AC Wharton plans to 'revitalize city' if re-elected

Hey, look what I did. 

In a yellowish, fluorescently lit room sat mayor A C Wharton, incumbent of the 2015 Memphis mayoral election.

The election, officially to be held on October 8, pits the current Democratic mayor against three other major candidates; Mike Williams, Harold Collins, and Jim Strickland. Back when the start of early voting was just days ahead, Wharton took the time on a Tuesday to discuss the race in the small office room in his campaign headquarters.      

“My head stays in the same place from the very first day of the campaign to the very end,” Wharton said. “Just a sense of urgency, there’s never any slack period in my mode of campaigning. Every day is just like election day. That’s the way we run it. That’s why campaigns are so intense.”

The intensity of the campaign could mostly be attributed to how each candidate has discussed what some call unquestionably the biggest campaign issue, crime and public safety. Though Jim Strickland has ceased anti-Wharton campaign tactics, candidate Harold Collins’ newest television spot specifically accuses the 6-year-mayor of “broken promises” and focuses on an alleged rising crime rate. Wharton shared Tuesday how important his team believes minimizing crime in the city of Memphis is.    
 “Our preference is always to prevent crime and delinquency,” Wharton said. “When that fails however we must beef up our police department and move into the suppression mode which is precisely what we’re doing.”

While Memphis’ crime rate is an important topic, and while I explored this issue more with the mayor in my unpublished news story, there was something else I felt that was essential for me to ask AC Wharton about for the sake of my little music blog especially since there’s been a lot of talk about revitalizing the city of Memphis and the possibility of a “Memphis Renaissance.” 
As a reporter and a big supporter of local entertainment I’ve definitely felt like it’s been my duty to highlight some of the great things local music-makers have said about the bluff city in my past posts.

From rappers like The Sidewayz’ Havier Greene:

“There’s a buzz growing in Memphis. I feel it.”

To Radio DJs like WEVL’s Brett Fleming:

“I look at it now and think what a renaissance we’re going through, and the music is part of that because there’s a lot of music coming out of the city now,” Fleming said. “For a while the recording here was a little bit on the down, but it’s really coming back, There’s a lot of studios, a lot of great stuff is coming out of here again.”

From local bands like The Passport:

“We think that Memphis is definitely on the rise, that there’s a lot of crazy things happening especially in the next 5 to 10 years,” Kirk Teachout said.  “We see that; we want to be a huge force in that.”

To touring musicians passing through the bluff city like Blis.’s Nathan Hardy.

“We were all driving around like ‘I would love to live here’ it just seems like a very well maintained city of nice people,” Hardy said. “The fact that there’s a Bass Pro Shop in the pyramid was a really big bonus for me. I’m a big fan of Bass Pro Shops.”

photo by outdoorhub.com

Whether or not you're a big fan of Bass Pro or completely agree with Hardy’s take on Memphis, there’s definitely been some economic and artistic growth in the last few years. Even Robert Plant was quoted by the Commercial Appeal saying about Memphis and it’s Music: “I don't see it as a museum” and ”I see it as a place with a great, great future.”

With all of these statements from local music-makers to legends of entertainment, it only seemed natural for me to ask the incumbent mayor of Memphis how important revitalizing the city is and what he plans to do to make some sort of “Memphis Renaissance” a reality.

  “It is of critical importance that we revitalize the core city,” Wharton said. “The core city offers the most fertile territory for property value appreciation, which in turn brings about higher tax revenues which we can use to hire police officers, firefighters, and improve our parks. It is of double importance now that the state is making it almost impossible to annex.”

The Commercial Appeal gave their mayoral recommendation for Wharton on their Sunday Sept. 13 issue. The CA stated that they do not see a compelling reason to unseat the incumbent and noted that Bass Pro at the Pyramid and the renovation of Sears Crosstown happened under his watch. The mayor firmly believes revitalizing the core city is a grand priority.

“When you work in the core city you bring about density,” Wharton said. “When people are closer together it makes it much easier and less costly for the city to meet their needs.”

As the city is revitalized Wharton hopes that more millennials will choose to live in Memphis, and not take their talents elsewhere. He stated that making sure that there is a broad array of entertainment offerings ranging from Cooper Young and Overton Square to South Main is an important strategy for keeping millennials invested in Memphis.

“First of all you have to create an environment that attracts them,” Wharton said. “This is why I’ve been a big proponent of parks, complete streets (meaning the streets are for everybody), bike lanes, affordable housing, and providing opportunities for them to start their own businesses with programs like Start Co. and Emerge Memphis.”

photo by memphiscyclist.blogspot.com

Start Co. is a venture development group located on Union Avenue that aims to help build local businesses. Wharton also made note of his TEAM AC events, an acronym for Together Empowering and Advancing Memphis, and said this about truly making a Memphis renaissance happen.

“I will be intentional about it, not just hope it will happen” Wharton said.  “I was the first in Memphis to create an office of human capital and talent retention so we will keep that function alive. It will focus precisely on getting our millennials who have departed to come back and getting those who are still here to stay here and grow here.”  

Today is the day when Memphis millennials will have a real opportunity to choose which ever candidate they most believe will grow Memphis.