The
story we ran today about the county mayoral campaign forum between interim mayor Joe Ford and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell touches on their differing approaches to the issue of consolidating the two governments of Memphis and Shelby County into one metropolitan government. The Memphis and Shelby County Metropolitan Charter Commission is charged with creating a metro charter, due in mid-August, that voters would consider in a pair of referenda on Nov. 2 -- voters in the city must give majority approval, and voters outside the city must give majority approval. The mayoral election is on the Aug. 5 ballot, before the Charter Commission must deliver its final charter language.
Because it can be such a volatile issue -- not to mention often misunderstood and manipulated -- it seems fair to publish fuller quotes from both candidates on the issue. In an intriguing twist, Ford is coming out completely against consolidation well ahead of seeing the charter, while Luttrell has said consistently -- going back to before he entered the mayor's race -- that he will wait to see the document before judging it on its merits.
Perhaps Ford believes he can pick off some votes in the suburbs on this issue alone. Perhaps he takes for granted those Democratic voters in Memphis who believe consolidation should at least be given serious consideration. And perhaps he's locking down loyalty from those African-American inner-city residents opposed to consolidation because they may see it as an attempt to dilute their voting power.
Conversely, perhaps Luttrell is so confident enough that the suburban Republicans most opposed to consolidation will never vote for a Ford that he can stay neutral on the issue through the end of the campaign without sustaining any damage. Luttrell also knows he needs to win votes from Democrats in Memphis, and one potential group to target would be middle-class and upper-class Memphis Democrats who support consolidation.
Of course, less cynically, both Ford and Luttrell could just be stating what they think is best for the county at this time, regardless of the political algebra.
Because consolidation can be such a volatile issue, I wanted to publish their fuller comments on the issue. First, from the beginning of the forum, on a question that asked about finding areas within the current structure of two large governments where there could be functional efficiencies:
FORD: My comment would be I'm against it, I don't believe it will pass and that's about where I'm going to leave it. I don't know how else to comment on something I am going to vote against.
LUTTRELL: You are going to hear me time and again come back to the importance of looking for efficiencies and cost savings to provide quality service. Every operation of county government should b closely scrutinized, first of all by the mayor and then the county commission, to determine how we can be more effective and more efficient. Consolidation is certainly a question that's on the table this year and it will be decided by the voters in November. But there are ways to look for efficiency other than consolidation. I think we've got to wait and see what the Charter Commission puts on the table, take a look at the merits of their argument. But if consolidation fails there are things that can be done in cooperation with city government to bring about efficiency. We've got to look at overlapping services, we've got to look at where we can consolidate or merge overlapping services and see if we can achieve efficiencies by cooperating with city government on issues that come before us.
Then, from the end, when Ford was given the chance to ask questions of Luttrell and chose just one:
FORD: Sheriff Luttrell, what is your view on consolidation and how will you vote? I can look everybody in the eye and tell you Joe Ford is against consolidation, period.
LUTTRELL: I have not been an advocate or a proponent of consolidation. One of the things we hear most often as a criticism of public officials is we don't listen. I've always prided myself on listening to what people have to say. Now we have a charter commission that is doing its due diligence right now, and I don't know what they are going to put on the table -- I honestly don't know what they are going to put on the table.
But the beauty of this whole issue of consolidation is Mayor Ford and Mayor Luttrell is not going to decide the issue of consolidation, the City Council and the County Commission are not going to decide the issue of consolidation. Consolidation will be decided by you, the voters. And I want to see what the Charter Commission puts on the table and then, like you, draw my conclusions. But to say you are against something and you don't even know what it is, to me is an injustice to the work that the County Commission and City Council have done, as well as the Charter Commission. We owe it to you the citizens to see what the Charter Commission proposes. I'm waiting to be convinced. At this point I'm not convinced. So let's wait and see what they have to say.
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