Last night, we kicked off the General Campaign of Deidre Malone for Shelby County Mayor with a fundraiser. We must raise money! Mark Luttrell will have all the corporate and Republican money. We won't match that but we will have enough to buy ads, pay for bill boards, canvassing, and run a campaign that you the Democratic voters will be proud of for a good victory. I encourage you to spread the word that a ground swell undercurrent is coming. Make yourself a committee of "one" to get Democrats elected.
Money does not win elections. If so, Dr. George Flinn would be in Congress and a sales tax increase on the poor would have been adopted. People who vote win elections. A vote for Deidre Malone is a vote for:
- Education-- Malone would have never thumbed her nose at Shelby County Schools when they asked for $51 million and Luttrell offered $13 million. And Malone will lead the effort to get the $57 million owed to Legacy Memphis City Schools.
- Health Care --Deidre Malone would not have squandered an opportunity to serve women's health care needs by trying to use a Republican stranglehold on Planned Parenthood.
- Economic Development --Malone recognizes the need to focus more attention on our small businesses and encourage development of new small businesses. They suffered through the tough times without PILOTS! Let's help them thrive because they are hiring Shelby County citizens.
- Public Safety --Deidre will ensure that the Sheriff's budget will get resources to keep our children safe and to development character building programs for conflict resolution in K-8. Let's change a culture of violence for some families. Why can't we have honor and respect for self and others as a value system for our community rather than survival of the baddest?
- And Deidre will not accept excuses or turn her head on victims of crime when they are ignored by our criminal justice system, i.e. the Rape Kits. Luttrell was the Sheriff and the Mayor while this happened and did he stop it? Did he say,
- And today, Luttrell suggests a 1% decrease in Memphis' taxes and a 5% tax decrease for areas outside of Memphis. Now, do you understand who he represents? Memphis is approximately 75% of Shelby but he is trying to help approximately 25% outside of Shelby who had to raise their taxes for their municipal school district. Thank you County Commissioners for seeing through this. But, you tell me he is a nice guy. Well, did you ask for Vaseline with that?
I don't vote on "nice" unless you are running for "Mr. or Miss Congeniality" for High School or College Year Books. I vote for those who understand what "quality of life" means in my neighborhood. My politics is serious and personal. I am not angry, mad, black woman. But, I am a serious, straight no chaser, African American woman who is as happy as a room without a roof. My ceiling has no glass for any of us! We just need to leap as high as we can to touch the sky and vote for Deidre Malone.
