As Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton prepares to become city mayor, legislators on both sides of the street say Wharton will have to get used to a more challenging and more cut throat political landscape.
Just as Mayor Willie Herenton was known as a lightning rod - both beloved and maligned for making quick and sometimes unpopular decisions - Wharton is characterized by an affable disposition and a reluctance to ruffle feathers.
But County Commission Sidney Chism, who happens to be a longtime Herenton ally, said Wharton is going to have to adopt stronger opinions if he wants to succeed across the street.
"On the city side, it's a different set of circumstances he's got to satisfy," Chism told staff reporter Zack McMillin. "He's got to satisfy a majority of the people who vote in the city to stay there. He will not get to the place where he gets to be a divisive figure but he's going to piss off a lot of people in the weeks and months to come when it comes to making decisions."
Council chairman Harold Collins said it's no secret Wharton is a consensus builder, but because of the nature of the business the city is engaged in, he's going to have to adapt.
"On the city side there are decisions that have to be made that not everyone is going to be happy about," he said.
Collins said sticky issues facing Wharton off the bat will include picking the right team of people and figuring out what employees need to go, school funding, the budget and Pyramid and Mid-South Fairgrounds redevelopment.
"There's just a lot of work got to get done," Collins said. "And I'm sure he's excited about it. And we're excited to have him on board."
City Councilman Shea Flinn said the budget is probably the biggest issue facing the council. In the midst of a battle over school funding, Flinn said a tax increase or layoffs are possible to "right" the size of government.
"There's going to be a lot of tough decisions to be made and he's going to need to start getting his arms around this 8 a.m. on Day 1," Flinn said.
But as for personality, Flinn said maybe Wharton is doing just what he needs to be doing.
"He's the one that got 60 percent of the vote, he should probably be giving us advice," Flinn said.
To get things approved by the 13-member council, Wharton will need to round up seven votes.
And while Flinn said he doesn't think Wharton has a built-in seven council members willing to go to bat for his agenda, reasonable requests will receive reasonable votes.
"He just needs to engage," he said.
City Councilman Bill Boyd agreed that communication is key.
"It's all in communication and advising us early on matters that we have an interest to convey to constituents as soon as possible," Boyd said. "I believe AC Wharton is a good communicator and he'll be on the job so I think he'll pay attention to details like that."
Chism has the same mentality of his political ally, Willie Herenton. In his mind, you have to be divisive to be successful. I am hopeful that Wharton will bring in a new way of doing business in City Hall, to continue to be inclusive and build consensus with not only the Council but with different groups all over the City.
Successul mayors around the country have done this. Memphis is in desparate need of this kind of leadership.