LOWERY WANTS TO BE MAYOR AND COUNCILMAN TOO

Myron Lowery has long wanted to become the mayor of Memphis and now his cockiness is about to out grow anything that has been said about Willie Herenton. On his 'Twitter" site he writes "Willie Herenton will be resigning and I will become mayor soon". Lowery who will only be mayor for 90 to make himself look mayoral spoke of firing Herenton appointees when he takes office and stated when 3 appointees announced that they were leaving 'That's Good they're making my job easy".

This ego driven blow wind who has very little support in the Black community knows that his stint as mayor of Memphis is very short thats why he refusing to give up his council seat. How is it that Lowery can be both a council member and the mayor at the same time? The mayor of Memphis has sole contract signing power and signs off on items that are approved by the council. So how can Lowery vote for a item such as the Fairgrounds and Bass Pro and also sign the contract?

The city charter calls for a separation of powers between the Executive Branch and Legislative Branches of local government,so again I ask how is Lowery to be allowed to hold on to his council seat.

It was Lowery who as the chairman of the Charter Commission authored the new law on how the vacancy of the mayor's office would be filled. He made sure that a selection process by the council was removed along with the CAO of the city taking over after 20 days until an election could be held. Lowery feeling that Herenton may leave early wanted to make sure that Herenton's appointee Keith McGhee as CAO could not become mayor because the rumor was that McGhee was being groomed by Herenton to become mayor.

The new law only allows the chair person of the council to take the seat for a period of 180 days if an local election is to be held within that time,and if not an election must be held within 90 days. Lowery screwed himself in the wording by not stating that the council chair could hold on to his seat and play dual roles.

It would seem that other council members would be screaming that Lowery is violating the city charter,But then again to many of them are thinking about running for mayor to care whether or not one of them is playing by the rules.

Will Lowery receive the mayor's salary and his salary as a council member is another concern that taxpayers should have. Will this ego driven political maniac waste taxpayers money to serve out his personal agenda?

Lowery should be forced to step down and his council seat placed on the October ballot as well as the race for mayor. He has stated that he's not going to take a chance at losing his council seat and will not step down but the citizens of Memphis should not give him that choice and demand that as the mayor of Memphis he follows the charter. As he tries to prove that he can better serve Memphis than Herenton he should start by steeping down from the council position he holds. But if he does his political career is over because he will not be elected mayor,in fact K.T. Whalum has a better chance then he does.

The fact that Lowery says that as mayor he want vote as a councilman is alo an issue that means that the citizens of his district is left without representation,plus the charter calls for a 13 member board not a 12. This very fact shows where Lowery should step down so a councilman for the district can be selected by the council to serve for the next 90 days and a election held to replace him.

The charter calls for a separation of powers so Lowery can not serve in a dual capacity,in fact he may want to read the following: http://www.cityofmemphis.org/printcontent.aspx?modid=2739&modtitle=How+Government+Operates

Background

In 1966 Memphis held a referendum vote accepting a new charter which changed our type of city government from a commission to a mayor - council form. This new "POP" charter provided for the election of a mayor and thirteen council members, six elected at large from throughout the city and seven elected from geographic districts. The thirteen new council members were elected in 1967, and took office in January 1968.In 1995, the council adopted a new district plan which changed council positions to all districts. This plan provides for nine districts, seven with one representative each and two districts with three representatives each.

In 1995 we began electing council members under this plan.Separation of Powers The United States Constitution guarantees the separation of powers. This means that the three branches of government - the Judicial, the Executive, and the Legislative - have separate functions and responsibilities. For each branch of government to preserve its integrity and independence from the others, there is a system of checks and balances among the three. These checks and balances ensure that no branch of government has power to directly control the functions and operations of any other. This important concept, basic to our system of democracy, is embodied in the Charter of the City of Memphis and is apparent in the provisions made for the Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches of our city government.

Judicial Branch

The "POP" charter, in conjunction with the laws of the State of Tennessee, provides for a judicial branch of city government, the Memphis City Courts. Our city court system currently consists of three divisions, each presided over by a judge elected by the voters, together with a City Court Clerk, who also oversees the Traffic Violations Bureau. Between elections, vacancies in the positions may be filled through an appointment by the mayor with the approval of the City Council.

Executive Branch

Our city's mayor-council form of government provides that all administrative duties concerning day-to-day operations of city government are the duty and responsibility of the mayor, presently Dr. Willie W. Herenton, first elected in 1991. Each of the various divisions of city government has a director who is appointed by the mayor with the City Council?s approval. The directors are responsible to the mayor to prepare a budget request for the council?s consideration and approval. It is also the duty of the mayor to carry out the policy, laws and regulations of the city as established by the council and provided for in the City Charter and Code of Ordinances. All recommendations of the mayor in the areas of law and policy must also be submitted to the City Council for approval.

Legislative Branch

The charter provides that it is the duty and responsibility of the City Council to consider the mayor?s budget request and to take final action on it which may consist of approval, rejection, or approval with amendments. Additionally, the charter gives the council the responsibility for setting the tax rate and establishing other lawful taxes and fees necessary to secure sufficient revenue to fund the budget as approved. Under the provisions of the City charter the council makes the laws that govern the city. The council also serves as an appeal board for decisions of certain city government departments and boards; for example, decisions of the Land Use Control Board are appealed to the City Council, as are decisions of the Alcohol Commission.


IF MYRON DOES NOT DO THE RIGHT THING A LAWSUIT WILL BE FILED