WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): Here in Shelby County, the job of General Sessions Court Clerk is not one you'd expect to see in a political firestorm. But it is an election year. To discuss how this happened and some other things is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back.
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be with you.
BLANK: Well, first, let's review this situation. Clerk Tami Sawyer was arraigned this week on six federal corruption charges alleging, essentially, that she used public money for personal expenses. US attorney Michael Dunavant called it a "significant public corruption case." Why has this become a political issue, not just a criminal one?
SANFORD: Well, primarily because everything these days seem to become political in this town. And of course, Tami has been a lightning rod for Republicans and conservatives for many years. But honestly, Chris, I don't think Mike Dunavant is wrong here. This is a significant case. What the indictment accuses her of doing--and I've read the whole indictment-- these are very, very serious and significant charges.
BLANK: Some of the Republican candidates are sort of making some bigger-picture claims out of this. For example, you add this indictment to Edmund Ford Jr.'s fraud case, then there was Wanda Halbert's bad management of the Shelby County Clerk's office, the recent takeover of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board. You know, there's a lot of ammunition here for Republicans. What do they want to see happen next?
SANFORD: Well, I think they want to have control of Memphis, basically. I mean, we've had the Task Force that has some state intervention with the National Guard. We have--and we're going to talk about this later--the school situation. And you certainly have now Republicans at the state level and at the local level basically saying that the Democrats who are in elected office don't know how to run those offices. So, That's what you get here. Again, if the charges are true--and every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty--she did a gross disservice from a political standpoint to Democrats because she just fed the Republicans a lot of ammunition to use politically.
BLANK: Well, in the way of interventions, the Memphis-Shelby County School's takeover board met for the first time in Nashville yesterday. All the members were appointed by Republicans, but they may be less partisan than Democrats were expecting. But now that we have a clear picture of who's on the board, what do you think is expected of these folks who will have almost complete authority over our school district for at least several years?
SANFORD: Well, first, Chris, let me just say this though: I do think having their very first meeting in Nashville was bad optics. I just didn't think that that set very well with me. But beyond that, My expectation is that they will work together, and hopefully work with the existing board and the administration of the schools to just make the system better, making sure that from a fiscal standpoint that they are adhering to protocols, and overall help the students learn and and progress.
BLANK: But when you look at the makeup of the board, you'll see a lot of business experience, but a lot less educational experience on there. What do you make of that?
SANFORD: What I make of it is that the people who appointed this board are more interested in the business side of things than the education side of things. And we do have some well-meaning people on this board. I'll be the first to say that. Some professionals, fair-minded people, but we'll see where it goes from here.
BLANK: Well, we've been talking quite a bit lately about the SpaceX data center down in Southaven and Memphis, and their issues with noise and air pollution. But this week there was a legal filing in Mississippi and it kind of tipped the federal government's hand on where it stands on protecting residents from bad corporate neighbors. What did we learn from this?
SANFORD: The number one thing I learned is that the federal government will do anything it can to protect the interest of Elon Musk. At this point, Chris, for the federal government to say that these data centers are part of national security, so any lawsuits or any complaints against them should be dismissed, that is kind of heavy-handed and presumptuous. And I really hope that the courts allow a fair hearing and airing of the complaints that people have, not just here in Memphis and in Southaven, but also in other places, including Middle Tennessee.
BLANK: Right. This seems to be like it could become a bigger issue nationally as these data centers spread and the pollution continues. Imagine if these places are allowed to pollute because they somehow are connected to national security.
SANFORD: Absolutely. And we don't know because I'm sure they're not going to say specifically what national security are they involved in. And they're just going to put it all under the umbrella of: this is for national security, so residents live with the noise, live with the pollution, and just be quiet.
