Posted on 01/05/2004 8:35:13 PM PST by GailA
Yes, others can do job, officials tell Herenton
By Tom Bailey Jr.
Contact
January 3, 2004
Despite Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton's opinion that he alone is qualified to be mayor, there's plenty of political talent around town, other local officials said Friday.
Many people, both on the City Council and elsewhere, have shown they have the ability to run the government, state Sen. Roscoe Dixon said.
"I think A C (Wharton Jr.) has done a great job in the short time he's been county mayor. . . . I think there's just an ample number of people who are qualified to provide leadership to this city," Dixon said.
"We have talent in Memphis," new City Council member Carol Chumney said.
"I disagree with the mayor," Councilman Myron Lowery said. "I think there are many qualified individuals in this community."
Lowery described Herenton as "frank and honest, and you have to respect an individual who would tell it as he sees it.
"In government, we can respectfully disagree."
Herenton said Thursday that God has called him to be the Memphis mayor.
God has given him a vision for the city, he said.
"The God we serve doesn't give everybody a vision. Everybody doesn't see what I see," he told 540 people attending his Inaugural Prayer Brunch on New Year's Day.
The mayor admitted to having an ego, but offered no apologies.
"I'm not arrogant, I'm confident," he said in his speech.
". . .But if you are a leader you must have some ego."
When a reporter asked later if he plans to seek another term after this unprecedented fourth consecutive term, Herenton said he already has logged a lot of years serving Memphis.
He was superintendent of Memphis City Schools 12 years. He's been mayor 12 years so far.
Herenton noted that he's 63 years old. But then he said there isn't another "elected official in the City of Memphis I would have confidence in doing this job."
No other elected Memphis official has the vision, the management skills and the political courage, he said.
He cited the failure to achieve consolidation of Shelby County and Memphis schools and government, which he favors, as due to a lack of political courage in other elected officials.
"Part of being the mayor is getting the job done," Chumney said.
"If we don't have consolidated government - I know Mayor Herenton has advocated for it but hasn't got it done - pushing the blame off on other elected officials is easy to do," she said.
Chumney, who left her state representative's seat to run for City Council, also disagreed with Herenton's assessment of elected officials in the city.
Besides, his opinion is "pretty much irrelevant" at the beginning of his four-year term, she said. "A lot is going to happen between 2004 and 2007."
Wharton's spokesman, Susan Adler Thorp, said, "The best response for Mayor Wharton would be that the people of Shelby County elected him as their mayor overwhelmingly and based on the information we have here they continue to accept him now as they did when they elected him. And he's going to stay the course."
City Councilman E.C. Jones credits Herenton for being self-confident. But if Herenton, Jones or any other elected official were to pass away tonight, Jones said, "this city would move right on."
". . . It's not going to stop because Willie Herenton is not mayor."
- Tom Bailey Jr.: 529-2388
KING WILLIE has a REAL BIG EGO problem.
We who live in the County DON'T want consolidation. Memphis has the worst schools in the state!
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Wisconsin | 321.00 |
6 |
53.50 |
245 |
1.31 |
173.00 |
11 |
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