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If Greater Memphis is to progress from the poorest among 52
metropolitan areas of a million souls or more, if it is to reverse a
trend that has increased the number of vacant housing structures by 45
percent in three years, it must have leadership capable of unifying its
diverse elements across the eight-county area. The Oct. 15 special election to fill the remainder of former Mayor
Willie W. Herenton's unexpired term provides a chance to put
metropolitan Memphis on a unified path toward progress, and the best
candidate to fill that role is clear. The Commercial Appeal editorial board believes that Shelby County Mayor A C WHARTON offers
the best hope of not only calming the roiling waters of City Hall but
to bring the region together in the pursuit of common interests.
Make no mistake. This is a culturally and economically
interdependent region. It is vitally important to repair relationships
that have frayed as a result of Herenton's alienating style.
Wharton, a vigorous and healthy 65-year-old, is a former legal
services attorney and public defender who has accomplished much during
seven years as county mayor despite being saddled at his inauguration
with a $1.4 million debt load.
Among his accomplishments: an eventual reduction in that debt. He brims with ideas about how to intervene in the lives of this
community's at-risk youth and set them in a positive direction. But his
most appealing trait is that he is the best consensus builder among
candidates on the Oct. 15 ballot. Wharton tops the field with the relationships he has built
and his potential to build greater ties with entities beyond City Hall.
He is a successful collaborator not only in the suburbs but also in
state and federal government, the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan
Planning Program and the Obama Administration's Office of Urban
Affairs.
Through his pioneering role in initiatives such as Operation: Safe
Community, Sustainable Shelby and the effort to lower the community's
high rate of infant mortality, he has shown an understanding of what
must be done to reverse harmful trends and enhance the quality of life.
Not everyone agrees that the change Wharton represents is radical
enough for Memphis, or even real. To be successful, he must make it
clear that his administration is making a clean break from the past,
both in ethics and methods.
Transparency will be key as the city gets to know Wharton and the people around him better in their new roles.
He must be even more frugal than he has been. There are strict
limits on new sources of revenue, and a loss in an ongoing lawsuit that
has pitted city government against the Memphis City Schools could cost
the city tens of millions of dollars in his first year.
But Wharton has the most executive experience among the candidates,
he has the temperament to meet the city's short-term as well as its
long-term challenges, and his personal integrity has not been
successfully challenged.
To lead the city for the next two years and perhaps beyond, Wharton
is unmatched among these candidates in both qualifications and
abilities. At this point, the city needs his steady hand. |
