Reached on Monday, City of Memphis chief administrative officer Jack Sammons was in Ponte Vedre, Fla., to visit with PGA Tour officials about Memphis's event, the St. Jude Classic. Sammons is chairman of Youth Programs, Inc., the board which is running the tournament again after Stanford Financial's collapse, and he was with tournament director Phil Cannon.
Sammons confirmed that he had been contacted by Shelby County Commissioners as well as people outside the commission about standing as a candidate for county mayor, but insisted he felt it was premature to talk in detail about the possibility so long as "two qualified" commissioners (Joe Ford and J.W. Gibson II) remained standing as candidates.
But Sammons, who was appointed CAO by former Memphis Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery and awaits new mayor A C Wharton's decision on his fulltime CAO, did not run away from the idea.
"My attitude is until the internal contests have either been completed or exhaused I'm not interested in talking about it," Sammons said. "The Shelby County Commissioners have a leg up. They've lived county government and they have a better point of reference."
And here's where it's important to pay close attention: "But if they can't obtain the votes, then on that long list of alternative candidates, you could include my name."
Sammons is a Republican but has cultivated a reputation as a political maverick, often voting against his party and even, in the 1990s, running as an independent against Jim Rout for county mayor -- an act which came with punitive consequenes from his party. Sammons has won respect and credibility for his work as CAO, though it appears less likely with each day that passes that Wharton will retain him past the 90-day transition period.
Sammons has always been very accessible and candid with the press, so it is probably not fair to read too much into his comments, but certainly he sounded on Monday like someone open to the idea of landing a new job. He said he is proud of his reputation as someone who can work well with Democratic or Republican politicians and inner-city and suburban representatives.
"It's been my history of working with people on both sides of the aisle," Sammons said. "At this point I'm on this trip working on St. Jude (Classic) business, I'm not too actively involved in trying to secure this appointment."
He added that he would not seek to run in the 2010 countywide elections: "The sun has set on my days as an aspiring politician who would run in a countywide race. I have too much interest in staying married to pursue that."
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