W. W. Herenton
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| Willie Herenton | |
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| Assumed office 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Richard Hackett |
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Willie W. Herenton (born April 23, 1940) is the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Herenton is a graduate of Le Moyne-Owen College in South Memphis, and the University of Memphis. He received his doctorate in education at Southern Illinois University, and is also a recipient of two honorary doctorates from Rhodes College and Christian Brothers University. He has four children, the youngest of which was born in late 2004 to a local waitress.
He is the first African-American to be elected mayor of Memphis. He won his first term by defeating incumbent mayor Richard Hackett in 1991 by a mere 146 votes. Prior to serving as mayor, Herenton was the superintendent of Memphis City Schools for twelve years. In his State of the City address on January 1, 2006, Herenton announced his intention to run for a fifth term in 2007 and refused to debate his challengers during the campaign.
He was elected to his fifth term in office on October 4, 2007 [1], thus making him the first Memphis mayor to be elected to five terms of office. Despite his win, Herenton garnered only 42% of the popular vote on the October 4, 2007 election. Nonetheless, run-offs for Memphis city-wide elections have been banned by court order since 1991, on the premise that the intent of run-offs was to give white candidates an advantage [2]. Indeed, Herenton also scored his initial 1991 victory as well as his 1999 re-election with less than majority support.
Herenton is currently on the short list for the 2008 World Mayor award. [3]
On March 20, 2008, Herenton announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Memphis' mayor, effective July 31, 2008. This move angered many politicians in the city including Councilwoman Carol Chumney, a candidate he beat for mayor of Memphis in October 2007. He made this announcement just a little over 90 days after his re-election. [4] Herenton stated his early departure from the mayor's office was to seek the position of superintendent of Memphis City Schools, dispelling speculation that he was stepping down because of a run for congress or impending legal troubles from an ongoing criminal investigation at City Hall. [5] However, he has since stated that he will not leave the office of mayor unless he gets the position as the superintendent of schools. [6] Herenton went on to state that he ran for re-election only in order to protect the city of Memphis from the other main candidates, Herman Morris and Councilwoman Carol Chumney. [7]
[edit] Criticisms
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In recent times, Herenton has faced mounting criticism from citizens and other observers, who have charged that he has, among the following:
- Failed to ensure sound fiscal management of the City of Memphis [8]
- Fraud allegations involving national money for the building of the FedEx Forum [9]
- Failed to communicate effectively with the City Council [10]
- Failed to address multiple allegations of improprieties regarding Memphis Light Gas and Water [10]
- Served as the prime target and catalyst for the City Charter rewrite [11]
- Angered citizens to the point of becoming a target of a citizen recall effort [12]
- Mayor Herenton proposed raising property taxes by 17% while taxes on his personal home were delinquent.
- Mayor Herenton called for a halt to early voting due to "irregularities". The Shelby County Election Commission stated that early voting would continue.[13],
- Done little in response to the significant rise in crime under his leadership, stating that "No mayor in any American city can solve the crime problem."[14]
- Appointed new leadership of the Memphis Public Library over the objections of the Tennessee Library Association.[15]
[edit] References
- ^ Charlier, Tom. "Herenton wins unprecedented 5th term as Memphis leader", Commercial Appeal, 2007-10-05. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ Memphis Daily News - Power to the People
- ^ CityMayors profile
- ^ Charlier, Tom; Maki, Amos. "Herenton to step down July 31", Commercial Appeal, 2008-03-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ Perrusquia, Marc. "Herenton: It's about schools", Commercial Appeal, 2008-03-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
- ^ Maki, Amos. "Herenton says he'll stay put in mayor's office if he doesn't get city schools' superintendent job", Commercial Appeal, 2008-03-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
- ^ Maki, Amos. "Herenton says he ran for re-election to protect Memphis from Chumney, Morris", Commercial Appeal, 2008-03-25. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
- ^ City Of Memphis - 2007 budget address
- ^ Smart City Memphis - Compliance With Federal Regulations Receive Heightened Attention
- ^ a b ""Are You Following Me?"", Memphis Flyer, 2005-05-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Memphis Flyer - Charter Commission Tune-Up
- ^ WREG - Herenton Critics Can Begin Recall Effort
- ^ McMillin, Zack. "Mayor cites irregularities with early voting machines", Commercial Appeal, 2007-09-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ Fontenay, Blake (2007-08-27), Mayor's crime quote may be a 'risky tactic', <http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/aug/27/x27today/>
- ^ Tennessee Library Association Executive Board. "Letter sent to Tennessee Library Association membership", Commercial Appeal, 2008-03-01.
| Preceded by Richard C. Hackett |
Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee 1992 – present |
Incumbent |
