going down."
Carpenter pointed out that county debt stood around $1.2 billion in 2002 when Wharton was elected and is now at $1.8 billion.
"I don't understand how Mayor Wharton can say debt is going down," Carpenter said.
Wharton explained that much of the debt he had inherited had been backloaded for maximum profit and that "Mr.Carpenter was involved in some of those bond deals with some of those bond daddies."
The exchange generated the only real buzz from the room during the hour-long debate.
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