Metro Charter Aims for Efficiency, Ethics

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A consolidated Memphis and Shelby County would mean big changes for the government itself, but the average citizen may not even notice.

That is the point the charter commission tried to get across when the charter was presented to elected officials.

Elected officials proved to be a tough crowd for the charter commission as the 14 recommendations were presented. Big changes came in the areas of ethics, rules for elected officials, and representation.

Presenting the charter commission's findings in the FedEx Institute of Technology, Commission Chairman Julie Ellis, former FedEx manager, explained why the city of Memphis needs to start thinking more like a modern company.

"We have two of everything, so it' the redundancies that we see."

A company would not have redundancies seen in Shelby County and Memphis. A consolidated government would eliminate that, theoretically saving money. So, the commission recommended a three year tax freeze.

"I find it difficult to commit to a three year tax freeze if you don't commit to a reduction to the number of employees and size of the two governments," said Shelby County Commissioner Mike Carpenter.

But, the 11,000 civil servants are protected by law. It will be up to the new 'Metro Council' to find out how to streamline the new government according to the rules spelled out in the charter. The details of what the Metro Council will look like are still being worked out.

"Every community will have representation," said Ellis. "Everyone in the county will have their own representative."

"Well I'm sure the mayor of Collierville and the mayor of Millington and the mayor of Bartlett already have their representative, but you know," replied Shelby County Commissioner Wyatt Bunker.

Elected officials would be subject to stricter standards. They could not be delinquent in their taxes, resignations would be final, and all appointees would have to have an actual resume and credentials for the post. And, the Metro Charter would be the first in the state to include an ethics article.

"Ethics isn't about the 'gotcha game,' it's about having a set of standards we can all adhere to," explained Carpenter.

Ellis is hoping the skeptical county residents will jump on board for a consolidated government. Going forward, she said it's the best way to beat the budget battle.

"We think we can live within our 1.7 million dollar budget if we got more efficient."