{"id":1244,"date":"2007-09-17T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-17T14:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/wordpress\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2007-09-17T14:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-17T14:01:00","slug":"my-choice-for-mayor-herman-morris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/17\/my-choice-for-mayor-herman-morris\/","title":{"rendered":"My choice for mayor: Herman Morris"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ <\/a>I give the Commercial Appeal a hard time in my blog now and then, but I have to hand it to them: Their excellent editorial Friday endorsing Herman Morris for Memphis mayor<\/a> played a big part in my decision to vote for him. No longer is my strategy to pick the most promising of the “Anybody But Willie” candidates – I now believe Morris really is the best person for the job.<\/p>\n

For one thing, the article reminded me that Morris led MLGW during the “Hurricane Elvis” windstorm of July 2003. I thought MLGW responded very well in what was a crisis situation, and it gives me confidence that Morris would be able to effectively manage the city should another crisis – “The Big One” earthquake, a race riot, or whatever – occur.<\/p>\n

More than that, though, I see in Morris effective, quiet leadership. He doesn’t feel the need to draw attention to himself as Herenton and Chumney do – he just gets things done<\/span>. As the CA editorial pointed out, when others disagree with Morris, he listens, looks for commonalities, and tries to build consensus – whereas Herenton and Chumney tend to argue with those who disagree.<\/p>\n

Up until last week I was undecided but leaning Chumney… and yet, there was a lot of doubt in my mind about Chumney the entire time. I look at her record on the City Council the past year and I see a lot more grandstanding than accomplishments. That’s not to say I think she’d be a bad mayor – I think she is indeed qualified and would make a far better choice than King Willie. However, I believe that Herman Morris’ manner and his leadership experience make him the best candidate.<\/p>\n

I encourage everyone to read the CA’s editorial<\/a> and then decide for yourself. I plan to walk down to the Election Commission sometime this week and cast my early vote for Herman Morris for mayor.<\/p>\n

Here’s a link to the Morris for Mayor website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"