Why A. C. Wharton Should Run for Mayor of Memphis

If you want a Herenton-bashing article, you will not find it here. This native Memphian thinks Dr. Willie Herenton has had successes while he has been Mayor of Memphis. But as time has gone on, it is time for a fresh perspective in the office.

Memphis is our home. To many of us, it is our birthplace. It is also considered to many to be the "birthplace of rock and roll." Elvis called Memphis his home as well as countless others, famous or otherwise, who see the value of this great city.

Memphis is certainly not perfect. There have been many political and other issues that have developed over the years. Guess what? They are not all Herenton's fault. There are a myriad of factors involved that is not the focus of this article. We should focus on the successes and be thankful to Willie Herenton. The fact that it is time to move on should not be considered a failure for him, just time for change.

Moving on Going on the assumption that we all agree that it is time to move on, let's talk about A. C, Wharton. Leaders and citizens in Memphis have banded together in an effort to "Draft A. C. Wharton" into running for Mayor of Memphis. Wharton has until July 19, 2007 to file to run for office. A. C. Wharton is currently the mayor of Shelby County. His popularity is solid and continues to be on the upward swing. For those of us who have had the pleasure of listening to him speak on various issues, we are always left with the feeling that this man puts a positive perspective on leadership. He has a special ability to motivate as well as reassure that "it is going to be ok." Read the home-page for the Shelby County website, and you will get a sense of this: http://www.shelbycountytn.gov/FirstPortal/dotShowDoc/dotContent/Government/OfficeoftheMayor/mayor_wharton_index.htm. Just today, Wharton held a public press conference to announce that he will consider running for office, despite in the past he explained that he would not run against his friend, Willie Herenton.

Wharton's accomplishments According to www.shelbycountytn.gov, A. C. Wharton entered the office of Shelby County Mayor facing debt as well as dealing with issues of public corruptions. A. C. Wharton's leadership and vision and "abiding commitment to unite and progress" has allowed him to successfully deal with the issues he faced by making reforms that are widely accepted by the community. A. C. Wharton champions Early Childhood education, efforts to make Shelby County safer, and effectively dealt with ethics issues with ethic reform policies. Hey wait a minute, did I just touch on three of the major issues facing our city? The Memphis City School system, which already has a lot of positive attributes, could use his guidance to "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Safety and ethics issues...hmmm. Memphis is a great place with so much to offer. Can you imagine if we could get a handle on safety and re-create our image on the political front?

Uniting Memphians One of the things I love about Memphis is that we do not all look or think exactly alike. We come from different races, backgrounds and political views. Some of us love Memphis and sadly, some of us do not. Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to see the "good" beyond the "bad." I think we need someone to take the office of Memphis and "unite" us. Can you imagine? What if we all got together? What if we all had a positive attitude instead of a negative one? "What if we agreed we may have different political views but we all have the same view on Memphis, let's make it and even greater place to live? Can you imagine?

So, why should A. C. Wharton consider running for Mayor? At this time in Memphis history, I think we can all agree that we need the right person for the job. Mr. Wharton, we need you. We need the way you will graciously take over the office. We need your leadership and areas of expertise. We know you are not a miracle-worker, but we believe you can help show the way. Thank you for agreeing today to consider what so many of us are praying for, that you will run for the office of Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee.

Email your support to Mayor Wharton at: acwharton@shelbycountytn.gov.Cheryl Goodwin's articles can be viewed at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/89069/cheryl_goodwin.html.