Over the last few years in Memphis, TN politics have taken a very ugly turn. the citizens of Memphis have seen countless elected officials be taken down by various corruption issues.
However, it seems that things can’t get better. They just continue to get worse. The Tennessee Waltz scandals brought down several state senators and representatives, plus many city level officials too. Then of course the head of the city’s power company had to resign due to controversy swirling around his head too. The Mayor of Memphis was not involved in these particular scandals, however, he has definitely had his own fair share of controversy over his tenure as head of the city of Memphis.
The Mayors latest scandal sure is a big one. Mayor Herenton of Memphis claims that several other prominent business men in Memphis planned to set up the Mayor in a sex scandal. They supposedly hired a former strip club waitress to have sex with Mayor Herenton and video record it in order to start a smear campaign to keep him out of office for another term. This all seems a bit outlandish to me personally. Of course, things like this do happen, however, there are plenty of bad things going on in the city of Memphis already that cast a bad light on the Mayor, no need to make up some fake story. On top of that, a few years back the Mayor admitted that he had fathered a child out of wedlock with a much younger woman. This didn’t seem to stop his political choke hold on Memphis, why would another sex scandal change that now? Mayor Herenton is calling for a full and thorough investigation into this sex plot. According to WMC-TV news in Memphis a special prosecutor has already been named in the case.
The mayor is running for re-election in the fall, and his numbers are down in the recent polls. his top competitor at this time is a City Council woman named Carol Chumney. She is not accused of participating the sex plot. However, she may be the one who suffers the most from the fall out of it. Is it possible that Mayor Herenton planned all of this on his own, to gain the sympathy of the Memphis voters? He is a big fan of the limelight. He even fought Smokin’ Joe Frasier in an event to raise money for a local college. Just as many times as he chastises the media for not leaving him alone, he will call press conferences to call more attention to himself again.
It is a never ending three ring circus! I guess that is just the nature of the beast that is Memphis politics. Of course, politics every where seems to be filled with controversy. It has become something that we just have to stomach in order to be well informed voters. Of course, you can’t just believe everything you hear either. You have to be prepared to weed through all of the negative campaigning and decide what exactly you believe in order to make an informed choice on who to vote for in each election.
The next Memphis election is scheduled for October 4. You can get more information regarding the upcoming elections in Memphis and the surrounding area by visiting www.shelbyvote.com.
As soon as Memphis finishes its local elections, then it will be time for voters to buckle down and start making decisions for the next President of the United States. Then all of the local campaign issues will be a thing of the past. If you are not registered to vote, make sure you register soon. Your voice needs to be heard in each and every election. One of my sayings is “if you don’t vote, then you can’t complain!” So register to vote, and help change the things that you don’t like about politics in Memphis, your town, and the country!
