A C Wharton

A C Wharton, Jr.
Mayor of Memphis
Incumbent
Assumed office October 26, 2009
Preceded by	Myron Lowery (pro tem)

A C Wharton, Jr. is a Tennessee Democratic politician who is the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Previously, he served as mayor of Shelby County, the first African-American to serve in that office.^[1]

1 Early life, education, and early career
2 Shelby County Mayor
3 Memphis Mayor
4 Personal life
5 References

Early life, education, and early career

Wharton was born and raised in Lebanon, Tennessee. A C Wharton shares his name with his grandfather, father, and eldest son. Despite some misconception, Wharton has stated that his first name is simply the letters A and C and does not stand for anything in particular.^[2]

In 1980, then-Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris appointed him as Chief Shelby County Public Defender, where his concern for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system gave birth to a national model program, known today as the Jericho Initiative.^[3] He chaired the county’s Jail Overcrowding Committee, which developed new ways to ease overcrowding without sacrificing public safety.

Shelby County Mayor

Wharton is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[4] a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets."

Wharton initiated Operation Safe Community^[5] and developed a program to connect prisoners with the skills to succeed in life and to support their families. He increased funding for the drug court. He is credited with working to toughen gun laws and seeking passage of laws that make criminals pay into a special program to help victims.

Wharton improved the management and accountability of the County's Head Start program. His reforms attracted the attention of the United States Congress, where he was called to testify before the House Committee on Education, with many of his subsequent recommendations being translated into changes to public policy. In the way of early childhood development, he also was a strong advocate "Books from Birth," a unique early-childhood education program which provides books for over 28,000 children in Memphis and Shelby County every year.^[6]

Between 2008 and 2009, Wharton convened and led the community wide effort which led to the drafting of Sustainable Shelby, an environmentally sustainable agenda for the county.^[7]

Memphis Mayor

Election

In June 2009, Wharton announced his intentions to run for mayor of Memphis in a special election to replace Mayor W. W. Herenton, who vacated the office in the middle of his fifth term.^[8] The special election was held October 15, 2009. Based on unofficial returns, Wharton won election with 60 percent of the vote in a field of 25 candidates.^[9]

Wharton was sworn into office on October 26, 2009.^[10] He is the fourth African-American to serve as Mayor of Memphis (previous African-American mayors were J. O. Patterson, Jr., W. W. Herenton, and Myron Lowery) and the second to be elected to that office (of the previous African-American mayors, only Herenton was elected mayor).

Criticism

Wharton has been criticized for underfunding Memphis City Schools^[11] and for cutting services for young people and the elderly,^[12] while offering incentive packages to corporate interests.^[13] He disagrees with the Forbes rating of Memphis as Most Miserable City in America.^[14]

Lawsuits

In 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation filed a joint federal lawsuit against the administration for violating the Clean Water Act and the state Water Quality Control Act.^[15] In 2011, city employees filed a class action suit against the administration of Mayor A C Wharton ^[16] for violating the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[17]

Personal life

Wharton currently lives in the Glenview neighborhood of Memphis with his wife, Ruby, an attorney.^[18] The couple has three sons and raised three other boys.^[19]