The Memphis Police Union cheapens the value and importance of our law officers these days by positioning itself largely as a special interest group rather than an organization representing dedicated public servants.
New Council member Lee Harris, like many novice members before him, defaulted to political rhetoric about misplaced priorities in the city budget before participating in his first budget process and better understanding how major projects are financed.
It’s as if there should be a financial primer that can be shared with every appointed and elected official in city government before budget hearings begin, and for that matter, also with members of the news media. There seems such a lack of understanding about the general dynamics of city budgeting and the nuances of various funding sources.
It’s probably asking too much to expect of average Memphians, who end up only hearing the words, “city project and costs,” and immediately start complaining about city government without ever hearing the explanations about financing.
Aiming Wide
This week, the police union talked about City of Memphis spending too much on special projects and not enough on law enforcement. That’s a hard concept to wrap your head around, since every cent of property tax revenue is spent on police and fire services – and it’s still about $75 million short. So when, Mr. Harris talks about police and fire being priorities, it’s hard to imagine how they could be higher without shutting down most of city government.
In fact, Councilman Harris said – and we agree with him – that parks should be one of city government’s main priorities along with the predictable police and fire, but the very reason that parks cannot be a higher priority is because better upkeep, maintenance, standardized equipment, and quality facilities have fallen victim as more and more funds have been sucked up by police and fire services over the years.
It’s because of the lack of funds for parks that the Overton Park Conservancy was created, and in the past 20 years, as the budgets for police and fire services climbed, the budget for parks stagnated. And to be completely accurate, the budgets for community centers, libraries, museums, and most quality of life amenities did the same.
Strangely, Councilman Harris suggested that the city’s emphasis on the riverfront is a sign of misplaced priorities, which seemed strange since the riverfront is in his district and if anybody on City Council should verbalize how a languishing, tired riverfront tells the world that we are a declining, dull river city, you would think it would be him.
Bargains
Councilman Harris said City of Memphis has spent too much on the riverfront, and yet, of the total amount spent on the riverfront, about 10% of the total comes from city revenues. The $215 million spent on redeveloping The Pyramid, removing Lone Star Concrete, gaining city control over the Memphis Cook Convention Center, and redeveloping the Pinch Historic District comes from the state’s portion of the sales tax and not on city general fund revenues. If none of these projects had been undertaken, the money could not have been spent on police, fire, or other city services. Instead, the state sales tax revenues would have gone to Nashville to be spent across Tennessee.
We predict Beale Street Landing and the American Queen will be highly successful, and provide the special sense of arrival and place that have been lacking on the riverfront for so long, and it wouldn’t surprise us to see the Council member for downtown at the festivities.
Meanwhile, the union mangles the facts about city financing in a proposed TV ad that would make the national Super PACs proud. Exuding a “me first” attitude and a “what’s in it for me” philosophy, the ad cites as wasteful the Overton Square garage with a price tag of $18 million, disregarding completely that the majority of the funding was spent on a flood detention basin.
The ad mentions things like the American Queen headquarters’ incentives without pointing out that there are revenue streams to pay them back. It criticizes the city’s incentives for Mitsubishi and Electrolux, and there are legitimate concerns to be expressed and debated about them, but that’s not the point of the TV ad. Instead, it acts as if creating thousands of jobs in the wake of the recession is a waste of money, ignoring the fact that the best way to increase city revenues is through the expansion of the Memphis economy.
Sacred Police Cows
We do agree with union officials when they say that City of Memphis has “money management problems” and the wrong priorities. For us, the evidence for those conclusions is the tendency to treat police and fire divisions as if they are sacrosanct and that every proposed change to their budget is a threat to Western civilization.
Here’s the thing: every service of city government – no matter what it is – should be scrutinized in detail and every employee should be justified with specific performance measurements. The resistance to change in MPD is legendary, as shown by the death by ten thousand pin pricks campaign against the current police director and the scorched earth rhetoric aimed at forcing elected officials to cower in the corner rather than ask the tough questions that need to be answered during budget hearings.
But the kicker to the union’s saber-rattling is this: there’s no plan to lay off police officer and firefighters. That’s been taken off the table already, and from where we sit, that’s unfortunate. However, that being the case, it leaves the feeling that the ad is all about manipulating emotions, ignoring the facts, and creating the kind of fear in Memphis that the police – and every city employee – should be working hard to eliminate.
In the real world, the choice isn’t between police cars and Fairgrounds or Pyramid improvements, because if Memphis never spent another dollar on the Fairgrounds or Pyramid or if it never redeveloped the Pinch District or improved the Convention Center, it would not free up any money to spend on public safety because the taxes that fund these projects are not property taxes and legally can’t be spent on anything like policemen’s salaries or new police cars.
At a time when Memphis couldn’t ever get this myopic, anti-Memphis, irrational state legislature to give us anything resembling our fair share of state revenues, we can take the state sales taxes and pay for improvements without spending any city tax money. It’s a largely untold story that the City of Memphis should be crowing about, and instead of the niggly commentary by the police union and politicians, they should be patting city elected officials on the back for investing in new jobs and economic growth without threatening one dime of the fire and police budget.
and you dont pay for the health department, EMA, school water service, schools in general, etc.
@Anonymous, Who doesn’t pay? As a city resident I pay county taxes and pay for all of these things. Part of the problem we have is that county residents have ridden on our taxes for free all lthese years and denied we pay them. I for one am tired of it. I say the city should secede from the county and see how you folks make it. Then we need a payroll tax to charge you for all the city amenities ou use.
Are you kidding me?????? you are aware that there was a CONTRACT signed by wharton saying he wouldn’t cut our pay/benefits and before the ink was even dry he was deciding how much we would lose. We haven’t asked for a raise, just not a pay decrease. City council has absolutely NO respect for police and fire and apparently you dont either. They put their lives on the line every day not knowing if they’ll make it home to their families. And now they have to worry about losing more money, or their job even, while they’re making sure they will go home after their shift. This is rediculous to say we think its all about us. We just want to be left alone. And you can go to hell.
Jennifer, Did you read the blog?
We rest our case. Thanks, Jennifer.
Wow Jennifer. You definetly helped prove the point being made in the post.
You obviously dont have to deal with this rediculousness every day so maybe this means something different to you. I’ll pull out a few things in this article:
“there’s no plan to lay off police officer and firefighters. That’s been taken off the table already, and from where we sit, that’s unfortunate.” So you’re for decreasing safety in the city- you’re cool.
“maintenance, standardized equipment, and quality facilities have fallen victim as more and more funds have been sucked up by police and fire services over the years.”- so the men and women risking their lives to keep your city safe should get paid even less to keep parks pretty.
“the niggly commentary by the police union and politicians, they should be patting city elected officials on the back for investing in new jobs and economic growth without threatening one dime of the fire and police budget.”- how exactly did they not threaten the budget when in this newest proposal they have cut funding to police so there won’t be any more classes (keep in mind some precincts are short-staffed) and they threatened to cut 3 fire companies.. That sounds like a threat to me.
This whole article to me (and others that are a part of the MPD family) sounds like what is being said is that the union are arrogant asses who are just saying me,me,me and police and fire are holding the city back from being great. So please tell me how i’m supposed to be taking this.
And I do understand what you’re trying to say about how when looking at the budget, everyone should get looked at. But we lost pay last year, while the sanitation workers didn’t get touched. In this new proposal, the executive budget is getting increased along with 9 new.positions. There is a reason we’re upset.
You took it right, and if the public had any confidence in the cops, perhaps you’d get more support for MORE, MORE, MORE. Is it possible to give you enough, and if you want to compare yourself to garbage workers, then maybe you shouldn’t have a pension either. Just work to get Social Security and see how you like it.
No one believes that cutting the fat out of the police department and making cops work harder is going to affect safety one bit. Give the rhetoric a rest, becuase all you’re doing is proving how this blog was right the first time around.
Also, you might try adding spellcheck.
Jennifer:
The executive branch is not getting 9 new positions. These are existing positions that are being moved to the executive department as part of a restructure just like the way jobs are being moved into public works as a result of the merger of divisions.
If you got this erroneous tidbit from union leadership, let us know.
To the person that wrote this article, I have one question. How would you feel if 200-300 dollars of you money was taken every pay check and you just had to set there. Better yet for all of those people who think that it was right for that to happen give up 4.6 percent of your pay to help ballance the budget. But we all know you will not do that!
This per Frank: “No one believes that cutting the fat out of the police department and making cops work harder is going to affect safety one bit. Give the rhetoric a rest, becuase all you’re doing is proving how this blog was right the first time around.
Also, you might try adding spellcheck.”
Maybe you should use spellcheck yourself before chastising somebody else. becuase?
I don’t understand how anyone could be pro layoffs. How can you want someone to lose their job? Moreover, how could you want to layoff police in a city with a crime problem such as Memphis?
Without enough officers to patrol downtown the visitors from the American Queen will definitely experience the finer parts of Memphis. Things like gang rape and robberies that take place because the downtown precinct is under-manned and unequipped.
Eliminate the fear? How do you propose that is done? According to you as long as people aren’t afraid we don’t need police anymore. Easier said than done. We now know exactly how the city feels about its employees. That we are a hindrance to overcome so that tourists will have pretty things to look at as they float up to a multi-million dollar boat dock. Hope they enjoy their stay. Oh yeah stay off the underlit portions if Beale St. there tend to be gang rapes in those areas. I wonder if the same people committing those crimes are going down to Electrolux looking for a job or taking a riverboat cruise. If they are at least they are giving back to the Memphis economy. That is if they live within the city limits.
You truly are a bleeding heart liberal.
And as far as the time and benefit we pay for that. I have on average over $700 dollars a pay check that is taken before the 4.6 percent comes out. That includes taxes, health insurance for me and my family, additional life insurance out side of what I pay to the city if I am killed at work . Also more insurance Aflac for me and my family is case I am hurt and can not work for a while. union dues, which you guys are doing great, and a few other things. That is all before the 4.6, I say this if an police officer is hurt on duty and can not work or show up to set at the front desk who pays his or her bills. When an officer is hurt on the job having only cooperate structured sick time will not work. A person whom work a cooperate job and break a leg or their gun hand or get shot can return to work while that wound still heals. But for police and fire that not only puts that officer in danger but the officer standing next to him. I challenge any one of you who are for what the city propose to walk a month in the shoes of a police officer or firefighter, not in the good neighbor hood here you can treat and get treated with a level of respect that makes you feel good about helping people. But in the hood were people throw glass bottles at you, fight with you, curse at you, shoot at you, while walking pass you know that your life is in danger. Yes we chose this job to serve this city and the people in it and we do it at great cost every day. The stress that police and fire face every day is the reason that suicide is higher than any other group of workers in America. We need time to gather our thoughts and reflect that is what keeps us sharp and ready to continue this great service. With officers having less time I fear that those numbers of death and suicide will rise. How many of you have seen a 3yr old baby drawn lifeless in the arms of a police officer or firefighter. I have in my arms as I ran him to MFD unit cloths and equipment wet. And I had to accept what just happen and return and finish my shift and go home and not allow those emotion to follow. So I say before you think it is ok to take away from me and my family ( police and fire) walk a month in our shoes were life may leave you holding the life of your partner of small child or a teen shot in your hands! Then you come back and with open eyes and a honest opinion tell me and the rest of the city that what they propose is right. Cause the only way you will know is to take that walk if you can not shut up until you do! Real talk
Electrolux (per the newspaper) is the city’s responsibility untill the plant is up and running and produces a product. THEN the company will assum responsibility. If they say……. File bankruptcy guess who’s SOL? Oh and by the way as of July 1,12 the fire department will be closing 4 truck company’s and 1 rescue truck company and moving others around. There will be NO ladder trucks stationed downtown at all. So I would say that’s a cut and then some.
Although this has been building for years it seemed to hit the crisis stage back in 08′ when the geniuses on the City Council decided that the City of Memphis did not have to fund the Memphis City Schools. Really? Then they went on a spending spree, which included a less than cost of living raise to city workers and a 18 cent property tax decrease with the money. Even after being told by the lower court they owed the money. So after they appealed to any court that would listen, at a cost of more millions, they finally gave up. So now to pay for this they decide that adding the 18 cent tax back would cost the average tax payer about a $100 per year and that would be too much. So after a lot of tough decisions (give me a break) they would cut city workers pay by about $3000 per year and add the tax back in. Funny thing about that, they cut the pay but never added the tax.
I’m thinking it is time for the tax payers of Memphis to start paying the price for the people they elect. When the cost of running a city is going up shouldn’t it’s customers cover the cost? That is the way it works in the private sector, which is what certain council members want to compare its employee benefits to.
And to Frank, just continue to cower behind your computer, taking cheap shots and we will continue to risk our lives for your loved ones!
Who exactly are you blaming here, the cops, the union, or the city? The city is the one who tells the MPD how many they can hire and what they can pay. The city is the one who sets the budget. The city is the one responsible for hiring police officers and writing their paycheck. The Union is doing their job, protecting the jobs of their workers that the city hired. The cops are doing their jobs by protecting the city. Seems to me, the only people not doing their job efficiently is the city. Apparently, city councilmen do not know how to budget efficiently. I understand that revenue is the city’s way of paying the police paychecks, however, when the city decides not to pay for schools, that is NOT the police’s fault and should not be reflected in their paychecks. It should be reflected in the paychecks of the councilmen who messed up in the first place. I believe you, as a coucilman, need to take a long, long look in the mirror and decide whether or not you are doing your job to the best of your abilty. Like I said before, the only one’s NOT doing their job efficiently is the city.
Who wrote this article? Obviously, someone far removed from any concept of how law enforcement works. I challenge you to go through a citizens academy and participate in a ride along or two. Get a firsthand look at what the average police officer is subjected to on a daily basis dealing with citizens who are having one of their worst days. When you go to work everyday is the greatest liability you face the risk of not coming home to your. Spouse and children because some citizen decided he would blow your brains out like was done to Ofc. Timothy Warren?I would venture to assume its not. I bet the biggest fear you face is the risk of your computer crashing or your internet connection going down. How comfortable is that chair you’re sitting in reading this? Oh wait, its 7 am on Saturday morning, I’m sure you’re probably still in the bed. For the last 3hours I’ve been dealing with a strung out psycho that decided to kick n the door of an elderly lady’s residence while she was sleeping to try to get his hands on something for his next fix. Have you ever had to fight a crazy crackhead at 4 in the morning in total darkness? Go right ahead and tell me I’m not worth my salary, its ok, I hear it everyday. But guess what, when you call and need my help I’ll still come, I’ll risk my life for yours without giving it a second thought because that’s what me and my brothers do, everyday. And please excuse the typos, I’m ttouing this on my phone in my squad car with no spelll check or autocorrect.
Whoever wrote this article is ignorant.
The writer of this article stated that it is unfortunate that police and fire layoffs were taken off the table. (in one of the most dangerous cities in the US) That statement cleary shows how out of touch, ignorant, and asinine the author is. The reason we are in this mess is because of the inept city council voting to not pay the schools, cutting taxes, and then going on a spending spree. The city of Memphis is so mismanaged, with horrible leaders who would like to cut more public safety in such a dangerous city and some of the worst schools in the nation.. Thats why so many Memphis employees live in the great cities just east of this hell hole; Bartlett, Germantow, and Collierville. I love when the people of this city get pissed because it takes me 30 min to and 1 hr sometimes to get to them because we are so short handed.
Terribly inaccurate and biased article.
It seems no one here is aware of this. Did you know that almost everyday the MPD doesn’t have cars or officers to respond to your call for help? As a retired MFD, I heard this daily when we called for police “MPD has no cars available”. If you were shot, we would have to wait on MPD to get there 1st, before we could help that person.
Next everyday the MFD doesnt have enough ambulances. Same issue as above. All of them are on other calls. When grandma is laying in the floor and you call 911, you want help, but you might have to wait for an ambulance to finish another call and get in service from the hospital. So if you are in whitehaven and call for grandma. You will get an engine or a truck company that will be there 1st to help. Then she slips away and CPR is started on her and you hear on the fire radios there are no ambulances available and your heart drops, just as the firefighters do also? Then an ambulance will get in service from one of the hospitals, Med, Germantown, Bartlett or baptist on walnut grove and grandma has to wait.
This happens everyday in this city. Friday or Sat nights, it is even worse.
I don’t pretend to understand the economics of all the issues. I do understand that money from these projects could not have been used for the general budget. Given past promises by city hall I wouldn’t trust anything anyone says on any floor in that building. Two years ago city council members (Conrad) wanted to hear ideas from city employees on how to cut waste and spending. I don’t know a single city employee that has been asked to do anything to help.
There’s so much waste in city government, too many executives with perks and flunkies, council member’s paid lunches……. example…A police employee develops an illness (pregnancy is excluded) that limits their ablilty to do the job in the squadcar. They are not allowed to work in a limited capacity (desk duty) even if allowed to by the doctor. That one officer could free up another officer to work the street. City employees know where the fat is and how to trim it. Suggestions go unheeded or punished. How many suggestion boxes have you seen in any city government office. We are way understaffed, drive unsafe squadcars (some with 150,000 miles on them), pay has been cut, gone several years without a cost of living raise, benefits lowered and cost increased, ………… True we are lucky to have a job, a job we signed up to do. Does that mean we can’t gripe about it ? City employees didn’t cause the problems we have but we seem to be shouldering more than our share of the burden. and to the “Spellcheck” stuff ? Just childish.
This is from an article by channel 5…
Amid proposed cuts to public safety, the mayor’s budget calls for increases in his executive decision, including
nine new positions and an overall funding increase of more than $750,000. The City Attorney’s Office would also add two positions,
but cut the budget by $3 million.
this is not from the Union.
All this crap is, is people like the author saying, yes take from police and fire as long as you dont take from me. Why are we always the ones being threatened? We’re out there every day/night protecting a city that thinks they could do better with less protection. Think again.
exactly how much did the city spend to build on fed ex and exactly what revenue are they getting from it?
exactly what benefit are the citizens getting from the felon to work division once headed by ex mayor herenton’s old friend girl, also what benefit is the citizenry getting from the city office of diversity, if you can’t be truly critical of mismanaged money then just be happy being your cowardly self
This article makes some good points. However I cant agree with all of the views of the author. I understand that the money being spent regarding the specifics listed in the MPA commercial couldnt be spent on Police, Fire, etc. I understand that economic times are hard and making our budget is next to impossible. I dont think that layoffs are the answer though. Its sad that the author of this article would seem to think the opposite. Being listed as one of Americas most dangerous cities layoffs would create a negative effect. Its funny that AC spoke blindly earlier this year to the Commercial Appeal stating that there will be more officers on the street by July 1st, yet proposed layoffs a couple of months later. Now that our layoffs are “unfortunately” off of the table it appears that classes will still be delayed despite the large amount of man power that will be retiring in the upcoming couple of years. Memphis is about to have a shortage of officers on the street.
As far as public perception the bad apples stand out more to the public because the media wants them to. Out of all the officers arrested this year that still does not equate to 1% of the police department. Not all of MPD are childish and unable to control our emotions either. If the citizens only knew how many good men and women were really on the street. Same goes for the cities administration. Police officers are people too. Now you would think that being the mayor would make you want to keep a good standing in the public eye. How is it acceptable for the mayor to promise to not change our salary, sign a contract for it, then decrease pay by 4.6%? How is it acceptable for the mayor to lie and state that we will have more officers on the street by July 1st knowing that our budget will not let that happen? How is it acceptable for the mayor to park his Cadillac in no parking zones with the City of Memphis Mayors Office card on the dash for everyone to see? As police officers we are held to a certain standard by citizens, by the MPD administration, and also by the city administration. You would think that being the mayor of Memphis you would watch your p’s and q’s. I guess not. I guess integrity is not an importance to our beloved mayor.
There is misinformation being put out by both sides. There is no easy solution and people have to make sacrifices. That means police, fire, and other divisions. I wish that would apply to the administration as well but thats just too much to ask I guess.
All:
This site is usually a forum to discuss both problems and solutions to the many, many issues effecting our city. The intent is rarely to outright disparage anyone personally or professionally. It sounds to me like this column has lit a fire under some people very close to the subject.
Would you guys mind helping us understand the true inner workings of our public safety departments, suggest how some efficiencies might be gained, what is needed to improve safety (I would think that you might be aware of innovative techniques other cities use that laymen are not aware of) or other ways all of our government departments might deliver top quality service in light of being in a hard, hard budgetary environment?
We, as memphians, pay the highest tax rate in all of Tennessee. I think many of us are desperate for real solutions. I am sorry that this has devolved to pitting one team against another. MPD and MFD, as critical city services, should be part of the solution discussion… not outside looking in.
So what do you guys think we could do to be more productive, safe, advanced and fiscally/financially responsible to the taxpayers?
Just from reading the posts I think it is fair to say our police force needs to attend English classes.
Hey Wow. We would but we’re too busy working second jobs.
One again, many of the posts found here since Jennifer’s first salvo are going an incredible distance to simply prove the point of the original article. I cannot help but think there are many very deserving public employees that despite their talent and abilities cannot understand that once a city and it’s tax base begins to shrink, it’s ability to fund public services will suffer as well. Once again, the purpose of a city is not to supply employment opportunities.
Thanks for all the responses.
We continue to find it repellant that police union members would disparage the importance of other city employees, would spread misinformation, would not compare our police officers per 1,000 to other comparable cities along with the budgets, would act like victims, and would even vilify the city which pays their salaries. By the way, just to get the facts straight, Memphis is not the most dangerous city in the country, and its violent crime and major property crimes are down almost 30% over the past five years.
This resulted from dedicated police officers, but most of all, it resulted from the application of technology to identify crime hot spots in multi-layered data analysis and better deploy police officers to those locations.
Headlines often say that Memphis is in the top three for crime, but when you read closer, it’s the ranking of the entire MSA. The non-Memphis part of the MSA has higher crime rates than the suburbs around other cities, and it’s the non-Memphis part of the MSA that keeps up near the top in crime.
We need to thank the police for their contributions to this new way of policing, but when budget hearings begin, no group of employees should be treated as sacred cows whose budgets, workforce, and returns on investment aren’t scrutinized just as much as anybody else. And if the union is confident in what it is saying, it should have no qualms in such an examination, and it should in fact welcome the opportunity.
Well said SCM!
The great cities of Germantown bartlett and Collierville just east of Memphis??? Stop it, you’re killing me. I’m laughing my ass off on that one. That’s definitely coming from someone who has never set foot out of the Memphis metro area. ALL of the Memphis metro area sucks, you stupid dip wads are too ignorant to know it.
Normally I’d just sit back, watch and listen to our local government as they continue to speak and act just like our federal government. Why? Because, most of them actively engage in hiding certain economic truths that leave the citizenry ill-equipped to make the proper demands on it’s elected officials to effectively deal with monetary and budget issues. Some of them know the truth, but are afraid to speak it lest they lose too much. Further, the mendacious spin doctors of politics and media are ever quick to make anyone who would unearth those truths look incompetent or unqualified to speak to these issues.
The root of the problem . . . gross immorality, greed and inordinate self interests are now the way of life especially in politics and among corporate executives. Corporate owned media must tow the line for the elite economic power brokers who dictate the economic decisions made by politicians whose political careers are one of the real sacred cows. Meanwhile, the masses (which includes city workers) are made to bear most of the burden when budget cuts are made.
It’s interesting to me that Smart City can say,
“We continue to find it repellant that police union members would disparage the importance of other city employees, would spread misinformation, would not compare our police officers per 1,000 to other comparable cities along with the budgets, would act like victims, and would even vilify the city which pays their salaries.”
and in the same writing say,
“We need to thank the police for their contributions to this new way of policing, but when budget hearings begin, no group of employees should be treated as sacred cows whose budgets, workforce, and returns on investment aren’t scrutinized just as much as anybody else.”
I find it to be disingenuous and hypocritical in the context of the entire article. You can find what the police union is saying “repellant”, but fail to mention how repellant it is that a “written and signed agreement” was made with our city’s leaders yet they still took 4.6% of our salaries and continue to wage disinformation campaigns making promises and commitment they never intended to keep? You said we “act like victims, and would even vilify the city which pays their salaries.” We only wanted to keep what we’d already earned based on a written agreement. Yet you accuse our union of vilifying our city for pointing out questionable spending that will mostly benefit the real sacred cows.
No. It is you vilifying us while at the same time pretending to praise us. Yes, the city does pay our salaries, but we give them police service and potentially our lives in exchange for a salary that’s being unnecessarily taken from us. Robert White (Mayor Wharton’s Chief of Staff) sent me this article with the words “GREAT INFO!” typed in the message. Well, GREAT does not necessarily mean GOOD. The writer of the article (Tom Jones according to Mr. White) uses facts about some of our city’s expenditures on development and how state tax revenues can & can’t be used to suggest that we’re expecting those funds to be spent on us when we made no such suggestion.
You say that you agree with us that our city has “money management problems, and the wrong priorities”. But, you see the evidence for those conclusions in the City’s tendency to treat police and fire divisions as if they we’re sacrosanct and that every proposed change to our budget is a threat to Western civilization? Really? How insulting and way over the top! Why don’t you admit who’s really the sacrosanct ones . . . Corporate greed, political careers and those who get concessions for protecting their interests. We don’t see nor act like changes to the police and fire budgets are a threat to western civilization. We just see the recent changes as a threat to public safety in Memphis, our safety and our familys’ wellbeing.
Many of our current and past politicians, on the other hand, are indeed a threat to Western Civilization. Just look at what they’ve done to render the Constitution of The United States useless where some of the rights and freedoms of U.S. citizens are concerned. You even suggest that we should be “crowing” about the state finally giving us, not our fair share of state revenues, but something resembling that, and instead of the niggly commentary by the police union and politicians, we should be patting city elected officials on the back. I don’t think so. That would be like patting a police officer on the back for catching a robber with all of the victim’s money, let him keep some of it, then release him without charging him with robbery. I’ll crow when we get our fair share.
The bottom line is we are well within our right and justified as citizens and workers to do as we are doing and speak as we have spoken.
What’s the evidence that prior to the budgetary problems that resulted in every employee getting pay cuts that the union agreement was one “they never intended to keep”? Since all property taxes are spent providing police and fire and property values are falling like a rock, isn’t it naive to expect that city government would simply layer on more tax increases when taxpayers are trying to deal with the fallout from the recession. No job these days, including those in the public sector, are guaranteed employment and as local government continues to adjust to the realities of new costs pushed onto them by federal and state governments, it is likely to require an entirely new look at these issues.
You suggest that you will be pleased when you get your fair share. When your share is already all of the property tax revenues, what is that fair share? How much is enough?
When we look at the people guilty of rendering the Constitution useless, we look more to the state legislature than to city government. That said, you do of course have every right to speak as you have. Our point is that it doesn’t carry much weight with the people footing the bills and that you can make your point without ignoring the facts and misstating what the budget says.
“Yet you accuse our union of vilifying our city for pointing out questionable spending that will mostly benefit the real sacred cows”.
…thus proving one of- if not the- main points of SCM’s post: that the police (or at least their union) either does not understand where their funding actaully originates, does not understand how “sacred cow” projects are actually financed or in the worst case said union (and thus their memebers) is purposely polluting the dialogue in order to get what they feel they are due.
I find it interesting that city employees feel that I should pay more via taxes in order to support their salaries even though I, like many employees in the private market, saw my salary cut in order to reduce the number of layoffs necessary within my company during the recession. Of course we agreed to it, even though I’m not sure it was ever really an option. There were still layoffs, but not to the extent there would have been had we refused to accept the cuts. Similarly, with the tax base shrinking, how can the police, firemen or any other public employee think that the city should be able to keep paying the same number of people the same amount without taxing the citizens to death? Sorry you guys are struggling to make ends meet, but I guess it would be just as easy to say “Welcome to the party!” even though you guys are really late seeing as most of us have been here for 3-4 years.
Budget factoid: The rest of city government services – excluding fire and police – have seen their budgets cut by 7% since 2009.
I took an 8% pay cut last year because of the economy. MPD and the firefighters need to suck it up like the rest of us. Instead they are probably voting for Republicans that want to take us back to what got us here. Lord help us all.
Evidence? They saw the economic down turn on the horizon and said they understood the implications. During 2010 negotiations we didn’t ask for raises. We only asked that our salaries remain as they were at that time. They agreed in writing. We have received no increases since that time. Simply put, our leaders went back on their word when they showed us that our written agreement wasn’t worth the paper on which it was written.
So they took 4.6% of our pay. Yes we winced, but we kept working. Crime went down while violence against police officers went up. Now they want to take more from us at a time when we are dangerously under staffed, short on equipment, driving cars with well over 100,000 miles on them, and have to wait at the precinct for an available car while calls for police pill up on the dispatcher’s screen? (Just to name a few of the issues police face daily)
We’ve been on the chopping block. When will those at the “top” tighten up like the rest of us? Smart Memphis, I don’t claim to be some super intellectual, but I know a “straw man argument” when I see one.
You said,
“You suggest that you will be pleased when you get your fair share. When your share is already all of the property tax revenues, what is that fair share? How much is enough?”
Your comment lends support to the comment I made about the mendacious spin doctors of politics and media. Also, the disingenuous and hypocritical aspects of your article. A reasonable person could clearly see that what I meant about “our fair share” was our fair share as a City, not us as City employees. We’re not asking for taxes to be raised so that we could get more. We’re simply asking that they not take any more than they already have, and ask the City’s elite to “join the tighten-up party”.
Urabnut, my comment doesn’t prove what SCM suggest. Polluting the dialogue? Has any of what the MPA has said thus far been untrue? Your response however, proves that you didn’t clearly read or comprehend my post. I clearly understand where our funding originates, and how “sacred cow” projects are actually financed. Are you so naive to think that the “sacred political and corporate cows” aren’t the primary beneficiaries of the City’s recent multi-million dollar improvement projects?
Lastly, Mr. or Mrs. 8%, I’ll “suck it up. I’ll suck it up the next time I can’t get to a domestic disturbance call from a woman thats being beaten by her boyfriend or husband because MPD has a serious vehicle shortage. I’ll suck it up when I’m chasing the next car jacker who decides he’d rather try to shoot and kill me than get caught. I’m sure the Fire Fighters will suck it up when they can’t make the scene of a disturbance to save a life because all police are tied up on other calls. Republicans? Democrats? Two sides of the same lying, thieving coin. We’re in TROUBLE. God is spanking this country.
“Urbanut, my comment doesn’t prove what SCM suggest. Polluting the dialogue? Has any of what the MPA has said thus far been untrue?”
Yes as seen in the comment below:
“Meanwhile, the union mangles the facts about city financing in a proposed TV ad that would make the national Super PACs proud. Exuding a “me first” attitude and a “what’s in it for me” philosophy, the ad cites as wasteful the Overton Square garage with a price tag of $18 million, disregarding completely that the majority of the funding was spent on a flood detention basin”.
What MPA apparently failed to understand is because the majority of the funding was being spent on a flood detention basin, it was drawing on the city’s Storm Water Fee which is not part of the general fund. It is purposely locked in an “account” in order to, for example, prevent politicians from caving into pressure to patch holes in the city’s budget. The MPA, and now you, purposely polluted the dialogue and continue to do so either by design or out of ignorance. We could continue with other projects: The Forum is financed via funds that could not legally be distributed to local city employees. The Pyramid/ Convention Center/ Pinch are being financed by the city’s ability to withhold the portion of the sales tax that would otherwise go to the state and- once again- could not be directed toward local city employees. Regarding Beale Street landing and the American Queen I refer to the Memphis Daily News:
“The deal is a mix of 70 percent private investment from the newly formed riverboat company and a 30 percent investment in the form of a $9 million city loan of federal Housing and Urban Development funding to refurbish “American Queen,” the massive wooden riverboat GASC has a contract to buy. The purchase is awaiting approval of federal maritime administrators. GASC would repay the $9 million with an $89 docking fee over a 10-year period from 64 trips a year that would begin or end in Memphis. Money from the docking fee would then go toward the $9.75 million needed to complete the $39 million Beale Street Landing project”.
Please tell me that the MPA understands that HUD would not allow the city to loan said funds in order to temporarily boost funding for city employee salaries. I hope the MPA understands that GASC would not levee an $89 docking fee against its passengers in order to boost pay for Memphis city employees. To summarize: this money, just like those mentioned above, cannot be directed to your pockets. Meanwhile the MPA has yet to acknowledge that the city’s tax base and population is shrinking which is occurring despite the dramatic drop in the city’s crime rate. They have yet to even acknowledge there was even a recession and that at some point it was bound to have an impact on their own funding levels. Does the MPA honestly believe it should be able to command stable funding and employment levels in a shrinking city, with a shrinking tax base during the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression?
Urabnut, do you understand what it means to “pollute” a dialogue? Something untrue must added to a fact in the dialogue to pollute it. The MPA Ad simply stated the “facts” regarding city spending and opined that some of it was questionable relative to City priorities. Then you use SCM’s opinion to prove your point? It proves nothing, because it’s only an opinion just like ours.
You said,
“Please tell me that the MPA understands that HUD would not allow the city to loan said funds in order to temporarily boost funding for city employee salaries. I hope the MPA understands that GASC would not levee an $89 docking fee against its passengers in order to boost pay for Memphis city employees. To summarize: this money, just like those mentioned above, cannot be directed to your pockets.”
We’re not asking for a boost in pay or that any funds be directed to our pockets. WE’RE ASKING THAT THEY WOULD NOT GO INTO OUR POCKETS AND TAKE MORE OUR SALARY. Furthermore, not raise taxes.
Let me once again state that we understand the economic realities about funding and where they can and can’t be spent. We acknowledged and expressed our concern about our City’s funding challenges.
You said,
“Does the MPA honestly believe it should be able to command stable funding and employment levels in a shrinking city, with a shrinking tax base during the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression?”
I understand the law of cause and effect. What’s, or more accurately, who’s causing the tax base to shrink? Why don’t you put the above question to the economic power brokers of this City if you know who they are?
Of course you must re-word the question to properly fit the people of whom I speak.
Dear Anonymous,
You say “WE’RE ASKING THAT THEY WOULD NOT GO INTO OUR POCKETS AND TAKE MORE OUR SALARY. Furthermore, not raise taxes.”
Please explain how this is possible. And quit yelling at us.
Anon-
So, are you stating that the MPA questioned the city’s funding of the Overton Square Garage even though they had full knowledge that those funds could not have been used to support the MPD or city employees in general? That they are simply questioning (or criticizing) projects across the city even though they are fully aware that should those projects not occur, that the MPD, MFD and city employees would in no way be able to access the related funding? I did not realize that the MPA has such a thorough knowledge concerning storm water capacity, neighborhood redevelopment, the application of HUD funding or best practices for redeveloping retail and entertainment corridors and districts . Seeing as the project relies very heavily on Storm Water Fees and is being built in order to provide much needed flood relief to the Lick Creek basin, then perhaps you can explain further this questionable expenditure. Since the MPA is aware of the mechanisms involved in funding these projects, is the organization and the employees it represents instead questioning the use of state and federal funding in order to stabilize, protect and redevelop these areas? Is it MPA’s position that the funding of a storm water detention facility in Lick Creek is questionable? Is it MPA’s position that the use of the garage and the related boost in sales tax (and property tax) generated in area businesses will not be sufficient to cover any additional costs associated with the garage and detention basin? If so, how did they arrive at this conclusion? I want you to be specific seeing as MPA, and your support, relies heavily on loop holes in their comments in order to gain flexibility when called on later.
Perhaps you will also enlighten us to the MPA’s definition of a “sacred cow” project. Specifically, Overton Square received not only the support of the city council, it also received them 2,000 signatures in support, was actively supported by almost every neighborhood organization in the Lick Creek basin, was supported by Memphis Heritage as well as various grassroots organizations. So I would like you to clarify how a project that received such broad community support and stands to benefit so many can still eb considered a “sacred cow”.
If the MPA objects to that specific project and any other it subjectively finds to be wasteful, perhaps you should define outright what projects (or types of projects) the MPA wants to see funded. Please remember that you must keep in mind the various sources of none local funding being used seeing as we are in a budget crunch and the MPA also does not want to see taxes raised.
You are avoiding answering the question: Does the MPA honestly believe it should be able to command stable funding and employment levels in a shrinking city, with a shrinking tax base during the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression? A simple yes or no will suffice, thank you.
You have opened a Pandora’s box by stating that the MPA is fully aware that the funds being used in the projects mentioned previously could not be redirected to fund city services. You accuse so many others of twisting this and spinning that, but by your own admission the MPA is not being honest in its ads and neither are you with this discussion. That is the very definition of polluting a conversation.
Well said, Urbanut
Urbanut,
SCM agreed that the City of Memphis has “money management problems” and the wrong priorities. They pointed out that the City’s treatment of MPD and MFD as “evidence” of your assertion. Ok Urbanut, let’s revisit Lick Creek Flooding issue. I’ll assume that you know it was the businesses and citizens of the area of Cooper Young and Overton Park that called on the City to address the flooding issue. Its not necessary to go into detail because a cursory look at the flood issue shows that business property owner(s) :- ) in Overton Square piggy-backed on the flooding problem to further stuff their already fat pockets.
I never suggested that the project itself was a sacred cow, but big (not small) business forces who attach themselves to needed projects like this one are the problem. The garage portion is certainly a “questionable expenditure” that demonstrates to me that when it comes to the economic power brokers of this City elected officials bow to their will. But, when it comes to the little people we’re told to “suck it up”. Meanwhile, Cooper Young is the same area that needed and got greater Police presence due to robberies, thefts and assaults. A woman was robbed last Thursday, April 26th, in Cooper Young while leaving a Beauty Shop during lunch hour.
I wonder what will happen when we just don’t have the Police resources to effectively respond to the almost guaranteed increase in crime in these areas. Now, some will say the cost of the garage is little compared to what the City “could” lose is tax revenues if the Square is revitalized. In this current economy, that’s more less-likely than likely. Why can’t they “suck it up” and pay for their own garage.
And, to answer your question, no I don’t think that MPD (not MPA) can command stable funding and employment levels in a shrinking city, with a shrinking tax base during this severe economic downturn. But, I also know that cities and tax bases don’t just shrink. People make that happen. The rich and powerful who live on the backs of the poor. Pandora’s box? I don’t think so. You talk like the guys did at Enron. They thought that they were the smartest guys in the room, but look what happened to them.
This issue and others like it are symptomatic of an entire country whose economic policies are dictated by big multinational corporations who are bringing it to ruin. The fat cats will soon starve, as their greed knows no limit. Why don’t you put this question to the city’s economic power brokers: Do they think that they can continue to reap massive revenues from this city
by controlling it’s officials and leave the masses in the lurch?
Didn’t mean to yell in my last post. Just trying to emphasize a point.