News

On Tuesday, February 23^rd, the East Shelby Republican Club welcomed guest speakers Tom Guleff and Ron Williams as they spoke about the current push by many local leaders to consolidate Memphis and Shelby County governments.

Guleff and Williams are the founders of SaveShelbyCounty.org. They have been speaking to various groups on the facts, figures, the good, the bad, and the ugly concerning consolidation.

Guleff and Williams spoke on the topic of consolidation from all angles. Attendees were enlightened on the topic of the Charter Commission. One key point was that one person, Mayor Wharton, as county mayor and now as Memphis mayor, nominated all of the 15 persons to serving on the board. They are tasked to create a charter to combine Memphis and Shelby County into one large government entity. Their recommendation will, in all likelihood, be put to a vote on the November 2 ballot.

This vote also raised some controversy as the legality of the current balloting is being questioned by some pro-consolidation groups. Under the current system, consolidation would require approval by city residents on one ballot and non-city residents (“county voters”) on a separate vote. In essence both sides have to agree, but city resident votes would not be counted in the county total. Some pro-consolidation groups want to have this thrown out so that city votes would count in both the city and the county, virtually guaranteeing approval of consolidation regardless of the non-city resident approval/disapproval.

Another issue discussed was why the governments should consolidate. Guleff and Williams pointed out several things that politicians are citing for reasons to consolidate. Among them are: more efficiency, cost-savings, and more attraction of businesses. Guleff and Williams debunked these reasons as well as others while walking the crowd through an effective presentation. The presenters took questions from the audience at the end of the presentation.

For more information on consolidation, please visit the SaveShelbyCounty.org website or to schedule them to meet your group.