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- (female announcer) 
  Production funding for

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Behind the Headlines 
  is made possible in part by

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the WKNO Production Fund,

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the WKNO Endowment Fund

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and by viewers like you.

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Thank you.

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- Budget season,

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removal of the Forrest 
remains, and much more

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tonight on 
Behind the Headlines.

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[intense orchestral music]

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- I'm Eric Barnes 
with The Daily Memphian.

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And thanks for joining us.

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I'm joined this week by a 
roundtable of journalists

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starting with Toby Sells, news 
editor from the Memphis Flyer.

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Toby, thanks for being here.

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- Thanks for having me Eric.

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- Omer Yusuf is a reporter 
with The Daily Memphian.

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Omer, thanks for being here.

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- Thanks for having me, Eric.

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- And Bill Dries 
is also a reporter

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with The Daily Memphian.

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We'll talk through 
you mentioned a number

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of things at the top.

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The removal of the Nathan 
Bedford Forrest remains,

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the budget

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and maybe an update 
on the bridge.

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Omer has been doing a 
bunch of interesting work

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on redevelopments and 
Frayser, the pipeline.

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There's a lot of 
things going on.

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Let's start Bill though, 
with probably, I guess

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I don't know if it's 
the newsiest thing

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but the budgets we 
over the last couple

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of weeks have had the 
City Council budget chair

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on we've talked to what the

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the county folks 
about the budget.

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It is a strange year and a 
surprising year in my many years

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in Memphis where tax rates 
potentially are going down

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and potentially going 
down substantially.

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There's also a lot of confusion

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about where the federal 
money that is flowing

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through to the city and county.

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Exactly what can and 
can't be done with that.

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I don't think anybody's 
complaining about it

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but the rules are 
still not clear.

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Maybe we start with what 
you want with the county?

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Which we'll be voting on Monday.

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It, it looks like.

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- Yeah. It looks like the county 
is going to be the first to

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close the budget season.

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Although I think things 
are changing as we speak.

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This has gone

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from probably a more 
stable situation when

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the budget hearings 
began to a lot

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of changes toward 
the end here for it.

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And as you mentioned, a lot 
of the uncertainty deals

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with some new 
guidance that the city

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and the county got on how to 
use the federal ARPA funds,

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American Rescue Plan 
Act funds that are,

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in the case of Shelby County,

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that's $180 million from 
the federal government,

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and the case of the city,

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it's $160 million from 
the federal government.

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And each of those governments 
have now received their

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their first of two 
payments of that.

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But the guidance 
changed on May 10th

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and it has basically 
punched a $23 million hole

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in the city's budget, 
the county, not so much

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but there probably 
won't be the final word

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on how to use the money and 
what revenues you can make up

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and how the 
calculations are done

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until mid-July in Washington.

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- And we're looking 
at tax rate proposals,

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given that it's a 
reappraisal year

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and you know, the the

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the tax rate can't move 
to create a windfall

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the City Council or 
the County Commission

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they can vote to increase 
taxes, but as it is right now

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it looks like the city 
tax rate will drop

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from 3.19 to 2.71.

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County will drop from 
4.05 to 3.45, give or take.

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- That is, those 
are the tax rates

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that produce the same amount

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of revenue for city

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and county government 
respectively taking

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into account the 2021 
reappraisal of property.

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Neither County Mayor Lee Harris

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nor City Mayor Jim Strickland 
have proposed a tax increase.

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However, there are 
some discussions

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on the county and 
city side about

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about possibly a tax hike, 
which we which can be done

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but it has to be proposed 
and voted on separately

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once the tax rate is reset.

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At this point, it doesn't appear

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that raising taxes beyond 
that re-certified amount

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has the seven votes 
necessary to pass

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on either the city 
or the county side

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but there has been some 
discussion about that.

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And the discussion 
has centered on

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in the case of the 
county raising the taxes

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but keeping it below the $4 
mark and on the city side

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it's about keeping 
it below the $3 mark.

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- It is interesting.

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I'll go to you Toby.

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But one thing, I, two 
municipalities are looking

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at raising taxes, 
Bartlett and Collierville.

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Bartlett is looking 
at a 15 cent increase

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after the reappraisal adjustment 
Bartlett 24 cent increase

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which is totally counter to 
how it was, maybe I'm old

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but you know, 10, 15, 20 
years ago when the,

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the municipalities 
kept their taxes very

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low and very stable.

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And the city and county seem 
to constantly be raising them.

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We'll have the mayors 
of Collierville

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and Bartlett on in two weeks 
to talk about their budgets

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school systems and 
all that stuff.

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But Toby, what did 
you want to add?

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- It was just 
interesting this year

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that there was kind of a 
new voice in budget season.

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I've covered a lot of budgets 
over the years, but this year

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the Moral Budget 
Coalition I wrote about

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and I know Bill wrote about it.

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It's this group of groups, 
including MICA out there

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Memphis Tenant's Unit, 
Stand for Children Tennessee

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and a lot of others out 
there, BLDG Memphis.

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And they wanted to have the city

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and the county to 
keep the tax rate

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as it is right now, which 
would create, as they said

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it would create 
$40 million in the city

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and then $100 million 
for the county.

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And they wanted this money 
invested in the community

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which is uh, you know, 
what you will remember

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from the Black Lives 
Matter of, of last summer

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you know, when, when activists 
would say "defund the police"

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they didn't mean we 
don't like the police.

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They said, you know, 
let's, you know

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reduce the money that we spend 
on police and, and put it

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into the community and this, 
and, and what they want for

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you know, affordable 
housing services

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for the homeless, mental 
health education, a raft

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of these things that this 
group is pushing for.

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So at this stage, in, in 
the, in the budget game

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it doesn't seem likely that 
they would go back to the

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you know, to the tax 
rate that we have right now.

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But it's an interesting 
new voice that

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that arose during budget season.

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Like I said, I've covered a 
lot of these, not as closely

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in years past, but it's 
interesting to see kind

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of a new voice 
wanting to have a seat

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at the table during 
budget talks.

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- Yeah, we had Cordell 
Oren from Stand for Children

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and Deveney Perry 
from BLDG Memphis

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on last week to talk 
about them, their advocacy

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for keeping the tax rate 
the same as it is now

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and seeing a pretty significant 
windfall in taxes, windfall

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or tax increase.

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However you want to look at 
it and do those investments.

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Omer, you want to weigh in

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on any parts of this and, 
and where things stand.

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- Well, I cover Bartlett, 
so I can give some insight

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on the tax rate 
discussion on over there.

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So, the 24 cent tax hike 
is for 3 reasons.

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One, they want to maintain 
the city's service levels.

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Another is they're proposing 
4% increase for employees

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and they also have to 
pay some debt service.

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So they kind of think that 
they're at this point now, where

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if they don't do it now, they're 
gonna have to do it later

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and the cost may be much bigger.

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So that's kind of why alderman,

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Mayor McDonald are kind of 
discussing this right now.

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And there is a final 
vote scheduled

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for June 8th of next week.

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So we'll see how that goes.

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- Right.

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Bill, anything else on budget

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or we'll shift gears.

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Where, where do we go next?

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- The City Council will try

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to close out its budget season

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at their June 15th meeting.

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They were originally going 
to have that vote scheduled

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for, for this week, this 
fiscal year for city and county

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and all six of the suburban 
governments starts on July 1st.

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There are usually some line 
items that are moved around

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within the budget, 
by the process,

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by the County Commission 
and the City Council.

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And this year is certainly 
no exception to that.

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- Bill, over on the 
City Council side.

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You know, when I used to cover 
this stuff, gavel to gavel

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this was a really 
tense, contentious time

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of the year right here at 
the end of budget season.

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I remember the council 
meetings going to, you know

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midnight, one in the morning, 
are they still like that

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did they, are they 
still like that anymore?

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- So far not.

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Fingers crossed, 
you know, on that,

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but the County 
Commission did have about

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a seven-hour discussion on 
this, on this yesterday.

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You know, some of that is

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that the Council has just 
started meeting in person again.

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So, so there's that 
kind of factor into it.

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Overall, the discussions 
have been pretty amiable.

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No one's gotten really 
frustrated by it on

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on either side, city or county

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but these are, even under 
the best circumstances,

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budget season is a 
complex undertaking.

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How much is one cent 
on the tax rate worth?

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Even on the county side, 
they were not allowed to go

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to three digits on the tax rate.

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In other words, they wanted 
to do explore a basic tax rate

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of $3.45.

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Three point four five one 
as the tax rate.

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Well, the state said 
you can't do that.

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You have to round 
down in this case

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because it's 1/100th or 
something like that of a penny.

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Yeah.

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- As a last question, you, 
Omer, has it been contentious

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00:09:33,506 --> 00:09:36,976
in Bartlett or 
is it, as the board

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00:09:36,976 --> 00:09:38,711
and the mayor, have they 
all been pretty, you know

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aligned in terms of that, the 
direction of the conversation?

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00:09:41,614 --> 00:09:42,749
- Well, on the 
first two readings

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it's been 6-0 both times

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on both the tax 
rate and the budget.

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If there is this 
common understanding

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that something does 
have to be done now.

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So if there is going 
to be any pushback

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that June 8th meeting ahead 
of the July 1 deadline

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will be the most likely 
time you'd see anything.

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But the early 
indications seemed to be

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that this will pass 
either by 6-0 or 5-1 vote.

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00:10:03,203 --> 00:10:05,939
- Let me move on to the, the

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00:10:05,939 --> 00:10:08,808
the remains of Nathan 
Bedford Forrest, obviously

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what some years ago now the 
statue itself was removed

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from Health Sciences Park, 
but the pedestal

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and then the remains underneath 
that had to still have been

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in limbo for quite 
a few years now.

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The process of removing those 
remains started this week.

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Bill, you were there, 
it was a strange process.

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It was a very ugly scene.

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We have some video that 
we'll show in a bit here.

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00:10:31,631 --> 00:10:33,600
Tell us what you saw 
and we'll talk about it.

241
00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:35,435
And we'll take a look 
at that video in a bit.

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00:10:35,435 --> 00:10:37,103
- Well, I made two trips

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00:10:37,103 --> 00:10:39,038
to Health Sciences 
Park that day.

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The first was when we heard that

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that the parts of the 
pedestal were being dismantled

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00:10:43,743 --> 00:10:45,144
and there was a 
crane in the park.

247
00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:48,314
So I went over and 
talked to Van Turner,

248
00:10:48,314 --> 00:10:49,816
who's the head of 
Memphis Green Space,

249
00:10:49,816 --> 00:10:52,218
the private nonprofit 
that owns the park

250
00:10:52,218 --> 00:10:55,421
and had the equestrian 
monument removed, as well

251
00:10:55,421 --> 00:10:57,657
as Lee Miller of Sons 
of Confederate Veterans,

252
00:10:57,657 --> 00:11:00,293
who was overseeing the 
removal of the statue

253
00:11:00,293 --> 00:11:01,861
and the disinterment

254
00:11:01,861 --> 00:11:04,531
of the remains of Nathan 
Bedford Forrest, and his wife

255
00:11:04,531 --> 00:11:06,432
all of this to be moved

256
00:11:06,432 --> 00:11:10,737
to a new Confederate park 
in Columbia, Tennessee.

257
00:11:10,737 --> 00:11:15,708
And at that point, it was 
pretty much how do you do this?

258
00:11:15,708 --> 00:11:17,176
What do you know?

259
00:11:17,176 --> 00:11:21,147
Why are there bricks at 
the center of the pedestal?

260
00:11:21,147 --> 00:11:23,950
Because, you know, 
no ones, there are no

261
00:11:23,950 --> 00:11:25,718
there are no drawings or

262
00:11:25,718 --> 00:11:29,122
or plans for how the 
grave site was erected.

263
00:11:29,122 --> 00:11:32,392
And the monument was erected 
more than 100 years ago.

264
00:11:32,392 --> 00:11:33,793
So it was that kind of an angle.

265
00:11:33,793 --> 00:11:36,296
Then pictures started popping up

266
00:11:36,296 --> 00:11:38,898
on social media of 
some Confederate flags

267
00:11:38,898 --> 00:11:41,701
and the chain link fence 
that is around the monument.

268
00:11:41,701 --> 00:11:45,338
So I went back over, 
Commissioner Tammy Sawyer,

269
00:11:45,338 --> 00:11:47,240
Shelby County 
Commissioner Tammy Sawyer

270
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,242
who led the Take 'Em 
Down 901 movement

271
00:11:49,242 --> 00:11:54,214
which along with the city's 
moves in court were,

272
00:11:55,648 --> 00:11:58,251
were the two factors that 
surrounded the removal of

273
00:11:58,251 --> 00:11:59,752
of the monument.

274
00:11:59,752 --> 00:12:04,524
And there was a really tense 
and ugly confrontation

275
00:12:05,892 --> 00:12:09,028
and threats made towards Sawyer 
by one of the workers who

276
00:12:09,028 --> 00:12:12,165
who was there working 
on the, on the monument.

277
00:12:13,566 --> 00:12:18,238
So Patrick Lantrip, our 
photographer shot some video

278
00:12:18,238 --> 00:12:20,673
of kind of the height 
of the confrontation.

279
00:12:23,409 --> 00:12:25,912
[man singing]

280
00:12:28,147 --> 00:12:30,917
- He's going to stand behind 
me and sing Dixie Land.

281
00:12:30,917 --> 00:12:34,621
And I just told y'all that 
my ancestors picked cotton.

282
00:12:34,621 --> 00:12:36,789
I'm not making this up.

283
00:12:36,789 --> 00:12:39,125
I have slave records, my 
ancestors picked cotton.

284
00:12:39,125 --> 00:12:43,796
While his ancestors beat 
and raped my ancestors.

285
00:12:43,796 --> 00:12:45,131
[man singing Dixie's Land]

286
00:12:45,131 --> 00:12:46,633
♪ Away in Dixie Land 
I'll take my stand ♪

287
00:12:46,633 --> 00:12:48,201
- But guess what?

288
00:12:48,201 --> 00:12:51,871
Dixie is dead, and it was 
killed by the descendants

289
00:12:51,871 --> 00:12:53,172
of black people.

290
00:12:54,073 --> 00:12:55,341
The descendants of black people.

291
00:12:55,341 --> 00:12:57,243
Van Turner and Tammy 
Sawyer and others,

292
00:12:57,243 --> 00:12:59,212
we took your hero down.

293
00:13:00,980 --> 00:13:05,985
- It is ugly and, and 
really not good to watch.

294
00:13:07,453 --> 00:13:09,422
Toby your your 
thoughts on it.

295
00:13:09,422 --> 00:13:10,757
You watched it when 
it was first posted.

296
00:13:10,757 --> 00:13:12,525
We've seen it again now.

297
00:13:12,525 --> 00:13:14,060
- And read Bill's story.

298
00:13:14,060 --> 00:13:17,463
And it's unbelievable that 
somebody at a public site

299
00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:22,268
like that can so publicly 
attack a public official

300
00:13:22,268 --> 00:13:25,438
like that, you know, 
to be so emboldened.

301
00:13:25,438 --> 00:13:27,373
I think that really 
shows how emboldened

302
00:13:27,373 --> 00:13:28,875
these people still are.

303
00:13:28,875 --> 00:13:30,309
You know, we think that 
that maybe they have kind

304
00:13:30,309 --> 00:13:32,145
of gone back into 
wherever they were

305
00:13:32,145 --> 00:13:35,748
before the election and 
all that, but, you know

306
00:13:35,748 --> 00:13:37,283
the Southern Poverty 
Law Center just came

307
00:13:37,283 --> 00:13:38,951
out with a report 
that Memphis is home

308
00:13:38,951 --> 00:13:42,689
to more hate groups in any 
city in Tennessee, you know

309
00:13:42,689 --> 00:13:44,290
and two of those are 
white nationalists,

310
00:13:44,290 --> 00:13:47,694
one is Neo-Confederate, and 
these people are still embolden

311
00:13:47,694 --> 00:13:49,262
to go out and to say things

312
00:13:49,262 --> 00:13:51,664
like that with a bank of 
television cameras going

313
00:13:51,664 --> 00:13:53,900
I think it shows how 
emboldened they are.

314
00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:56,836
I think it also shows just 
how not desperate we are

315
00:13:56,836 --> 00:14:00,606
but how ready we are to have 
this monument completely gone

316
00:14:00,606 --> 00:14:03,276
that, that we would 
subject ourselves

317
00:14:03,276 --> 00:14:06,546
to this over and over and 
over again, to get this gone

318
00:14:06,546 --> 00:14:09,349
into and to kind of turn 
the page on this chapter.

319
00:14:09,349 --> 00:14:12,018
And I hope that I'm just 
really glad that it's happening

320
00:14:12,018 --> 00:14:14,620
and hopefully it'll be over 
soon and we won't have to deal

321
00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:17,790
with ugly situations like we 
had in the park the other day.

322
00:14:17,790 --> 00:14:19,225
- Omer, your thoughts, 
your thoughts

323
00:14:19,225 --> 00:14:21,360
on where the park 
goes from here?

324
00:14:22,361 --> 00:14:23,596
- Well, um

325
00:14:23,596 --> 00:14:25,498
So, Juneteenth, which 
is coming up in a couple

326
00:14:25,498 --> 00:14:28,701
of weeks, Lisa Franklin 
and Van Turner

327
00:14:28,701 --> 00:14:31,070
with Memphis Green Space 
announced several weeks ago

328
00:14:31,070 --> 00:14:33,206
that the annual Juneteenth 
celebration will take place

329
00:14:33,206 --> 00:14:34,540
at Health Sciences Park.

330
00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:36,743
And the reason that 
they're moving it

331
00:14:36,743 --> 00:14:39,779
from Robert R. Church Park 
to Health Sciences Park

332
00:14:39,779 --> 00:14:41,280
is part of that symbolization

333
00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,683
that this is our space now.

334
00:14:43,683 --> 00:14:46,052
That we're going to 
start this next chapter.

335
00:14:46,052 --> 00:14:47,820
And that won't be a place

336
00:14:47,820 --> 00:14:51,090
where specifically black 
Memphians don't have to worry

337
00:14:51,090 --> 00:14:53,025
about the fear, any more that 
they can be welcomed here,

338
00:14:53,025 --> 00:14:55,762
that they can have joy here, 
that they can celebrate here.

339
00:14:55,762 --> 00:14:57,597
And I think that'll be a 
really important moment

340
00:14:57,597 --> 00:15:00,299
in obviously the past few years.

341
00:15:00,299 --> 00:15:02,034
And then it's all building 
up to this and hopefully

342
00:15:02,034 --> 00:15:06,639
that first step in really 
making that next chapter start.

343
00:15:07,774 --> 00:15:09,175
- And, and just 
some logistics Bill

344
00:15:09,175 --> 00:15:10,476
it's going to take 
them a couple of weeks,

345
00:15:10,476 --> 00:15:12,879
is that right, to 
disassemble and so on?

346
00:15:12,879 --> 00:15:14,380
- Right.

347
00:15:14,380 --> 00:15:16,916
It's going to take a couple 
of weeks, the, the panels

348
00:15:16,916 --> 00:15:21,721
on the side of the pedestal 
were removed for restoration

349
00:15:21,721 --> 00:15:24,557
and some repair work 
as a part of this.

350
00:15:24,557 --> 00:15:28,194
The remains of 
Forrest and his wife,

351
00:15:28,194 --> 00:15:29,829
as we said, are about 10 feet

352
00:15:29,829 --> 00:15:31,364
below everything.

353
00:15:31,364 --> 00:15:35,301
So this is going to take some 
time to work out logistically.

354
00:15:35,301 --> 00:15:38,104
There is actually an 
archeologist that is working

355
00:15:38,104 --> 00:15:41,808
with the group on this 
during the removal.

356
00:15:43,209 --> 00:15:47,814
So on the one hand, you 
have a story that really remains

357
00:15:48,981 --> 00:15:52,952
about the divisions in 
our, in our society and

358
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,524
and the resistance to, to change 
and the whole fake history

359
00:15:59,992 --> 00:16:04,130
of the Confederacy that 
began after the Civil War and

360
00:16:04,130 --> 00:16:06,732
and that some people 
want to preserve to this

361
00:16:06,732 --> 00:16:08,267
to this very day.

362
00:16:08,267 --> 00:16:11,304
And then you have the story 
about, well, how do you go

363
00:16:11,304 --> 00:16:15,575
about something like this, no 
matter who the individual is.

364
00:16:15,575 --> 00:16:17,610
- And, and again, 
I think you alluded

365
00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:18,878
to this and it was in your story

366
00:16:18,878 --> 00:16:21,581
but this was being 
paid for by, whom?

367
00:16:21,581 --> 00:16:23,382
- The Sons of 
Confederate Veterans

368
00:16:23,382 --> 00:16:24,917
and the Forrest family.

369
00:16:24,917 --> 00:16:27,820
There's no public funding 
that is involved in this.

370
00:16:27,820 --> 00:16:29,655
And that's easy to forget

371
00:16:29,655 --> 00:16:33,426
because this was once a 
city park up until 2017.

372
00:16:33,426 --> 00:16:36,896
It is now land that is 
owned for public use

373
00:16:36,896 --> 00:16:40,233
by Memphis Green Space as 
is the other park where

374
00:16:40,233 --> 00:16:42,235
there was a statue 
of Jefferson Davis

375
00:16:42,235 --> 00:16:46,105
which is now Fourth 
Bluff or Memphis Park.

376
00:16:46,105 --> 00:16:47,440
- Yeah.

377
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:48,274
Let's switch to

378
00:16:50,443 --> 00:16:51,911
Frayser.

379
00:16:51,911 --> 00:16:53,679
And some of the stories you've 
been doing up there, Omer,

380
00:16:53,679 --> 00:16:55,014
it's another part of your beat.

381
00:16:55,014 --> 00:16:57,917
And there's some big 
investments that have happened.

382
00:16:57,917 --> 00:16:59,952
I mean, hundreds of millions 
of dollars in investments.

383
00:16:59,952 --> 00:17:01,587
If you go back

384
00:17:01,587 --> 00:17:04,457
to Nike expanding 
its distribution center, Amazon.

385
00:17:04,457 --> 00:17:05,591
Talk about a bit about

386
00:17:05,591 --> 00:17:07,260
what you've been 
writing about up there.

387
00:17:07,260 --> 00:17:08,794
- So you've kind of 
got these three buckets

388
00:17:08,794 --> 00:17:10,997
I'll start off 
with the big ones.

389
00:17:10,997 --> 00:17:12,999
When we, of course you 
had Nike a few years ago.

390
00:17:12,999 --> 00:17:15,835
Now Amazon has invested 
more than $200 million

391
00:17:15,835 --> 00:17:19,739
in both a fulfillment center 
and a delivery station.

392
00:17:19,739 --> 00:17:23,676
You had Ampro recently 
add another $30 million

393
00:17:23,676 --> 00:17:25,478
into its Frayser business

394
00:17:25,478 --> 00:17:27,580
which is a hair 
manufacturer company.

395
00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:30,616
And it's a really important 
step in creating hundreds

396
00:17:30,616 --> 00:17:33,052
and hundreds of more jobs 
for people in Frayser.

397
00:17:33,052 --> 00:17:35,388
And they're actively 
trying to recruit people

398
00:17:35,388 --> 00:17:37,256
in Frayser to go work there.

399
00:17:37,256 --> 00:17:38,491
And on the other hand

400
00:17:38,491 --> 00:17:40,760
you also have the City 
of Memphis investing

401
00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,496
in a new Ed Rice 
Community Center

402
00:17:43,496 --> 00:17:45,097
and Frayser Library

403
00:17:45,097 --> 00:17:47,500
and then renovating 
Rodney Baber Park.

404
00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:48,968
And those are really crucial

405
00:17:48,968 --> 00:17:50,369
because those are 
things that people

406
00:17:50,369 --> 00:17:51,938
in the community really value

407
00:17:51,938 --> 00:17:53,806
and that value them 
for a really long time.

408
00:17:53,806 --> 00:17:55,408
But they're also spaces 
that have been there,

409
00:17:55,408 --> 00:17:57,176
because they've been there 
for a really long time,

410
00:17:57,176 --> 00:17:58,644
they're due for an upgrade.

411
00:17:58,644 --> 00:18:00,780
And they're also quite 
excited about that.

412
00:18:00,780 --> 00:18:04,016
And then you have this final 
part, which is the investment

413
00:18:04,016 --> 00:18:05,518
coming more or less 
from the outside.

414
00:18:05,518 --> 00:18:08,087
You have early it's that 
it's investing 12 million

415
00:18:08,087 --> 00:18:12,591
$12 million in a new early 
childhood education facility.

416
00:18:12,591 --> 00:18:15,928
And then you have Renaissance 
at Steele Apartment complex

417
00:18:15,928 --> 00:18:18,230
which is a 
$17 million renovation.

418
00:18:18,230 --> 00:18:20,066
So they talk about employment.

419
00:18:20,066 --> 00:18:22,835
And you're talking about 
business expansion and talking

420
00:18:22,835 --> 00:18:25,304
about housing and education, 
all these things in that

421
00:18:25,304 --> 00:18:27,873
in a neighborhood that 
had gone through years

422
00:18:27,873 --> 00:18:29,308
of disinvestment

423
00:18:29,308 --> 00:18:31,944
and it's really creating 
some optimism in Frayser now.

424
00:18:31,944 --> 00:18:34,213
- One interesting thing 
I thought about it was,

425
00:18:34,213 --> 00:18:36,916
you know, we've debated on

426
00:18:36,916 --> 00:18:39,885
had people on the show, 
debating low wage jobs.

427
00:18:39,885 --> 00:18:42,355
Obviously the Flyer has 
written about, Daily Memphian,

428
00:18:42,355 --> 00:18:43,956
others, you know, that, that we

429
00:18:43,956 --> 00:18:46,759
Martavius Jones is a big 
advocate of City Councilman

430
00:18:46,759 --> 00:18:49,662
that we, you need to be not 
pursuing these lower wage jobs.

431
00:18:49,662 --> 00:18:51,897
The Amazon jobs are 
start at $15 an hour.

432
00:18:51,897 --> 00:18:53,599
I can't remember what 
the Ampro ones are

433
00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:56,402
but you did speak to a 
community leader up in, in

434
00:18:56,402 --> 00:18:58,671
in Frayser who said, 
this is fantastic.

435
00:18:58,671 --> 00:18:59,605
These are jobs.

436
00:18:59,605 --> 00:19:01,007
This is, these are people here

437
00:19:01,007 --> 00:19:02,708
in Frayser who can be employed.

438
00:19:02,708 --> 00:19:03,643
And this is, I think he said

439
00:19:03,643 --> 00:19:06,379
our prayers have been answered.

440
00:19:06,379 --> 00:19:08,647
- Yes. I spoke to 
Pursuit of God Church

441
00:19:08,647 --> 00:19:09,915
Pastor Ricky Floyd.

442
00:19:09,915 --> 00:19:11,550
And if you talk to a lot 
of the community leaders

443
00:19:11,550 --> 00:19:12,785
in Frayser

444
00:19:12,785 --> 00:19:14,120
they're just excited 
to have jobs that,

445
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:15,788
start at $15 an hour.

446
00:19:15,788 --> 00:19:17,289
Are they the ideal jobs

447
00:19:17,289 --> 00:19:19,925
that'll transform Frayser 
right away, not necessarily.

448
00:19:19,925 --> 00:19:21,560
But it's a step in 
the right direction.

449
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:23,729
And if you talk to them, 
that's how they view this.

450
00:19:23,729 --> 00:19:25,731
They don't view this as an 
overnight transformation

451
00:19:25,731 --> 00:19:27,900
but they do these first steps

452
00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:30,102
as crucial to getting this 
neighborhood back on its feet

453
00:19:30,102 --> 00:19:31,971
that's got an 
estimated population

454
00:19:31,971 --> 00:19:33,305
of about 50,000 people.

455
00:19:33,305 --> 00:19:34,040
So we're talking about one

456
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,042
of Memphis' largest 
black neighborhoods,

457
00:19:36,042 --> 00:19:38,944
and it's important that 
it gets back on its feet.

458
00:19:38,944 --> 00:19:40,780
- I think this was simultaneous 
with, I'm gonna put you

459
00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:42,048
on the spot Bill.

460
00:19:42,048 --> 00:19:44,450
We have Accelerate 
Memphis, which is

461
00:19:44,450 --> 00:19:49,055
this $200 million kind of, 
it's a debt restructuring plan

462
00:19:49,055 --> 00:19:52,024
with the city that they can 
take $200 million and put it

463
00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:54,427
towards capital improvement 
projects across the city.

464
00:19:54,427 --> 00:19:56,996
I think Frayser, there are 
areas all across the city

465
00:19:56,996 --> 00:20:00,466
very much follows the Memphis 
3.0 map and the strategic plan

466
00:20:00,466 --> 00:20:02,034
that which includes Frayser.

467
00:20:02,034 --> 00:20:04,970
And then also this week, 
the Office of Planning

468
00:20:04,970 --> 00:20:06,972
and Development, I believe 
it was, started talking

469
00:20:06,972 --> 00:20:09,608
about this three to five-year 
plan to expand broadband

470
00:20:09,608 --> 00:20:12,845
to underserved areas, which 
includes Frayser in terms

471
00:20:12,845 --> 00:20:14,313
of its access to broadband.

472
00:20:14,313 --> 00:20:17,383
So thoughts on that and you're, 
you're from Frayser, right?

473
00:20:17,383 --> 00:20:19,251
Didn't you, you went 
to school in Frayser?

474
00:20:19,251 --> 00:20:20,853
- I went to school.

475
00:20:20,853 --> 00:20:23,522
Alumni of Westside High School.

476
00:20:23,522 --> 00:20:24,356
Lived there.

477
00:20:24,356 --> 00:20:26,325
Grew up there.

478
00:20:26,325 --> 00:20:31,263
Yeah, the broadband plan 
is actually the Division

479
00:20:31,263 --> 00:20:32,965
of Planning and 
Development, as well

480
00:20:32,965 --> 00:20:35,468
as Housing and Community 
Development for the city.

481
00:20:36,669 --> 00:20:41,006
And it's based in part 
on the Memphis 3.0 plan

482
00:20:41,006 --> 00:20:45,277
and specifically the, 
the centers or,

483
00:20:45,277 --> 00:20:47,646
or the "anchors" as they're 
called in the plan,

484
00:20:47,646 --> 00:20:51,484
that are in areas where 
there is low access to

485
00:20:51,484 --> 00:20:56,455
to broadband and 
digital access there.

486
00:20:57,623 --> 00:20:59,425
And that's where this 
is going to start.

487
00:20:59,425 --> 00:21:02,828
There's a, there's a PILOT 
in Soulsville as well.

488
00:21:02,828 --> 00:21:07,566
And they're going to proceed 
with some funding here

489
00:21:07,566 --> 00:21:12,571
to map out likely spots for 
the spread of that access.

490
00:21:13,739 --> 00:21:15,641
And of course we've seen 
how important that is

491
00:21:15,641 --> 00:21:18,077
during the pandemic that 
we've just been through.

492
00:21:19,545 --> 00:21:21,547
- I'm going to skip over one 
of the biggest stories going

493
00:21:21,547 --> 00:21:24,483
on right now is the bridge 
and the repairs to the bridge.

494
00:21:25,651 --> 00:21:29,021
And we've, 'cause we've 
got Pete Buttigieg,

495
00:21:29,021 --> 00:21:31,590
The Department of 
Transportation Secretary

496
00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:33,492
is in town as we're taping this,

497
00:21:33,492 --> 00:21:34,994
may have some 
announcements today.

498
00:21:34,994 --> 00:21:38,197
So if we talk too much about 
it, it could be off-track.

499
00:21:38,197 --> 00:21:41,901
But one, I mean, there 
are a couple of big questions

500
00:21:41,901 --> 00:21:43,602
I guess I'll do a couple 
of minutes on this Bill.

501
00:21:43,602 --> 00:21:46,205
What do we expect 
from Pete Buttigieg?

502
00:21:46,205 --> 00:21:47,473
And again, I'm putting you

503
00:21:47,473 --> 00:21:48,941
in this bad place 
where we're taping

504
00:21:48,941 --> 00:21:50,476
before he speaks

505
00:21:50,476 --> 00:21:53,846
and what comes next with 
the bridge, real briefly.

506
00:21:53,846 --> 00:21:57,283
- Well, what comes next 
is how long is this going

507
00:21:57,283 --> 00:21:59,952
to take to get the bridge 
reopened to traffic?

508
00:21:59,952 --> 00:22:02,454
But beyond that, there are 
some larger discussions.

509
00:22:02,454 --> 00:22:05,758
This has revived discussion 
of the possibility of a third

510
00:22:05,758 --> 00:22:07,960
vehicular traffic bridge

511
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,995
across the Mississippi 
River at Memphis

512
00:22:09,995 --> 00:22:11,964
which the last 
serious discussion

513
00:22:11,964 --> 00:22:13,699
of this was about 20 years ago

514
00:22:13,699 --> 00:22:17,436
that shows you what kind of 
the timeframe is for that.

515
00:22:17,436 --> 00:22:18,938
What we're expecting out

516
00:22:18,938 --> 00:22:23,475
of Secretary Buttigieg's 
visit to Memphis is

517
00:22:23,475 --> 00:22:26,178
probably a lively discussion 
at the forum at FedEx

518
00:22:26,178 --> 00:22:28,881
which will feature 
Republican U.S. Senator

519
00:22:28,881 --> 00:22:30,316
Marsha Blackburn

520
00:22:30,316 --> 00:22:32,251
among the people involved 
in that discussion.

521
00:22:32,251 --> 00:22:33,686
And she's been highly critical

522
00:22:33,686 --> 00:22:36,121
of the administration's 
infrastructure plan

523
00:22:36,121 --> 00:22:39,792
as not being about roads 
and bridges enough.

524
00:22:39,792 --> 00:22:42,828
And of course, the secretary 
will be here flying the banner

525
00:22:42,828 --> 00:22:44,296
of the Biden administration

526
00:22:44,296 --> 00:22:48,901
and promoting that still 
forming infrastructure plan.

527
00:22:48,901 --> 00:22:50,936
- I still think also 
now when I move to Toby

528
00:22:50,936 --> 00:22:52,538
for some other 
things, but that one

529
00:22:52,538 --> 00:22:55,040
of the big unanswered 
questions, I know the inspector

530
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,710
from Arkansas who had inspected 
the bridge and missed this

531
00:22:57,710 --> 00:22:59,712
that from, it looks like 
potentially a couple

532
00:22:59,712 --> 00:23:02,448
of years was fired, 
but what happens next

533
00:23:02,448 --> 00:23:03,983
with bridge inspections?

534
00:23:03,983 --> 00:23:05,985
How did the whole, 
maybe it was

535
00:23:05,985 --> 00:23:07,886
that person's fault, but 
that person had bosses and

536
00:23:07,886 --> 00:23:11,090
and a whole structure that 
allowed a, not a crack

537
00:23:11,090 --> 00:23:14,293
but a massive fissure to 
go unnoticed for so long

538
00:23:14,293 --> 00:23:16,495
that those are 
the next questions

539
00:23:16,495 --> 00:23:17,730
that need to be answered.

540
00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:19,632
But, but Toby, I wanted to 
switch to you if we could.

541
00:23:19,632 --> 00:23:21,500
'Cause you've got a big 
story coming up in The Flyer

542
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:23,769
about the legislative session

543
00:23:23,769 --> 00:23:25,804
and some of the workings there.

544
00:23:25,804 --> 00:23:26,639
- That's right.

545
00:23:26,639 --> 00:23:27,906
And as I was watching

546
00:23:27,906 --> 00:23:30,943
the session, this year, 
I started to kind

547
00:23:30,943 --> 00:23:35,547
of notice a theme in a lot 
of the GOP actions up there.

548
00:23:35,547 --> 00:23:38,350
Not all bills necessarily

549
00:23:38,350 --> 00:23:40,519
but that were 
happening separately.

550
00:23:40,519 --> 00:23:42,021
But then when you take 
them together, you kind

551
00:23:42,021 --> 00:23:44,590
of see this theme emerge, 
that they were really aimed

552
00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:46,892
at poor people, 
at low-income people.

553
00:23:46,892 --> 00:23:49,094
And in three big moves there

554
00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:52,765
were cuts to the state 
unemployment benefits

555
00:23:52,765 --> 00:23:54,900
which will take it, you know

556
00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:57,603
basically cut the time that 
we have for those in half.

557
00:23:57,603 --> 00:23:59,138
And that doesn't 
start until 2023.

558
00:23:59,138 --> 00:24:00,372
I'll talk about 
that in a minute.

559
00:24:00,372 --> 00:24:02,875
But the second thing was 
Bill Lee's decision to

560
00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:07,379
cut the federal 
unemployment benefit

561
00:24:07,379 --> 00:24:10,015
from September to July

562
00:24:10,015 --> 00:24:11,951
and those are kind 
of taken together.

563
00:24:11,951 --> 00:24:13,185
But then the third 
one was, you know

564
00:24:13,185 --> 00:24:15,187
the failure once again 
to expand Medicaid.

565
00:24:15,187 --> 00:24:16,855
And I know we kind of 
talked about this, you know

566
00:24:16,855 --> 00:24:19,925
newspaper reporters have 
talked about this all session

567
00:24:19,925 --> 00:24:21,694
but when you bring them 
together, you do kind

568
00:24:21,694 --> 00:24:25,264
of see this theme of, of who 
these bills are aimed at.

569
00:24:26,699 --> 00:24:31,603
And so I asked some insiders 
up there to see, you know,

570
00:24:33,038 --> 00:24:35,574
is this, is this some kind 
of concerted effort, right?

571
00:24:35,574 --> 00:24:39,812
To prove some kind of 
Republican economic theory about

572
00:24:39,812 --> 00:24:42,715
you know, the work 
ethic of people or not.

573
00:24:42,715 --> 00:24:45,818
And that person 
said it is not,

574
00:24:45,818 --> 00:24:49,822
only because the Republican 
Party at the State Capitol,

575
00:24:49,822 --> 00:24:51,256
they're just not that organized.

576
00:24:51,256 --> 00:24:52,991
A lot of them, the 
insider told me,

577
00:24:52,991 --> 00:24:55,127
that they see the job as 
kind of a social hour.

578
00:24:55,127 --> 00:24:57,496
They go along with 
whatever the speaker says.

579
00:24:57,496 --> 00:24:59,098
So as far as there 
being some kind

580
00:24:59,098 --> 00:25:01,834
of big organized movement 
against, you know

581
00:25:01,834 --> 00:25:04,737
low-income people, he said 
that it just wasn't there

582
00:25:04,737 --> 00:25:07,506
but a lot of the 
rhetoric you see

583
00:25:07,506 --> 00:25:09,675
around unemployment benefits

584
00:25:09,675 --> 00:25:12,411
especially the state's 
unemployment benefits

585
00:25:12,411 --> 00:25:15,614
the rhetoric there, you 
see one legislator called

586
00:25:15,614 --> 00:25:19,318
these checks that unemployment 
checks giveaway money.

587
00:25:19,318 --> 00:25:22,454
Another one said that, you 
know, we need to stop this money

588
00:25:22,454 --> 00:25:25,357
so we can get people 
out into the workplace,

589
00:25:25,357 --> 00:25:27,459
the work marketplace out there.

590
00:25:27,459 --> 00:25:29,528
So you see that time 
and again, where these people

591
00:25:29,528 --> 00:25:30,929
they blame the people that are

592
00:25:30,929 --> 00:25:32,097
on unemployment.

593
00:25:35,334 --> 00:25:37,202
And they think that they're 
just kind of being lazy

594
00:25:37,202 --> 00:25:38,437
and sitting around the house.

595
00:25:38,437 --> 00:25:39,671
And as long as they're 
getting these checks

596
00:25:39,671 --> 00:25:42,274
they're not going out 
and getting these jobs.

597
00:25:42,274 --> 00:25:45,277
And for them, 
that's kind of where,

598
00:25:45,277 --> 00:25:47,446
where their real heart is.

599
00:25:47,446 --> 00:25:49,048
I think they're 
seeing these businesses

600
00:25:49,048 --> 00:25:51,617
that can't find enough 
workers right now.

601
00:25:51,617 --> 00:25:54,353
And I don't think anybody 
really has their finger

602
00:25:54,353 --> 00:25:56,855
on why the shortage 
is right now, not even

603
00:25:56,855 --> 00:26:00,859
the Federal Reserve chairman 
knows exactly what to, how to

604
00:26:00,859 --> 00:26:03,028
how to put his finger on that.

605
00:26:03,028 --> 00:26:04,563
But a lot of the Republicans

606
00:26:04,563 --> 00:26:07,332
when they're talking about 
this, they talk in anecdotes.

607
00:26:07,332 --> 00:26:08,600
They say, well, 
there's a restaurant

608
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,169
in my district that 
can't find workers.

609
00:26:10,169 --> 00:26:11,637
There's another guy

610
00:26:11,637 --> 00:26:13,138
with a trucking company 
that says I've got, you know

611
00:26:13,138 --> 00:26:15,474
fifty trucks idled because 
I can't find drivers

612
00:26:16,608 --> 00:26:18,944
but they never 
point to, you know

613
00:26:18,944 --> 00:26:22,648
a study done by somebody that 
says here's what's going on.

614
00:26:22,648 --> 00:26:23,782
And here's what it is.

615
00:26:25,384 --> 00:26:27,286
- Let me, I apologize.

616
00:26:27,286 --> 00:26:28,587
'Cause we're going to run 
out of time here Toby

617
00:26:28,587 --> 00:26:30,088
but I think it is an 
interesting debate.

618
00:26:30,088 --> 00:26:32,357
I mean, if you go to the, 
you know, what the,

619
00:26:32,357 --> 00:26:33,859
the pages of the 
Wall Street Journal

620
00:26:33,859 --> 00:26:36,762
or if you turn on CNBC, that's 
very much, and we've spoken

621
00:26:36,762 --> 00:26:38,797
to people in Daily Memphian 
who are unable to hire people

622
00:26:38,797 --> 00:26:42,668
and blame the extended 
unemployment benefits.

623
00:26:42,668 --> 00:26:44,670
And we are in the middle of 
a grand national experiment

624
00:26:44,670 --> 00:26:46,738
that we'll probably see 
six months, a year from now

625
00:26:46,738 --> 00:26:48,540
what held things 
back and what didn't.

626
00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:50,075
I want to take one quick moment

627
00:26:50,075 --> 00:26:53,045
as we wrap up to say, this 
is thankfully, thankfully

628
00:26:53,045 --> 00:26:56,215
the last show that we will 
be doing from, by Zoom.

629
00:26:56,215 --> 00:26:58,217
I am sick of looking at myself.

630
00:26:58,217 --> 00:27:00,986
I'm sick of looking at the 
background of my apartment.

631
00:27:00,986 --> 00:27:03,922
I want to thank everybody 
at KNO for making this work.

632
00:27:03,922 --> 00:27:07,159
We did 50 or 60 shows by Zoom.

633
00:27:07,159 --> 00:27:09,328
With case rates coming down 
we'll be back in the studio

634
00:27:09,328 --> 00:27:11,563
next week in person, and we 
really look forward to that.

635
00:27:11,563 --> 00:27:14,066
I want to thank Natalie 
van Gundy, our producer,

636
00:27:14,066 --> 00:27:16,135
and a huge shout-out to 
Peter Richards, our director

637
00:27:16,135 --> 00:27:19,538
who managed this situation 
with a tremendous,

638
00:27:19,538 --> 00:27:22,107
without annoyance and, 
and pretty seamlessly.

639
00:27:22,107 --> 00:27:23,475
We had very few problems.

640
00:27:23,475 --> 00:27:25,010
And so a big thanks 
to him and others.

641
00:27:25,010 --> 00:27:28,614
A last note, as we leave my 
apartment that this painting

642
00:27:28,614 --> 00:27:31,149
over my right shoulder, 
it's actually my, yeah

643
00:27:31,149 --> 00:27:32,084
my right shoulder.

644
00:27:32,084 --> 00:27:33,519
I recently wrote a column

645
00:27:33,519 --> 00:27:35,087
about my mother 
recently passing.

646
00:27:35,087 --> 00:27:37,756
A lot of viewers and readers 
were very kind to reach out.

647
00:27:37,756 --> 00:27:40,859
And I don't 
know, they call it

648
00:27:40,859 --> 00:27:42,160
it spoke to them in some way.

649
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,395
And I really appreciate that.

650
00:27:43,395 --> 00:27:44,863
I wrote about my 
mother's paintings

651
00:27:44,863 --> 00:27:47,432
and I wrote about two of 
her paintings specifically.

652
00:27:47,432 --> 00:27:49,368
And that one right 
there is one of those.

653
00:27:49,368 --> 00:27:50,769
So thank you.

654
00:27:50,769 --> 00:27:52,604
I want to say to everyone 
who did reach out,

655
00:27:52,604 --> 00:27:53,839
y'all are very, very kind.

656
00:27:53,839 --> 00:27:55,841
But that is all the 
time we have this week.

657
00:27:55,841 --> 00:27:58,477
You can, as of course, as 
always get past episodes

658
00:27:58,477 --> 00:28:01,213
of the show at wkno.org 
or the full podcast

659
00:28:01,213 --> 00:28:02,581
of the show on The 
Daily Memphian site

660
00:28:02,581 --> 00:28:03,715
or wherever you 
get your podcasts.

661
00:28:03,715 --> 00:28:05,284
And we will see you next week

662
00:28:05,284 --> 00:28:06,518
from the studio.

663
00:28:06,518 --> 00:28:09,855
[intense orchestral music]

664
00:28:27,739 --> 00:28:29,741
[acoustic guitar chords]