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Thursday, January 11, 2007

Always Fishing For Votes


Last night I had a conversation with Councilman Myron Lowery (dist. 8 pos. 3) himself. I always had a respect for Mr. Lowery because I thought he was his own man. I always expected him to vote his conscious even though it may have been unpopular. Many of those unpopular instances I agreed with him. He usually plays the role of the mediator. Which in the Black community draws accusations of you being a sell-out. That's not the extent of the names he's called, but that'll do for now.

Unfortunately after last nights conversation, he fell down the ladder a couple of rungs. I asked him what he thought of the Mayor and Sheriffs new proposals. He didn't answer he just danced around the question. He said the Mayor has vision for the city and he didn't know how we were going to raise the money. He said he hadn't seen any concrete plans for the jail. He needed to see that first. How many times have they supported something before they had the money. We already know that, neither has anyone else. That still didn't tell us how he felt. Another listener called and cornered him for a straight answer. He finally admitted he didn't think we needed a new jail, but he didn't say anything about the stadium.I didn't expect him to be so elusive. He caught me off guard.

Then I considered where he was. Why would he be on WLOK at 10 o'clock at night? Where maybe 200 people heard what he said, 100 of those don't remember. He knew most people listening to the radio would be tuned to WDIA. He was only prepared to answer the questions of people that listen to that show. He can say one thing on there, something else somewhere else.

I can't help but remember what the Mayor said about the city council once. He said none of them were capable of leading the city of Memphis. There are some that I wouldn't even consider based on past performance. While listening to him last night I saw the Mayors point. You can't depend on what he says, because he's always fishing for votes.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:01 PM

    He has the annual prayer breakfast where he serves chitterlings. That's good for several thousand votes.

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  2. He's the consummate politician. When I spoke with him about a particular issue. I saw what the Mayor was speaking about. He always plays it safe. Memphis doesn't need that kind of leader. He would never get anything done.

    That's not necessarily a bad thing. Every leader needs a supporting cast. Everybody can't be a chief, we need some Indians.

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