Conceited Or Correct

I'm a Black man that loves the city of Memphis. I support Mayor Herenton because, I think he does too. That might not count for a lot, to those against him. It does to those concerned with the welfare of this city. I don't get that feeling with this recall, or the charter commission. This opposition is based on sour grapes. People that have been denied, or are in search of a position. I see them as undermining the present administration.

People outside of the community are pulling the puppet strings, of people in search of later rewards. The system of government in this city was set up long ago, to avoid what we have now. A city run by the majority, that happens to be Black to the dismay of some. Regardless of what your position is, naysayers are part of the aggravated few. Memphis will be just like South Africa, if those against the mayor have their way. The majority will be so divided. It will allow a weaker opponent, the oppurtunity to win.

Opponents of the mayor, blame him personally for the decrease in reserves. We propose there to only be about $500,000 left, in a fund that peaked at $70 million. Who was at the helm, during the time we accumulated those funds? The mayors opponents want to know where that money went. The money was spent, that's where it went. We had unexpected storms, and shortfalls in projections. Look at the number of property owners, that didn't pay their property taxes. If we had that money alone, we wouldn't be short. The mayor said it best, when he said. "Most people complaining, really have no idea about major finance". They can't even balance their own checkbooks. When Herenton took office there was only $3 million in the reserves. We hadn't built anything new then. If they had told you the city was in bad shape, in this past election. Not that it really is, just not in the shape it was. Who would you have voted for then? Nobody in the running, could have produced the money then or now. Who could or would make a difference? We would still be in as bad a shape, if not worse.

You can't keep taking money out, and not put anything in it's place. Eventually it will deplete itself. We don't want to cut anything, but we don't want to pay for anything either. What do you do, to replace a shrinking revenue base? You have all these people bragging, about living outside the city. Ask those same people where they work? They will tell you " the city of Memphis". Our population increases by 37% during the day. What does that tell you? If we had a percentage of money, that leaves on a daily basis. We wouldn't have a money shortage.

Those people the Mayor lashed out in his interview were deserving. They claim they haven't called him names, but they always refer to him as "King Willie". That's meant to be an insult. They use "King Willie" to talk about him. He uses " societal misfit", and "uninformed" to talk about them. You may not like his demeanor, or attitude. In all other accounts "Mayor Willie Herenton", has been this city's best.