While there has been a recent reduction in crime, the magnitude of the Memphis crime problem supports Federal intervention. Data confirmation regarding the  magnitude of the Memphis crime problem vs Memphis peer cities, as selected by the Greater Memphis Chamber, can only be found at the Taxpayer Justice Institute.

At the same time, public corruption and high crime fit like a glove. To that extent, the Memphis public corruption crisis has gone mostly ignored by the Chamber and State and Local officials. Excessive Memphis public corruption is why sending more locally administered Federal money to Memphis won’t work.

Data compiled by the Taxpayer Justice Institute confirms that Federal COVID money, locally administered, only worked to catapult the violent crime rate. Keep in mind, the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) was publicly ripped off during COVID as was the $10M State Cobblestone restoration project.  

Permanent adequate staffing of the local Comptroller’s office is needed to police the Memphis public corruption crisis. To “Make Memphis Matter,” does Senator Brent Taylor support adequate staffing of the local Comptroller’s office? What about the Chamber’s Bill Dunavant? Does Dunavant want to see public corruption policed in Memphis, with the Chamber in close proximity to numerous public ripoffs? Don’t think so, which points to the chump leadership crisis in Memphis.

Memphis goes nowhere with the taxpayer being systemically ripped. To “Make Memphis Matter” Chamber, State and Local officials need to know when they are dealing with a civic idiot. But there is no indication they do. Dunavant recently trumpeted the civic work of Pitt and Barbara Hyde, and the State routinely entertains funding requests that include things like the construction of a $100M Zoo elephant sanctuary.

These folks reside in a silo divorced from civic reality. Yet, State and Local officials always find ways to look the other way when elitist fraud, waste and public fund abuse occurs, or they just choose to publicly fund extravagant elitist “economic development” fantasies.

Memphians must see the beauty and pretend the above public parcel is civic design art.

Public corruption policing and not publicly funding idiotic extravagance are needed core capacity functions of state and local government. But along with the high crime rate, the former capacity just does not seem to exist in Memphis. Due to public corruption, neither Mayor Young nor County Mayor Harris can provide any evidence that more locally administered Federal Funding will solve any problems in Memphis.

In fact, the State funded Cobblestone restoration project was ripped off during COVID while the adjacent Hyde spearheaded Tom Lee Park (TLP) renovation project was occurring. Thus far, while the opposite was promised, the result of the $61M TLP renovation has been the implosion of Downtown Memphis.

The above picture showcases the design idiocy of the Hydes in TLP’s Cutbank Bluff. Millions in public funds were spent to create what appears to be overgrowth and a blighted property parcel in Cutbank Bluff. Cutbank Bluff seems to be an attempt to make Memphis what it is not in a rocky mountain type of environment. But that’s what the Hydes do and are doing with their attempt to make Memphis what it is not, in a fine arts City with millions in public dollars being spent on the Downtown Brooks. Memphis is a Music and BBQ city, not a fine arts city.

Meanwhile, Kansas City is kicking Memphis ass by constructing a privately funded $10M BBQ museum in their apparent quest to become the BBQ leader after Memphis in May was run out of TLP by Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP). I notified the Comptroller’s office of MRPP’s reckless expulsion of Memphis in May from TLP, but in the face of public extravagance and recklessness, the Comptroller chose to look the other way.

Additionally, in our “most generous city” of Memphis, during COVID and the TLP renovation, $5M in private donor money was extracted from MRPP when the State Government money started rolling in. See page 11 and “Proceeds from Donations” of the Riverfront Development Corporation dba MRPP FY21 financials.  

All that to say, as of June 30, 2024, MRPP was $13M in debt. And to make matters worse, during FY24, MRPP spent $791K in fundraising to lose $4M in pledges. Go figure.

So, nothing changes in Memphis without adequate permanent staffing of the local Memphis Comptroller’s office to police public corruption, nor does anything change if public officials are unable to discern when they are dealing with idiots. At the same time, Federal intervention is indeed needed to combat an out-of-bounds, data dislocated, high crime rate.