Memphis Mayor A C Wharton's administration issued a press release today, unveiling the participants and names of his transition team's subcommittees.
"These subcommittees represent many of the priorities of my administration," Wharton said in the release. "The people leading and serving on these committees will lay the important groundwork necessary to make Memphis the world class city we all know it can be."
The committee members will spend up to 90 days reviewing the current status of divisions, offices and programs that fall under their area of focus, said Mike Carpenter, Transition Team co-chair, in the release.
"They are to look at each department through the lens of the Mayor's platform, identify gaps and make recommendations for the most efficient way to begin implementing that vision," Carpenter said. "All of that must be completed by swiftly approaching deadlines established by the transition team."
The subcommittees appointed by Mayor Wharton include:
Education & Early Childhood:
Chair -Tomeka Hart, Memphis City School Board Commissioner;
Nisha Powers, President, Powers Hill Design;
Diane Rudner, Chair, Plough Foundation
Workforce and Economic Development: Chair - Wei Chen, CEO, Sunshine Enterprises, Inc.; Jose Velazquez, former Executive Director of Latino Memphis; Howard Richardson, Political Director, Memphis AFL-CIO Labor Council; Douglas Scarboro, Director of Community Engagement, Leadership Academy
Diversity Business Development: Chair - Darrell Cobbins, President & CEO of Universal Commercial; Nisha Powers, President, Powers Hill Design; Darrell Thomas, Chairman/CEO Thomas Consultants, Inc.
Legal: Herman Morris, City Attorney
Human Resources: Chair -- Cato Johnson, Senior Vice President, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; Vice-Chair -- Linda Carter, Managing Director Human Resource Services & Diversity, FedEx; Shannon Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Fed Ex ; Carol Ross-Spang, Senior Vice President Human Resources, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; Peter Corriveau - former, Human Resources Representative, Fed Ex; Martha Thomas - former, Managing Director Human Resources, Fed Ex
Government Efficiency: Chair - Ed Ford, Jr., Memphis City Council; Paul Morris, Attorney, Martin, Tate & Morrow; Lois Stockton, CEO, The Nail Station
Great Neighborhood Initiatives: Chair - Dwight Montgomery, President & CEO Memphis Chapter of SCLC; Bobby White, Chief of Staff for Mayor A C Wharton; James Nelson, Special Asst. to the Mayor for Youth and Neighborhoods
Public Safety: Chair - Mike Carpenter, Shelby County Commissioner; Cato Johnson, Senior Vice President, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; Paul Morris, Attorney, Martin, Tate & Morrow
Finance: Co-Chair - Steve Reynolds, President & CEO, Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation; Co-Chair - Doug Edwards, Regions Morgan Keegan
Tomeka Hart Chairing the Education Committee is like the Fox guarding the Hen House. She's the head of what has proven to be an incompetent School Board that has been lax in the oversight of the MCS Administration and Kriner Cash's activities and then they give the guy a $10 K bonus on top of his exhorbitant salary.
Wharton should have made her Chair of something else, in a way that's a conflict of interest.