Many people who live in Memphis work two jobs just to make ends meet.  I recall a time in my life when I worked at FedEx;  many people who worked their were holding down full time jobs.  Many people have worked at FedEx, it is supposedly one of the better paying jobs in Memphis, their are other jobs that pay so called good wages but not many.  There are less and less jobs in Memphis mostly due to outsourcing, but also because of jobs moving out of the city to other areas.  I don’t blame the lack of jobs solely on city leadership and the business people.  The citizens of Memphis must educate themselves, they must use their creativity and innovative skills to create jobs for themselves, and this will eliminate poverty.

Pot holes in Memphis are nothing new, they have been around for a long time, and there are more in some areas than others.  I have noticed some improvements within the last couple of weeks.  The question is, will these improvements continue to a point of sufficiency?  For months my panel and I have been discussing the pot hole issue in Memphis and we have pointed out that there should be enough funds in the city budget to get the job done.  We have been speaking out on my radio program, The Love Power Show AM1600 WMQM on Sundays at 12 noon.  The citizens of Memphis must make their voices heard by speaking out.

Last Wednesday in class, Instructor Sonnenfelt  raised the question of how is public policy initiated and carried out?  It was concluded that the citizens carry out public policy. Politicians initiate the public policies and we, the citizens, carry out those policies.  Citizens inform the politicians of what they need and this information is relayed to the politicians.  These initiatives cost money and sometimes, they are bad investments and lose money for many businesses. In many cases the citizens lives with those bad investments.

Here is an example of what I mean.  In the City of Memphis, the Mid-America Mall was not a good idea for the city because it did not generate any additional funds for the city, but instead drove many businesses, including clothing shops from Main Street.  The parking problem was generated from the decision to remove the paved street to a brick open air Mall.  Parking to shop on Main Street is all but gone.

In addition, I think that  Mud Island and the construction of the Pyramid on Front Street ( built on the river which is gradually sinking) was another bad investment that the city under took some years ago.

It appears that the Politicians and the citizens of Memphis have decided, at least for now, to live with these tremendous errors in judgments.