Picnic, Politics and Predictions

Sidney Chism hangs out at the both of Joe Jenkins (left), who is running for
Chancery Court Judge in the county general election on Aug. 4. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

     Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton will beat the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to win the White House in November. That’s the prediction that former Shelby County commissioner Sidney Chism made on Saturday, June 11, during a sun-baked afternoon at his 16^th annual community picnic on Horn Lake Road.

 Chism was forthright, as well as right, when he predicted that former city councilman Jim Strickland, a longtime friend and ally, would wrest the seat from A C Wharton Jr. to win the Memphis mayoral race on Oct. 8 before the final votes were tallied.

Chism is not in the business of predicting elections; however, since the federal and state primaries and county general elections are coming up on Aug. 4, predicting the outcome of an election may be Chism’s personal opinion rather than an exact science.

He said Trump’s “disruptive” nature, however, is a telltale sign that President Obama’s former Secretary of State would likely succeed him as the next commander in chief if African Americans in Shelby County in particular and a groundswell of Democrats all together make their way to the polls and vote.

“We can’t stand for Donald Trump to be elected. If we stay at home, that’s what’s going to happen,” said Chism, former chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) whose influence has been felt in local elections in the past.

A solid turnout in West Tennessee, he said, would give Clinton a much-needed catapult in the race against Trump. Although the rest of Tennessee is coated GOP red, the state’s western voting bloc generally favors the Democratic presidential nominee – Obama in 2012 and 2008 and Secretary of State John Kerry in 2004.

Chism said the party’s get-out-the-vote for Clinton and the slate of African American candidates running for local offices in Shelby County depend on the unwavering leadership and conviction of new party chair Michael Pope steering the local party forward.

“He can’t go in as a weakling. If he runs it the right way and don’t take no stuff, the party will grow,” said Chism, noting that the only countywide seats occupied by African Americans are Shelby County Assessor of Property Cheyenne Johnson and General Sessions Court Clerk Edward L. Stanton Jr., who is running for re-election.

“We don’t run nothing,” said Chism. “It doesn’t make sense that we’re 80 percent of this population and we don’t run anything. If we create a movement, we will be able to turn this thing around.” The Republicans, he added, “don’t want a little bit, they want it all.”

The party, however, is grappling with discord and disarray. Party chairwoman Randa Spears resigned in April and vice chairwoman Deidre Malone a month earlier. A year earlier, party chairman Bryan Carson resigned during an internal investigation into the party’s finances.

“The party has had difficulties for the last 15 to 20 years,” said Chism, blaming much of the brouhaha and internal conflict on longtime party loyalist and flag-bearer Dell Gill, a member of the executive committee.

“The party is never going to change until we get rid of Dell Gill,” Chism said.

The back and forth feud between the two Democrats is spilling over into the public arena. Gill said whatever is happening with the party has nothing to do with him, except that there’s a faction supporting him a faction supporting Chism.

“I am the most senior Democrat of the Shelby County Democratic Party,” said Gill, surmising that Chism “has no real influence or strength in the party. If I have anything to do with it, I would have him de-bon a fide as a Democrat.”

The ire that he feels for Chism is based on the Democrat crossing party lines in 2010 to endorse Republican William “Bill” Odom for sheriff over Democratic nominee Bennie L. Cobb, a retired caption with the sheriff department.

Chism is Odom’s community relations specialist.

“If Dell Gill doesn’t like what the party is doing, he needs to start his own party,” said Chism. “The party has got to take a stand against Dell Gill and leave the personal stuff at home.”

Gill did not attend the picnic and forbade the party to set up a booth. The park, however, was replete with political signs in myriad colors contrasted against green treetops. Under sparse shading, politicians hawked election material and asked for votes.

The picnic has become a meeting place for politicians. “I started the picnic for kids,” said Chism. “Very few kids get out of the neighborhood.”

Can Mayor-elect Jim Strickland bridge a splintered Memphis community?

     

Mayor-elect Jim Strickland thanks his supporters, including a bevy of African-
Americans who stumped with him on the campaign trail. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

       “It’s over!” said former Shelby County Commissioner Sidney Chism, a resounding declaration that his longtime friend, Councilman Jim Strickland, had already scored a major victory before it was known that he’d trounced the incumbent mayor of Memphis in the Oct. 8 mayoral election.   

Chism had predicted Strickland would defeat Mayor A C Wharton Jr. at 8:30 p.m., an hour and a half before Strickland stood gaily amid a throng of supporters at Memphis Botanic Gardens to announce that he’d indeed won the race.

The former commissioner had foreseen a new chief executive moving into City Hall based on “the amount of support that A C has lost in the black community…and based on black folks wanting a change…and not who the candidate was.”

“With that in mind, it was easy to predict who would win,” said Chism, former chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party.

“When we started, we felt like we had the message that would resonate all throughout this city – which was focused on driving down crime and change. And that’s what the people wanted, whether North Memphis, East Memphis or South Memphis,” said Strickland following his victory speech.

Strickland is the first white mayor of Memphis since Dr. Willie W. Herenton beat incumbent Dick Hackett by a mere 142 votes in that historic election in 1991. Herenton would go on to serve five terms before the charter was amended to two consecutive four-year terms for Memphis mayor.

Strickland made history as well. He beat Wharton 2-to-1 in a race that pitted him against a slate of African-American candidates that included Strickland’s council mate Harold Collins and  Mike Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association.

“This is historic,” said Ken Moody, a former Memphis State University basketball standout, city division director under Herenton, and Strickland’s co-campaign manager. “In the words of Dr. King: ‘We are on the move!’”

With all 119 precincts reporting, Strickland amassed 41,810 votes (42 percent) to Wharton’s 22,184 votes (22 percent). Collins garnered 18,481 votes (18 percent) for a third place finish and Williams trailed with 16,174 votes (16 percent). Six other mayoral candidates received 1 percent or less.

Wharton was first elected mayor in a special election in October 2009 to replace Herenton, who vacated the seat after winning his fifth term in office. There were 25 candidates in the race and 61 percent of the electorate sent Wharton to City Hall. He was reelected in 2011 with 65 percent of the vote.

Early returns on Thursday were hampered by glitches in the voting equipment. But after the votes were finally tallied later in the evening, Wharton conceded the race to Strickland after 10 p.m. It was a heart-breaking defeat for Wharton, but he remained composed.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine,” he told his supporters at the Holiday Inn Memphis-University of Memphis.

Wharton’s last day in office is Dec. 31. Strickland will be sworn in as the new mayor of Memphis on Jan. 1, 2016. During the transition period, he’ll start filling key positions in his administration and preparing his new team to govern after he takes the oath of office.

Strickland said his first order of business is to “go after the best possible” chief administrative officer, finance director, human resource director, and police director. “Those are the four most important positions,” he said.

Crime abatement remains a high priority on Strickland’s list of things to do. “Starting Jan. 1,” he said, “I will personally focus on driving down crime every single day and just serving the public. That’s all the public wants.”

African Americans want even more from the mayor-elect. His victory is a mandate to right what they believe is wrong with Memphis and to set the city and their community on a trajectory toward growth and prosperity.

Wharton, on the other hand, failed to persuade the electorate – both black and white – that he has the wherewithal to take the city forward. So based on water cooler conversations in the African American community, a vote for Strickland was more or less a vote against Wharton.

“No matter who won, it was going to be a difficult challenge,” said Strickland. “With 30 percent poverty…with the crime the way it is, with the blight the way it is…it’s going to be hard… but I’m excited about the opportunity to gather a team of quality people to change Memphis.”

“He’ll do what is right for the city of Memphis and the total population. His heart is in the right place,” said Chism, who has known the mayor-elect for more than 20 years.

Because there were snafus that Wharton could not fix or contain within his administration, Chism said he didn’t think people would tolerate from Strickland what they’d tolerated from Wharton.

The mayor-elect understands the delicate position that he’s now confronted with and understands there has to be some bridge building to pull together the diverse communities in Memphis.

“Change is coming to Memphis,” Strickland promised and noted that his work is just beginning to address the serious ills affecting Memphis. “We will build a new administration from the top down to reflect the diversity and richness of this city…

“It doesn’t matter where you were born or what you look like. It doesn’t matter who you are or who you know. It doesn’t matter if you live in Orange Mound or Midtown, South Side or Southwind, I will be everybody’s mayor.”

“His heart is in the right place,” said Kay Smith, the mother of Strickland’s wife, Melyne. “And if anybody can turn it around, he can.”

 Before it was announced that Strickland had won, Smith said she’d prayed for his wisdom, character and integrity to remain the same if he should become mayor.

“I want him to remain who he is,” she said. “I don’t want him to change. He’s a Christian and he was brought up that way.”