The first question at the Memphis Rotary Club debate went to Memphis Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery, asking why he changed his mind about the city providing funding for Memphis City Schools with a vote to drastically cut that funding in 2008.
As he did in an article in today's newspaper, Lowery said that he made his decisive vote because he felt the time had come to strike a blow for tax equity on behalf of the citizens of Memphis. And he said that while the city now must find $34.6 million to make up a shortfall of that 2008 funding, based on a court decision, the end result will be single-source funding for MCS from Shelby County.
"That is a revolution in this community," Lowery said. "Single-source funding will be the rule of the day. If we had not voted to slash the funding this would never have happened."
Lowery's three opponents all criticized him and the council, however, saying the issue could have been confronted and resolved without "drastic" action.
Chumney: "I've never been a fan of brinksmanship."
Carpenter criticized it because of the additional legal fees it created and the uncertainty it caused the schools: "It created more legal complexities, more costs and less benefits for our city students."
Wharton said that while he supports single-source funding from the county, "The (state) Supreme Court says if a city is going to do it, it should not do it in a way that wreaks havoc. That's the problem."
Lowery, Wharton and Chumney all said they believe the $34.6 million can be raised without raising taxes, either using cuts or finding new efficiencies or using money from the city's reserve fund.
Carpenter was skeptical that his opponents were being forthright, saying that his honest view is that it will be difficult to find that money without additional taxes. He did point out that taxes had gone down slightly after the 2008 vote to cut school funding, so it might equal out in the end.
Carpenter is now concerned about legal fees?? HAHAHAHA
He wasn't concerned when he took millions in legal fees for himself from the city.