Memphis mayoral race: candidates face questions on MPD chief, consolidation, abortion
Five candidates for Memphis mayor said that, if elected, they would support a 13-member, single district city council.
They were split on other issues, including whether conversations about Memphis and Shelby County becoming a consolidated government would be “on the table” for their administrations and whether they would choose to reappoint Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis.
In a roughly three-hour long debate at First Congo Thursday night, the candidates — five of 13 who have so far declared for the October election — answered questions about labor, the environment, economic development, police relations and abortion, sometimes to audience cheers or derision.
“I’m running to be your mayor because I believe in this city,” said Paul Young, president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission and one of the candidates. “I believe our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. … I believe that Memphis deserves to have the next generation of leadership as the mayor: new ideas, innovation, bringing people together to solve these problems that have been plaguing us for years.”
The five candidates present were: Business owner Daniel Abston, Memphis City Councilman Frank Colvett, Former Shelby County Commissioner and businessman J.W. Gibson II, trucking company owner Reggie Hall and Young.
State Rep. Karen Camper and Former Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner, also president of the local branch of the NAACP, had planned to attend but were unable.
The other six candidates who have so far declared a run for mayor are:
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner
Former Criminal Court judge and television personality Joe Brown
Former County Commissioner James Harvey
Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton
School Board Commissioner Michelle McKissack
Advanced medical technician Hastina Robinson
Consolidation “on the table” for some candidates
On whether the city and county should consolidate, Colvett said that he’s seen consolidation in Nashville and that it hasn’t actually resulted in efficiencies, but has instead resulted in a massive and “unwieldy” council.
“The consolidation in theory that saves you and me, the taxpayers, saves us money by cutting out the duplication doesn’t seem to happen,” Colvett said, adding that he would “entertain the question” if there was evidence that consolidation would save taxpayer dollars.
Gibson, who served on the consolidated government committee when it was last seriously considered, said consolidation is “a worthwhile conversation to be had.”
While he supports the idea, Young said consolidation would not be a priority for his administration, since the city and county have distinct roles and he is interested in focusing on the day-to-day roles of trash service, paving, blight remediation and code enforcement that falls to the city.
Abston said he did not know enough about consolidation to address the topic.
Hall, however, enthusiastically embraced the idea, saying consolidation would lead to the area becoming “one community.”
No candidate committed to MPD Chief Davis
Two of the candidates said they would not commit to either retain or fire current police chief Davis after the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died three days after being brutally beaten by Memphis police officers.
“What I will say to you is when you think about this event that has caused (calls) for her firing, those things that were done right were the things the chief did, the quick action on releasing the film, the quick action on determining what was gonna happen to those police officers,” said Gibson.
Similarly, Young said he wouldn’t “promise hires and won’t promise fires.”
“Whoever is our chief of police is going to have that as their charge, how can we ensure that our police officers are building relationships in our community, how can we be more efficient in our policing, how can we use technology in ways we haven’t done in the past, those are things I want to see in our police chief,” Young said.
In contrast, Colvett said he would replace Davis, launching a national search. He would also hold community forums for anyone he proposed as the next chief, and wants someone “very well versed in community policing.”
Abston and Hall also said they would not support Davis’ continuation as police chief.
“When you have successes, it's not from the top, you step aside and let the people behind you shine. When they fail, you fail and you accept the failure,” Abston said.
Abortion, homelessness, school funding also topics of debate
Other highlights of the debate included:
Gibson said his most impactful work of 2022 was working on the South Memphis TIF, which allows for improvements in that neighborhood to be funded with future tax revenues as the community develops.
Colvett said that if elected, he would work with officials in Nashville to ensure that Memphis receives a greater share of tax dollars, putting that towards issues such as homelessness, mental illness and transit.
Several of the candidates said both more police officers and more training are needed. Hall, however, also suggested replacing tactical units with “more of an intelligence unit, something kind of like the CIA that may or may not be run or operated by police officers.”
Young said that he would work with advocacy organizations and legislators to remove the state’s abortion ban, which was triggered with the reversal of Roe v. Wade. “My goal as mayor is to make sure I’m talking to those legislators behind the scenes so they understand the impact they’re having on the women and the lives that are being lost as a result of their decisions,” Young said.
None of the candidates voiced support for the city funding Memphis-Shelby County Schools, but stressed that the city should be involved in education through collaborative efforts, community centers, after-school programs and more.
Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Five candidates for Memphis mayor face tough questions at 'Forum for All'
