Does Pointing Fingers at a Mayoral Debate Accomplish Anything?

After the slightly heated debate Tuesday, September 22, at the Rose Theatre of University of Memphis, some millennials, students, staff and panelists aged 18-35 who were in attendance, were left wondering: what should I look for when deciding who is competent enough to be voted Mayor of Memphis? Someone who cares about the issues of education, economics, and safety of the citizens, or someone who speaks ill of the past decisions made, and points fingers at those who were previously elected?

“I felt a lot of tension during the debate.” Anthony Brim, University of Memphis marketing senior, one of about 100 people who attended the debate, said. “The candidates danced around the questions, proposing that past decisions were inadequate and that, if elected, things would change, but where are the plans and actions associated with said change. There was a lot of finger pointing.”

The top four candidates, Mayor A C Wharton, Councilman Jim Strickland, Councilman Harold Collins and President of the Memphis Police Association Michael Williams answered questions of 16 panelists at the debate. Panelists asked questions on future attractions to strengthen Memphis’s economy, futures plans to clean up abandoned and run-down parts of the city, future plans to tie together education with technology to promote promising futures in Memphis’s youth, and future plans to install safety and change for the betterment of the city.

For the most part, candidates responded with stock campaign rhetoric. “I imagine a city where you don’t have to worry about your safety.” Collins said in his closing remarks. “I plan to hold administration accountable. I won’t point fingers or throw my council under the bus after a decision has been made. I plan to remain strong, committed, and honest.” Rhetoric

responses that left the crowd wondering, “how?”.

Williams and Strickland seemed to piggyback on one another, pointing fingers at Wharton and the decisions he and his council have made in the past six years.

“Memphis has moved from the 16th largest city in America to the 22nd. People are leaving the city due to crime, blight, and the absence of jobs.” Strickland said.

Both candidates seemed blame Wharton for the city’s problems.

Williams called Wharton’s watch an abomination, stating that some communities in Memphis have not been touched in 20 years, which contributes to the blithe and roughness of the city’s overall appearance.

When asked questions of Memphis problems in the past such as hundreds of rape kits going untested for long periods of time, Wharton also pointed his finger, not at himself or the running candidates, but at the current council stating that “these were issues before I came into office.” Wharton mentioned that “there were certain decisions that they would not allow me to make alone, but other issues that I made sole decisions on and they were later ridiculed.”

After a heated debate that seemed to evolve around whose fault it was that the city has problems versus what each candidate would do to fix the problems, Wharton ended the debate on a lighter note. “Heatedness makes us strong.” Wharton said with a chuckle. SB