WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): Last week's federal indictment of Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford, Jr. on charges of bribery and tax evasion have prompted local officials to take a new look at grant giving from the county. Here to talk about that and other issues is Memphis political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back!
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be with you.
BLANK: So, Otis, these allegations stem from a pool of money -- about $2.5 million -- that commissioners can grant to nonprofits. Edmund Ford, Jr. is accused of giving organizations grant money, and then those groups bought computers from Ford's private business. The word "kickbacks" is used to describe this. And while we'll let the courts sort out the criminality of it, why should the folks of Shelby County be concerned?
SANFORD: The number one reason is it's taxpayer money. We have to be careful that our elected officials do not get caught up in conflicts of interest. It is a clear conflict to push for grants and then immediately turn around and then sell computers to the same companies that you push to have grants. That's a major conflict of interest. The public should be outraged by this and many of them are.
BLANK: There have been some responses from local government, and let's talk about a couple. Mayor Lee Harris wants to, I guess, restart their ethics committee, which hasn't met in years. And another has been to prevent Ford from making grants until his trial is over. What are some reasonable actions that need to be happening right now, assuming Edmund Ford, Jr. keeps his commission seat through this process?
SANFORD: Those two are fairly reasonable. I do believe that Commissioner Ford should be at least temporarily barred from making any grants, because the evidence in this case shows that even after it came to light that he sold Junior Achievement computers after getting them a grant, he continued to do it -- allegedly. So, I don't think even an indictment is enough to stop what's going on here. So, I do think that there needs to be some kind of moratorium on the grant process, and certainly on Commissioner Ford's involvement.
BLANK: Otis, we we do have to talk about the history here. The Ford family has a lot of political clout, but also some past legal issues as well. Ford is a commissioner with some private enterprises on the side. He also works for the City of Memphis getting a a nice salary of $82,000 a year, and he's temporarily suspended from that job. You know, as someone who's written about politics for years, Otis, what might a columnist say about this incident?
SANFORD: I mean, you look back at the Ford history: they have a strong history of public service, but a lot of them have strong history with serving themselves and getting involved in criminal ways. John Ford was indicted and convicted in the Tennessee Waltz scandal. Going all the way back to 1981, the late Emmett Ford was indicted and convicted of insurance fraud. Harold Ford was indicted, although he was not convicted. Edmund Ford was indicted in connection with getting free utilities from Memphis Light Gas and Water. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And while I'm not going to vilify the entire family, it is worth noting that several of them have had major, major brushes with the law, and yes, I've been writing about that for many years.
BLANK: Well, let's talk for a minute about another controversy that is still in fallout mode and that is: Memphis-Shelby County Schools firing of superintendent Marie Feagins. Both state and local lawmakers seem to agree there needs to be some changes to the school board. They're floating bills for term limits, the ability to recall members. So starting with that, do you think school board members should have the same regulations as county commissioners?
SANFORD: I absolutely do. There's no reason for them not to have it. I am 100% in support of term limits and also an ability to recall school board members.
BLANK: It seems like the main disagreement between Democrats and Republicans here on this is: who should make these changes? State government or county government? What do you think is ultimately going to happen? And do you think that the school district might be able to avoid a total state takeover somehow?
SANFORD: Well, I think the only way that they will avoid it is to agree that the state take the lead in these reforms. And I think that there can be some input from the school board, but I think the lead should go to the state legislature. That is the only way that I see that a takeover will be avoided. It needs to happen. The state needs to take the lead on this.
