Last Night's Candidate Forum

Last night at the central library was the candidate forum for county commissioner. There were at least 13 or 14 candidates there, including Mr. Hatcher and the now infamous J.W. Gibson. The format of the event was kind of screwed up because there were just too many candidates. The event didn't get started until about 6:20 and after introductions it was close to 7. The event was supposed to be over by 7:30. Needless to say the event ran over and only a few questions were addressed. Overall, Darrick Harris did the best. I'm not sure why the Chism faction has decided to throw him under the bus in exchange for JW Gibson, but that is a mistake. (Funny story about JW. Apprently the reason JW left the republicans in 2005 was because there wasn't an opprotunity for advancement. The thing is, this was the same reason he left the Democratic party over a decade ago. That sir, is not a good excuse.) Mulroy, Fentress, and Harvey did well also. Bob Hatton consistently got laughs with his yes sirree Bob campaign slogan and had a good idea about staggering County Commissioners' terms. Del made a very good point about the city and county pouring money into downtown development but ignoring the largest tourist attraction the city has Graceland, more specificly EP Boulevard. It is an embarassment to the city. Unfortunately, Del was in an audience of latte liberals that love downtown development but don't really see that the rest of city is going to shit. So only two people clapped. Surprisingly, Joe Cooper had some valid points and was nice enough to walk out in the middle of event and get coffee for some of the other candidates.

The most disturbing part of the evening though concerned Sidney Chism. Mr. Chism could not make it to the event so he sent a surrogate. That's ok. Dude would make a statement from Mr. Chism and then that would be it. That guy did more than just read a statement, he answered questions as if he were channelling Chism. What the fuck is up with that. If Chism is to old, frail, and sickly to make to the candidate forum, why is he running for county commission. Is he going to send dude to sit in on the county commission for him too. It wasn't just me that thought this was whacked. Other people in the audience were complaining about this as well. But the killer was when the dude was asked about privatization of the prison. Dude said Chism hadn't made up his mind about that yet. Say what? Every other candidate there opposed prison privatization without hestitation and made valid arguments why. Damn even JW opposed it, but Chism is still undecided. No wonder the Memphis Labor Council endorsed Kirk. Does Chism not remember he used to be a union organizer. I think he does because dude said it in the opening statement about Chism. Hell, I hope Kirk wins and the Shelby County Democratic Party Executive Committee selects the candidate who comes in second in district 3 position 1. Chism may as well go work with the republicans since he is more ideologically aligned with them. Herenton and JW can introduce him to any republicans Chism doesn't already know.