Memphis City Council opened the doors of City Hall for a first-of-its-kind event, inviting 400 local residents to share their grievances and ideas in a direct dialogue with the city leaders, as reported by Action News 5. The "Day at the Hall," held on Thursday, offered a platform for citizens to express concerns ranging from the city's crime issues to a contentious proposed 75-cent property tax increase by Mayor Paul Young.
Among those attending, longtime Memphis resident Yvonne Beckton told Barnes & Noble Inc Online, “Memphis has always been an award-winning city for being the cleanest cities, one of the safest cities, and now we have a reputation as the wild, wild West”.
At the forefront of those worries is a property tax hike that could levy an additional 75 cents on every $100 of property value. This issue, high on the minds of many at the event, garnered attention from not only those immediately affected but also from city council members like Chairman JB Smiley, who maintained the tax increase should not move forward without cutting programs that aren't essential to government operation, as per Local Memphis.
Crime, another major issue, showed a decrease in the first quarter, but an officer shortage loomed over the statistics, with the Memphis Police Department operating approximately 560 officers short of its budgeted 2,500. Smiley revealed more concerns like funding and new routes for the Memphis Area Transit Authority, highlighting the citizen's fierce desire to steer their city back to better days. The fight against crime hasn't been left solely to law enforcement—the city's Office of Youth Services is pushing back with initiatives such as a free summer camp aimed at exposing over 300 young individuals to broader experiences in different neighborhoods of Memphis, as stated by Youth Services director Brian Harris, according to Local Memphis. The city council promised to keep the dialogue flowing with more community events in the future, ensuring that the channels of communication and engagement remain wide open.
