Recap: Daily Memphian's Mayoral Debate on Crime + Criminal Justice
This Monday, I attended the Daily Memphian’s debate on crime and criminal justice. This was the first of two debates that the DM will hold. You can watch the video here.
Of the known candidates, 11 - 12, only five attended: Rep. Karen Camper, School Board Member Michelle McKissack, JW Gibson, Councilman Frank Colvett, and Paul Young. Eric Barnes, CEO, of the DM was the moderator.
About 60 - 80 folks attended the debate, but as DM reporter, Sam Hardiman tweeted, the crowd was pretty insular, meaning the potential community outreach and impact was minimal.
I found the DM’s questions to cover the spread of the issues and concerns related to crime and policing in Memphis pretty well. Questions were asked about a curfew for youth, whether there is a need for widespread police reform in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ murder, whether they would retain current chief of police CJ Davis, and even if they thought current Mayor, Jim Strickland, has been effective.
The candidates themselves had low energy. Performance-wise I’d give them a C+ collectively. There were sparks of excitement, but overall the tenor was soft and not very engaging. The evening almost felt like a closed-session practice debate. There was a lot of agreement among candidates about how they would tackle crime - with many pointing to forthcoming plans to address the issues. Hopefully, as these conversations continue, candidates will find a way to separate themselves from the pack with innovative ideas and higher energy.
Four Major Keys 🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑
The candidates watch a lot of Law & Order: SVU. When asked by Eric Barnes what circumstances call for youth to be tried as adults, at least three of the five replied: “when the crime is heinous.” I don’t know the legal definition of heinous but I do know that every time it was stated, I heard “duh duh” in my head. Jokes aside none of the candidates were definitively against youth being tried as adults. Frank Colvett used this opportunity to say he is more concerned about the “victims,” which is a notable talking point used by former District Attorney Amy Weirich when asked about criminal justice reform.
No one REALLY knows how to tackle the gun issue. Look the state of Tennessee set us up for failure. Mere weeks after children and staff were shot and killed at Covenant High in Nashville, the legislature reduced the legal age for permitless gun carry to 18! So, when asked by Barnes what they would do about the ridiculous amount of guns in our city, almost all the candidates mentioned attempting to work with the legislature to get this law reversed. Two stand-out responses came from McKissack and Colvett. McKissack referenced that some politicians are asking for Nashville and Memphis to be carved out of the age reduction. McKissack said that was unfair to paint those cities as more dangerous when Covenant happened in an affluent and majority-white community. Colvett shared his belief that 11-year-olds are walking around downtown with rifles. I don’t know if he’s been watching too much of The Last of Us or The Wire, but I call cap on that.
We should just elect Youth Villages. Barnes asked the candidates what they will do as mayor to help youth. He noted that as mayor they will not have any control over programs they partner with but wanted to know what they can do as mayor. I’ll be real here. EVERYONE fumbled the bag on this answer. I think the candidates got caught up on the word “partnership” because they all talked about convening community organizations and members who want to help youth. I do not recall anyone addressing internal programs, initiatives, or funding that would fall directly under the mayor. Instead, almost everyone said Youth Villages as a future partner for this work more than once.
Absences were noted. Three additional candidates were invited to the debate: Van Turner, Sheriff Floyd Bonner, and Dr. Willie Herenton. According to Barnes, Turner was unable to attend due to a mix-up in dates. Bonner had a fundraiser (did anyone attend or see pictures of that?). Herenton did not respond. It’s important to note that Bonner is being advised/managed by Stephen Reid, who ran Stricklands mayoral campaigns. As with Strickland in 2019, Reid has decided that Bonner can win without addressing the people of Memphis through community engagement and debates. In his closing statement, Young stated that Memphians deserve to hear from their candidates, tossing shade at the missing candidates. Meanwhile, across town, parents were vocally upset that McKissack was missing a special school board meeting regarding the superintendent search to attend the debate.
All-in-all, for an early debate, it wasn’t all bad. There were very few surprises but also very little innovation in the responses. I’ll keep covering the debates and I am hopeful that we’ll get to know these candidates and their platforms better as we progress through the summer. Those that show up that is.
The 2023 Mayoral Election is October 5, 2023. Register to vote today online.