Issues between mayor and his council apparent during Tuesday's campus debate

During Tuesday night’s Millennials for Memphis debate, Mayor A C Wharton spent 20 rounds on the ropes dodging the verbal jabs of mayoral hopefuls Jim Strickland, Harold Collins and Mike Williams.

What started out as a cordial rundown of the candidates’ platforms on fostering rapid change in the city unraveled into a blame game about accountability and transparency between the current mayor and the City Council.

“It’s like the right hand never knows what the left hand is doing,” said Mike Williams, the president of the Memphis Police Association and a 21-year veteran of the Army. Williams’ platform focused on the integrity and functionality of core services.

Collins, a current City Council member, followed up with a more direct criticism of Wharton: “Three of us said that the administration does not tell us the truth. You did not hear him rebut us one time.”

Wharton stayed on the defensive amidst the blows to his leadership style, often sticking to a boilerplate answer. “The vast majority of that happened before I became city mayor,” he said, pointing his finger at the “august body of the council here before me who sat there and did nothing.”

A panel of 15 millennials asked the frontrunner candidates hard-hitting questions on retention, rape kits, crime and transparency in front of a crowd of 200 at the University of Memphis’ Rose Theatre. Millennials For Memphis, an organization focused on actively engaging young people in local politics, business and culture, selected each member of the panel based on submitted recommendations and questionnaire responses.

One panelist asked about the candidates’ views concerning the handling of the city’s backlogged rape kits, as well as the Robert Lipscomb crisis, and whether or not city employees were being held responsible for their actions. Lipscomb, the former Memphis Housing Director, resigned his position amidst allegations of sexual assault against a minor.

“Accountability is a real problem with this administration,” said Strickland, another current councilman and Wharton’s main opposition. “The mayor should have known.”

Audience applause and laughter to the snide remarks of the mayoral contenders somewhat lightened the mood, until Collins took an apparently supportive position for Lipscomb and Wharton for how handled Lipscomb’s resignation.

“No allegation has been committed, but character assassination has been committed,” he said. “To be dealt this way is inhuman.” The audience sighed and shifted in their seats, and murmurs questioning his defense of Lipscomb emerged from a group in the second row.

While Strickland and Williams navigated away from the tensions created by Collins, they did question the mayor’s lack of transparency in general and his sidestepping of the issues with his guarded answers concerning leadership style and pensions for first responders.

“First you have to hold yourself accountable,” Wharton blasted, pointing to the two current councilmen. “This pension thing had been brewing up before I got there.”

Strickland sighed and quickly rebutted.

“We see why this city is demanding change,” he said. “That’s it right there; he tries to pass off his duties to the council.”

With regards to the critical final remarks of his contenders and their attack on his administration, Wharton appeared unshaken.

“I can take it,” he assured the crowd, “and I’ll leave here with a smile.”