Today, I opened my
GaleNews and I laughed so hard I cried. There was an article about Jeni
DiPrizio's March 18th story titled, Parking Ticket Contract Putting Money in Lawyer's Pocket.
Why
did I laugh? Well,
some in the media always focus on who is making government money. It is
public information and people have a right to know. But, usually those they
question are African Americans. There are probably only 10-15% of the
contracts going to African Americans, but they get the most public criticism.
Just watch the news...there will be a great deal of discussion about how
much money Ricky Wilkins made as he runs for Congress, but not about others who have received contracts: Attorney
Robert Myers, John Elkington, Baker Donelson, Glanker Brown, Tom Marshall, Jeff Sanford, Benny Lenderman, John
Conroy, Diane Brown. I could go on and on. But, I digress.
Jeni DiPrizio is a
good reporter, and she is not racist. She is following a lead that someone gave
her. But, to those of us who observe politics and journalism we can see
the subtle and subliminal messages that are sent to the public. They are
usually not intended to harm, but want to boost ratings. But, the person who gave the lead may have
other motives.
I believe Jeni is
reporting on what she perceives as a waste in government money because
collection of traffic fees and fines is the job of the City Court Clerk
according to the Charter of the City of Memphis. But, some will see her story
and think, "These uppity
blacks are making too much money."
Why
did I laugh? We
elected a City Court Clerk who is by Memphis City Charter obligated to collect
traffic fines and fees. While I was on the Council, the Clerk's projections for
revenue from fines and fees were seldom met which always left the budget in a
shortfall. He told us he needed more staff and the Council added more people. But, still he was always short of his revenue projections.
Last year, another one of my favorite reporters, Big
Mike Matthews reported Parking Ticket Revenue
Falls Short of Budget Rescue. Below are quotes from that story.
"But according to the city's Chief
Administrative Officer, George Little, "Where we really have not met our
expectations have been from the collections from the outstanding moving
violations and parking tickets. That's been slow to get off the ground."
City figures show they got
about $5 million less than projected. City Court Clerk Tom Long denies there
are any troubles, and says the program is moving fine after a few delays at the
beginning.
The real question is why
did the City feel compelled to hire someone to do the job we elected the City
Court Clerk to perform? The answer: They need to collect the
revenue and they are tired of losing money that is intended to offset Court expenses and other city operations.
Why did I laugh?
When hired or
elected to do a job, we are expected to perform, resign, or be fired. Only
in Memphis do you run for a higher position as Clerk with more responsibility
or contract someone else to do your job. And I am not faulting the administration for doing what they must to collect revenue from these fines and fees. If they don't, traffic violators will think there is no penalty for unsafe driving habits and endanger us all.
