Saturday, July 08, 2006

How much longer can Memphis Survive?

A friend called me today to discuss my take on the elections that are coming up this Summer. I have stated that I believe the Republican party is moving North, South, East and some even to the West in droves. My data suggests that there have been somewhere around 40,000 white voters who have fled Shelby County in the last four years, while 11,000 more blacks have registered to vote. His comment was that it looks like every house in cordova is up for sale. He checked the web and ran some numbers for different areas and Cordova has two to three times more homes for sale than Bartlett, Arlington, Lakeland or Germantown. He said there were over 1400 for sale in Cordova, while Bartlett only had around 500, Germantown 800 and so on.

That piqued my interest so I called a buddy who is in real estate and asked him. He says Cordova has been hot for listings but until recently, slow for sales. He also said he believes it will increase after the August elections if the Democrats steamroll the county like he thinks they will.

I live in Bolton, TN which is out in God's country (defined as not in Memphis). But, I have to admit, I have been thinking about living in Fayette county because the taxes are a fraction of what they are here, crime is also a fraction of our crime and it appears to be where conservatives are becoming entrenched.

I believe the leadership of this community has had it's head in the sand for too long and now there is little hope for Shelby County. Show me a visionary who holds office today! Mayor AC Wharton's vision is to continue doing what he has done the past four years. (He has increased our debt by 600 million and raised our taxes twice). Mark Luttrell has wasted over 16 million tax dollars in the past four years by outsourcing inmate feeding, and serious crime in the county is up 17% so far this year. He has no plans other than to take his resources and give them to the "real police", you know the ones who came up through the ranks and have a clue. Then there's the county commission. They were a party to our debt, which Jim Rout and crew left us - at 1.5 billion, and now they have taken us to 2 billion in debt. This was a county commission that was controlled by Republicans! My fellow Republicans aren't you proud of them! I am not and I don't mind saying it.

I believe Memphis is destined to become the "Detroit of the South" in a few short years. Most of us will be visiting Memphis only when we have to. They have a pretty decent airport there you know, and there are a few good restaurants too - if you have a concealed weapon permit.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a white Democrat and I'll be damned if you aren't a modern day Nostradamus! I believe you have acurately predicted the future for Memphis because of the paucity of leadership in this city and county! It is so sad, that Memphis has so much possibility, yet those who could make it a great city are taking their minds, their income, their vast resources and vacating. I am at the point of looking toward safer, greener pastures myself. I really do hate that because I have lived here all my life, but I want to continue to live and it gets more dangerous every day. So sad.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you John. I'm moving.

Anonymous said...

I hope Memphis can pull out of this nosedive. I swear we need someone to step up to the plate and hit a home run, but who could it be. None of the politicians I see are even worthy of the positions they hold. Fred Smith is running his company and wouldn't think of retiring to become mayor. Who, who can lead us out of this wilderness?