Mayor Willie Herenton is a man misunderstood by the very people he is trying to help. How do you expect our city to remain up to date if we never do like other cities and build anything new? Whatever the mayor suggests is met with cynicism and is undermined simply because it's his idea. Those who disagree always offer everything in protest but a viable solution. His latest suggestion of building a new convention center has been dismissed by some citizens as being a waste of their money. Even though the mayor has said it won't cost the taxpayers any money. There are those basing their disapproval of the plan on their distrust of him. Rather than base it on the end result. What he's saying is not weird science. It has been proven that we can pay for a project of this nature, as evidenced by the Cannon Center.
The time has come for us to go to the next level in our expectations for the city. Memphis is the 17th largest city in the entire country. And that's making a claim a whole lot of other cities can't make. Since we are not just a one red light town. Why should we be antiquated in our desires for development of the city of Memphis? People love to talk about what they seen somewhere else. Not stopping to think we could have the same thing here. In a city this size there are any number of projects going on or on the books at any time. The mayor has a long history of success in business and politics. Is it fair or even a miscarriage of justice to scrutinize every contract entered into with somebody he knows?The only thing Mayor Herenton is guilty of is knowing a wealthy black man who has made some lucrative investments in this city. Elvin W. Moon owns an engineering firm that has received over $700,000 in no bid city contracts. Obviously he must be doing a good job. I must ask this question though. Is Mayor Daly of Chicago grilled when one of his associates signs a deal with the city of Chicago? I can't help but think it has something to do with race. Nobody questioned it when Justin Timberlake invested in Stax recording studios, even though he never spent five minutes in their studios. It was solely based on inside knowledge he obtained due to his popularity and connections. This is just more of the same. As long as we are getting what we pay for. There should be no problem. Probing will uncover nothing.
I don't believe it's about race but then again what do I know.
ReplyDeleteThe fishy land deal Willy has had with Moon and the antics of Willy makes me think theres soemething he's hiding. Then there is the Reginald French Computer deals and some of the others things that have been disclosed that gives the appearance Willy can be bought.
If it was just this Greyhound deal then that in itself is nothing, it's all his other actions and eals that he has done that makes him look guilty.
Maybe he's not corrupt, maybe he's just a really bad politician who makes really bad decisions and oozes of cronyism, odd behavior and racist remarks.
Alot of people against the Convention deal is becasue they dont believe Willy and what good is a new Convention Center when crime is out of cotnrol.
People are leaving Memphis for a more safe environment to raise there family. What buisness in there right mind would really want to hold a Convention in such a high crime city.
This isn't "Field of Dreams". We may build it and no one may come is the more likely scenario
People that don't support the Mayor usually don't think it's racial. That would make him right about a lot of the things he claims.
ReplyDeleteEverybody uses their connection when it's to their advantage. The Mayor is being judged by the actions of others that just happen to be in the mix. I think Reginald French is a personal friend of the Mayor. Who benefits from being in his circle. His good fortune is a direct result of that relationship. I don't blame him.
The Greyhound deal is what we're talking about right now. The Mayor has been through the coals and still came up clean. It seems like we think if we call him corrupt often enough, sooner or later it will stick.
The Mayor is a man who has found out that you can't please everybody no matter what you do. I just think he has decided to stick with those who support him, and forget about those who don't.
A new Convention Center has little to do with crime. Crime is taking place in the neighborhoods between friends and relatives. If we build a bigger Convention Center, bigger groups will come.
People in Memphis do themselves a disservice claiming crime is so bad here. I submit crime is no worse here than it is in any other major city. It has become a catch phrase for people who have moved away.
This is just something I ran across. It has nothing to do with the story, but it pertains to my earlier commment.
ReplyDelete1 dead after robbery attempt in Horn Lake
Man shot, killed outside home; roommate not hurt
By William C. Bayne (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Horn Lake recorded its third homicide of the year over the weekend when assailants shot and killed a man during a robbery attempt at the victim's home Sunday morning, according to police.
Officers Monday said Juan P. Corral, 27, was shot several times in the chest after he tried to fight during the armed robbery attempt on Kentbrook in the Fairfield Meadows subdivision.
Police were called at 3:38 a.m. Sunday.
Lt. Troy Rowell of the Horn Lake Police Department said Corral, who sometimes went by the last name of Corral-Jiminez, and a roommate had pulled into their driveway after a night out.
"As they exited the vehicle, they were approached by two men, one man approaching the two separately. The suspects spoke Spanish. They asked where another man was, but neither (Corral) nor his roommate knew the man."
Rowell said Corral's roommate walked toward the front door and one of the suspects approached him holding a small handgun.
"The gunman demanded that he give him his wallet," Rowell said. "When he said he did not have his wallet with him, the gunman ordered him to the rear of the vehicle and told him to lie down on the ground."
At that time, Rowell said the roommate saw Corral and the other suspect fighting in a neighboring yard.
"When the gunman went to help the second suspect, the roommate fled from the scene," he said.
The gunman fired a shot at Corral, who continued trying to fight the two suspects. The fight spilled into the street and as it did, the gunman fired several more shots at Corral.
Michelle Stammers, a neighbor, said Corral tapped on her window, seeking help.
She said she ran outside and found him lying face down, inches from her front door.
"I tried to shake him, to get him to respond, but there was no response, nothing, just a gargling sound," she said.
Stammers said Corral had been shot two times on both sides of his chest. She said he had also been stabbed once in the shoulder and hit in the head with a brick, part of a yard decoration in her front yard.
DeSoto County Coroner Jeffery Pounders, who identified Corral, said he could not confirm whether he had been stabbed and struck with a brick.
"I do not have even the preliminary autopsy yet. I know he was shot four times in the chest, but I cannot comment on any other injuries," he said.
Rowell said Corral and his roommate had been to a Latino bar near Lamar and Interstate 240 in Memphis.
He said the gunman and his accomplice fled in a small, dark, four-door passenger car.
"The vehicle was said to have had damage to the front end and to the passenger's side," he said.
He asked that anyone with information about the robbery-murder call Horn Lake police at (662) 393-6174 or DeSoto County Crimestoppers at (662) 429-TIPS (8477).
The three slayings so far this year follow two consecutive years with none in Horn Lake. The last slaying involving people who were not related occurred in 2003.
I don't think it's about race either.
ReplyDeleteI'm no fan of the mayor, Common, but you do have a point -- if they have something on him, they need to indict him or move on. This has been going on for years -- enough is enough.
Is there murder and crime in other cities, of course? You say no worse than in other cities than I guess the rest of the cities are ranked #1 and 2 in violent crimes just like Memphis.
ReplyDeleteI can understand if the Mayor wants to surround himself with friends however if you give no bid contracts and awards to friends just because there friends you don’t find that unethical and wrong?
Are you saying because I don’t support him and think it's racial then the Mayor must be right and it is? I'm lost on your take on that or maybe I am miss-understanding what you are saying.
Everything it seems with the Mayor is racial; if someone disagrees then it's racial. If someone doesn’t like him then it's racial. If he's asked a hard question by the press it's racial. His entire re-election campaign was about race but then he calls for racial healing.
If the Mayor is using his influence and power to help his friends that’s really no different than what John Ford has done.
Yes were talking about the Greyhound deal but because of the Mayors past dealings it seems to show a pattern of miss-use. Notice I said seems to show, I never said he is flat out guilty but if it walks like a duck, smells like a duck and talks like duck well then you know the rest
I'm no fan of the mayor, Common, but you do have a point -- if they have something on him, they need to indict him or move on. This has been going on for years -- enough is enough.
ReplyDeleteThe Feds take there time, looka that Senator or Congressman from La. the birbe money in his freezer but yet it took over a year after that to indict him and has yet to go to trial.
I'm not saying the Mayor will be indicted just that the Feds move along at there own pace and dont seem to hurry things