SHELBY COUNTY, TN -- If you're fed up with government and want to change it, you have a chance to do just that. A group is forming to help the charter commission create new laws and build a new Shelby County government.
Brian Stephens is helping to launch "Rebuild Government." He says, "we get an opportunity to really become our founding fathers to have an opportunity to say what we want in our government and then ask the charter commission to draft it in our charter. So, we really are talking about dissolving Memphis and Shelby County government and creating a whole new government that will represent all the people of our county.”
So far "Rebuild Government" has 33 co-chairs and is made up of diverse people who are not politicians. Stephens says, “personally I would like to see stronger ethic laws, a more transparent government and better efficient use of our tax dollars. But, what’s most important about this organization is finding out what the people want and taking that to the charter commission.”
They want you to join their organization. Over the next several months people involved in “Rebuild Government” are hoping to hold hundreds of meetings in different homes through Memphis and Shelby county in hopes to get your input.
During their very first meeting Monday, December 14, 2009, they showed a video explaining that in the last decade 48 thousand people moved from Shelby County and are going to cities like Jacksonville, Louisville and Nashville.
The video also made it sound like they're pushing for consolidation. Lakeland resident Jeff Moder says, “the charter commission may go through all this and say consolidation isn't the right idea. This is the best opportunity for us citizens to give our input while they're going through this process because when they're done there's no more chance for us to do input.”
Moder says a lot of people in Lakeland, Arlington and Collierville fear they'll lose their identities if Shelby County and Memphis governments merge. He says, “if we can go through this process with the charter commission and people in Lakeland give their input of what they're afraid of and if the charter commission then ignores it, then the people in Lakeland should absolutely vote against it.”
The charter commission will present a new constitution to the public August 12th. You'll have a chance to vote on it November 2, 2010.
