Interim mayors active in past, too

History can help Lowery as he prepares for office

By Amos Maki (Contact), Memphis Commercial AppealSunday, July 12, 2009
A handful of local pastors and a state representative say they don't like what they're hearing from City Council chairman Myron Lowery, who will become interim mayor if Willie Herenton leaves office July 30.

The pastors, including Rev. Dwight Montgomery, and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, said that unlike J.O. Patterson Jr., who served as interim mayor for 20 days when Wyeth Chandler stepped down in 1982 to become a judge, it appeared that Lowery was power-hungry and poised to make massive changes that could disrupt business at City Hall.
"It wasn't an issue then because of the way it was handled by the personalities involved," Hardaway said during a news conference last week. "When Councilman Patterson proceeded, he did it in a manner that did not bring a lot of attention to the situation in order to make it a situation."
But a look at Patterson's brief tenure as the city's first black mayor shows more similarities with Lowery than differences.
Like Patterson, Lowery is electing to receive the mayor's salary and has declared that he will return to his council seat if he does not win the special election to serve the remainder of Herenton's term.
Depending on which appointees leave with Herenton, Lowery said he would likely make personnel changes during his brief stint on the seventh floor at City Hall.
Montgomery said Friday that he worries about moves Lowery has talked about.
"I don't know whether some of the things he has suggested, making various changes, would be in the best interest of the community," he said.
But Patterson also sought to make personnel decisions during his time as mayor.
Even though he eventually backed down, Patterson wanted to remove city Finance Director Marlin Mosby after Mosby took a leave of absence to work on Mike Cody's mayoral campaign.
Patterson also made several high-profile appointments, including tapping Montgomery to head the Memphis Housing Authority and former councilman Jack Sammons to the Mid-South Coliseum board. Sammons is serving on Lowery's transition team and will likely be appointed chief administrative officer under Lowery since Herenton's chief administrative officer, Keith McGee, recently retired.

"(Patterson) was quite active," said Center City Commission president Jeff Sanford, who served on the council at the time. "As I remember the transition at that time, it was somewhat chaotic, largely because we were in unfamiliar territory."
Councilwoman Wanda Halbert said she is fine with Lowery filling vacant positions, but she doesn't like the idea of replacing sitting appointees during his stint as interim mayor.
"If there are appointed positions that have been vacated, that is one thing," said Halbert. "I do not believe a temporary mayor should be terminating individuals."
Patterson caused some controversy of his own during his stint as mayor.
Unlike Lowery, who has said he would keep his council seat but not vote, Patterson wanted to be able to cast votes on the council while he was serving as interim mayor, vowing that law enforcement would have to "arrest me and take me to jail to keep me from voting."
But Patterson did not appear to tackle any big-ticket items left over from the Chandler administration as Lowery has promised to do with Bass Pro Shops, the possible development of The Pyramid and an effort to revitalize the fairgrounds.

However, Wallace Madewell, the chief administrative officer who succeeded Patterson as interim mayor in October 1982 until Dick Hackett was elected in November 1982, did sign a 52-year lease with Beale Street Development Corp. to run the blighted street. BSDC then entered an agreement with what is now Performa Entertainment Real Estate to develop and manage Beale.
While the deal, now the subject of a long-running court battle, has been roundly criticized since Beale Street became an entertainment and tourism success, it wasn't considered controversial when it was signed because Beale Street was such a wreck and the chances of revitalizing the area seemed dim at best.
"Nobody wanted it, and this crazy guy (Performa CEO John) Elkington came up with a plan and not only was it the best deal the city could make at the time, it was the only deal the city could make," said Sanford.
Halbert said her biggest concern is Lowery making a Madewell-like decision that could impact the city decades down the road.
"There needs to be some parameters," she said. "We don't know how an interim or temporary position will affect us long term."
-- Amos Maki: 529-2351