Joe B Kent

Career and Workforce Development Consultant

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Joe B Kent
TRANSPARENCY: Accelerate Memphis - $200M Co-authors: Joe B. Kent, Taxpayer Justice Institute, Virgina McLean, Concerned Citizen, Melanie Mosley, President Whitehaven Republican Club

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MLGW: Bunkering Cash, Tree Trimming and Trolley Massive amounts of bunkered public cash creates moral hazards that should be avoided

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SHERATON: Why the Nonprofit? Will the Council falter by repeating the same RED FLAGGED mistakes of the past ???

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COUNCIL: Sheraton and Downtown Botch Taxpayers on the hook at$3.8M per year for dilapidated Sheraton

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MATA AUDIT: Conspiratorial Culture of NO Oversight (Council) The MATA PwC audit effectively indicts the City Council and not the current MATA Board.

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NO School Improvement Conversation Without publicly known academic goals, community school improvement conversations cannot occur.

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TROLLEY: City Council Ripoff (2019-23) Each with 5 Trolley cars, Memphis capitally spent $9.5M and Little Rock $2.2M (2019-23). But Little Rock still has a Trolley in operation.

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MSCS: No Focus. Middle Schools are a Nightmare! NOW, Thoughtful MSCS Goal Setting and Productive Public MSCS Improvement Conversations should be Occurring, as Opposed just Prior to TCAP Administration.

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CONSPIRACY: Launched by Transit Vision AND CapX The Councilors pictured above have been involved in the MATA oversight conspiracy for at least 3-6 yrs.

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HISTORY: MATA Average Trip Costs - No Increase Recurring Funds for Buses Did you know, not long ago, MATA had in range average trips costs of $7.94? Not anymore....

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MATA: Nobody Knows Bus Rider Numbers The City spent $2.2M with Transpro and neither they nor the MATA Board can tell the public how many bus rider trips are occurring?

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MATA: FY26 $4.25M Transpro Evaluation Has Chairman Ford Canale Learned Anything?

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MATA: Optimizing MATA. No Basis for Increased RECURRING Bus Funding. NONE. Optimizing and stabilizing MATA, for maximum taxpayer benefit, involves MATA paying off current bills, cutting bus routes, expanding on demand, relaunching the real Main Street Trolley and MATA answering public information requests.

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CHAMBER: Economic Development Implosion The economic implosion comes as Memphis/Shelby taxpayers shoulder approximately $100M in various economic development incentives.

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ZOO: Memphis Zoological Society Mismanagement? In FY24 alone, from FY19, $5.1M in annual public deficiency stems from gross MZS mismanagement.

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MATA: Transit Vision Dead and Transpro? The elimination of unneeded bus routes could potentially fund the entire expansion of on demand at no cost to taxpayers or very little additional costs.

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BUDGET: Stormwater Ignorance No public expectations on a $40M+ per year stormwater program....

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OBSCURED: Council Stormwater Management Program Do you feel neighborhoods have improved away from flooding after millions have been spent?

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PILOTS: An Elitist Cornerstone and Public Rip Over the last 10 yrs, $400M in PILOT excesses have gone out the door to corporations and developers.

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ENTITLED: Chamber Chairman’s Circle Nothing gets better in Shelby County without increased public financial oversight.

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COMPTROLLER: Why Jason Mumpower? Findings included mismanagement of inventory, inappropriate personal use of a city owned lawnmower and questionable bid practices. Public loss findings were less than $10K.

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THE GREATEST BOTCH: Education and Workforce Development Can Mayor Harris be worse than Strickland? He is working hard at it as it always seems to be a race to the bottom in Memphis.

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STATE BOTCH: Memphis Education and Workforce Development Take a look at Workforce Development in Memphis!

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MFM: Can a Public Private Partnership Work for Memphis?

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NEEDED: Adequate Memphis Comptroller Office Staffing A State of TN failure with inadequate Memphis Comptroller office staffing.

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HERENTON: So, What About Him? Taking a look back at the Herenton era compared to today...

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THE FEAGINS INHERITENCE Feagins battles an unexpected load that irritates her quest to turnaround MSCS....

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NEW MATA BOARD: Doing the Real Work of a Public Board ENCOURAGING - Real public board meeting work happening for the first time in 10 yrs in Memphis.

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OPPRESSIVE RACIALLY DIVERSE ELITISM: Will it be Confronted at the DMC? Chandell Ryan is fiscally liberally supporting squandering more money downtown with even more excessive PILOTs

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BOTCHED COUNCIL VOTE: MFM Dies on Second Council Reading The video examines Council debauchery, botched procedure and the legislative death of More for Memphis (MFM)

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MLGW BUDGET: Squalling on Energy Burden but No Action Pictured above: MLGW Chair Phillip Spinosa, MLGW Vice Chair Pearl Walker, Budget Chair Chase Carlisle, Council Chair JB Smiley and Chair Elect Ford Canale.

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DISEMBOWELED: MLGW Historic Capital Underspend Without public checks on MLGW spend and budgets the benefit of a public utility vanishes.

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COUNTY/CHAMBER: Workforce Scandal Do Shelby County taxpayers deserve checks and balances?

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5 LOCAL SCAMS: Chamber in Close Proximity As fiscal agent of the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Board (GMWDB), Chamber is involved in another workforce development botch.

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WHALEY BOTCH: More (Taxes) For Memphis An extension of obscene public redundancy and non-transparency

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MATA: No Coverage of Council Oversight Botch What is up with the local "free press" and Council MATA oversight questioning?

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MLGW: Sick Daily Memphian BTH Infomercial and MLGW Budget MLGW Board needs data standards to oversee and check MLGW administrative budgets.

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Like MATA, MLGW Ripped Off Too ??? Without Board standards, MLGW spending is out of control !

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BOARDS: MATA Now MLGW - FY25 Way Forward Not What Ratepayers Bought Pictured top to bottom: JT Young (former MLGW CEO), Mitch Graves (MLGW Board), Doug McGowen (MLGW CEO)

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MATA COVER-UP? An active operational conspiratorial coverup appears to have unfolded before the Memphis public.

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FAILED OVERSIGHT: Sheraton, MATA and Failed City The Memphis City Council does not care to practice public financial oversight

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JB Smiley in Action JB Smiley shutdown of public discussion

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SHERATON: Taxpayers Pay with Memphis Closed for Business It's the same small few getting publicly rewarded again for running the City into the ground.

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SPORTS AUTHORITY: Memphis Can’t Afford More Bad Public Deals As those on the City Council have said, "No more bad deals".

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PUBLIC FAILURE ARCHITECT Concerns rise over the Memphis Sports Authority's leadership under Alan Crone, echoing failures of the River Parks Partnership and public funds misuse.

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MATA: Lame Council Are City Councilors able to access the Internet for information?

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FAILURE: MRPP, DMC GARAGES AND SPORTS AUTHORITY The Elitists have failed Downtown and the City. There must be a better way.

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NIGHTMARE: Downtown Leadership Most are still around, while intimately interacting in various capacities with public-privates.

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MATA: Doing The Right Thing but Will Need Help After properly resizing, MATA will need help from those that can help.

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MLGW: Transparency and Mid-Year Review Most concerning is the moral hazard created by the excess cash on MLGWs Gas balance sheet

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MRPP: Enslavement and Taxpayer Bailout Almost everyone in the City is against MRPP, yet the Mayor and Council insist on enslaving the taxpayer to MRPP.

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HARRIS: Negligence, Incompetence, and Inequality Is it only Wanda Halbert? Think again.....

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NOT RACISM: What Happened to District 8? I despise problem misdiagnosis as with the current day local claim of “systemic racism”.

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HISTORIC COUNCIL: MRPP Mud Island Oversight Mud Island Gateway and Park have tremendous potential but remain neglected and unmaintained.

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AGREEMENT ON: Transparency and Oversight? Can we agree on transparency and oversight?

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MATA: Public Transportation and Poverty We will take a shot at understanding, as taxpayers want to know what is really going on with their $80M Memphis public transit agency.

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COMMISSION: Generational Wealth Transfer Commission approves generational wealth transfer with additional funding to support almost $1 billion in stadiums

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IMPOUND LOT: Transportation and Poverty Business Bain describes situations where poor people begged him to allow them to get their baby’s and personal belongings out of their car before their personal vehicle was auctioned off.

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INFORMATION: Political Correctness, Hypocrisy and County Commission Do local leaders want better information? Not in my experience, as I have provided local electeds with sourced public information for years...

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HISTORIC COUNCIL: Do They Care? The FY25 budget season was riddled with waves of multimillion dollar surprises stemming from poor public financial transparency and oversight forwarded by the previous Memphis City Council.

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REFORM NEEDED: Managed Agreements Monthly financial public accountability is what is needed if there is to be any real public oversight of the riverfront.

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$1B STADIUMS: No Public Outrage, “Social Justice” and Higher Taxes! The enormity of Memphis public spends, in context with basic public needs is astounding. The combined FedEx Forum and Liberty Bowl spend will approach $1B, when including interest. And there is no public outage! NONE.

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DATA: Chamber Workforce, Tanking Employment and Credibility Based on history, the Chamber should have little if any credibility. Take for example workforce development.

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MRPP MUD ISLAND: What Happened Here? Coletta’s City Council testimony mirrored Duckett’s column, where Coletta stated $4M in Accelerate Memphis money had been spent by MRPP on 21 Mud Island…

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WILLFUL NEGLECT OR BOTCH: City Budget Process Riddled with missteps, the FY25 City of Memphis budget processThe enormity of the missteps points toward willful neglect when coming from re-elected competent City Councilors.

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MATA: Where is the Money? Where is the money from the endless listing of Congressman Steve Cohen multi-million-dollar MATA post COVID funding announcements over the past few years?

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TAXPAYER REBUTTAL: No City Property Tax Increase The below FY25 City of Memphis budget recommendations results in no property tax increase and $7M more for additional public programming.

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MATA: Where is the Press Coverage? Wanda, Wanda, Wanda. Where is the press coverage on the troubled $70M Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA)?

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MATA: Why All the Chamber Love and What Happened? Unavailable MATA information raises concerns regarding FY25 MATA budget increases of $5M+.

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MATA: Transit Vision Botch but Hope for On Demand - JustMyMemphis Since 2002, fixed route ridership declined across the peer group, with Memphis declining more than the peer average. | Joe B Kent

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Are tax breaks to boost big business in Memphis working? | News | fox13memphis.com The Chief Administrative Officer of the Shelby County Assessor's Office weighs in along with an economist and a taxpayer advocate to answer if Shelby County is getting its money's worth out of the big business tax breaks.

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UNSUNG HEROES: Checking Excessive Corporate PILOTs - JustMyMemphis Though Commissioners prompted the report, it has not been scheduled for a formal hearing before the County Commission.

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Memphis giving away $30M a year in company tax breaks | News | fox13memphis.com FOX13 YOUR MONEY INVESTIGATION: Memphis and Shelby County are giving up millions of dollars in property tax breaks to companies every year.

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MLGW: Where is the Press and Suburban Partnership? - JustMyMemphis It does not exist in the Tennessee General Assembly. And where is the local press reporting on this important bill? | Written By: Joe B Kent

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EPICENTER: No Board Fixes Looking the Other Way - JustMyMemphis No one seems to specifically know about where Epicenter money goes or follow-on private investment. | Written by: Joe B. Kent

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RIVERFRONT: Taxpayers Did Not Sign Up For This! | Written by: Joe B. Kent - JustMyMemphis This budget season, along with MRPP designate Councilor Phillip Spinosa, Council Chair JB Smiley and Council Parks Chair Jeff Warren should lead the shutdown of MRPP.

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EDUCATION: Disruption Could Work; But State Credibility? | Written By Joe B. Kent - JustMyMemphis in the State House. He, like White, had aIt’s time for White to hang it up, even though his proposal for an expanded MSCS Board may have merit.

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City Hall and The Public-Private Albatross | Written By: Joe B. Kent - JustMyMemphis Mud Island gateway is closed, construction at City Hall has been halted and remains unfinished after 3.5 yrs., but construction is booming at the currently legally contested Downtown Brooks Museum?

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EDGE Parking Grant; Sterick Not That Great | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis Excess public cash in Memphis goes to corporations, affluent developer interests and public-privates; not where public investment is most needed.

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COUNCIL: Reconsider $27M Spectrum and Reject Rate Increase | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis The MLGW Board is behaving much like an extension of the FedEx/Memphis Tomorrow (FMT) public-private complex. It’s a complex that promises much, while delivering very little and taking from the public.

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MLGW RED FLAGS: Accountability is not Crucifixion written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis This rate increase is being sold by the media and MLGW, as $5 more per month, to residential customers. Does anyone see any red flags here?

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JUST SAY NO TO MLGW 12% RATE INCREASE: GET BACK TO REALITY! Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis 1,374 tree miles could be cut, in Memphis, for around $13.2M. But the MLGW FY24 tree trimming budget is estimated to be a whopping $45M!

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FAILURE: Memphis Public Privates and Transparency | by Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis As taxpayers fund PP organizations, with millions, the public cannot see what is going on with their tax dollars.

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ENOUGH ON CRIME. WHAT ABOUT WORKFORCE? | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis Discover the untold story of workforce development in the Memphis Mayoral race and why it's crucial for the city's future in our eye-opening article.

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BOTCH: Riverfront Steering Committee (Part II) Will Ryan Fix the Riverfront Steering Committee? | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis Will McGowen’s successor, City of Memphis Chief Operating Officer, Chandell Ryan course correct away from lacking transparency and deliver a publicly functioning RSC?

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BOTCH: Riverfront Steering Committee (Part 1) Now McGowen with MLGW? | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis Can Doug McGowen clean-up MLGW or is this another botch in the making? After McGowen’s leadership, under Mayor Strickland, of the mysterious Riverfront Steering Committee, it’s anybody’s guess.

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AGRICENTER: The Unknown | Written by: Joe B Kent - JustMyMemphis Taxpayers’ duly elected representative, on the Agricenter Commission, is County District 5 Commissioner Shante Avant. Does Avant want taxpayers to know about Agricenter?

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MLGW: 2023 Financial Review and Board Expansion By: Dr. Rachel Bauer, Lloyd Brown, Glenda Hicks and Joe B. Kent

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MLGW FINANCIALS: Backwards Historic Council | Updated 04.17.2024 The Historic Council is taking the City further backwards in willfully refusing to perform their MLGW oversight duty, while leaving Smiley unquestioned in his not allowing the public to comment on the MLGW consent agenda.

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About

Joe B. Kent is a prominent figure in Memphis, TN, known for his extensive writing and analysis on local issues. He is a regular contributor to justmymemphis.com, where he shares his insights and perspectives on various topics affecting the Memphis community.

Kent's work primarily focuses on economic development, government, and policy matters in Memphis and Shelby County. He is particularly interested in exploring and critiquing local economic development initiatives, often providing in-depth analysis of public incentives and their impact on the community.

As an independent researcher and writer, Kent brings a data-driven approach to his articles, frequently examining financial reports, government documents, and other public records to support his arguments. His writing style is characterized by its thoroughness and attention to detail, offering readers a comprehensive look at complex local issues.

Through his contributions to justmymemphis.com, Joe B. Kent has established himself as a respected voice in Memphis, offering critical perspectives on local governance and economic strategies. His work serves as a valuable resource for those interested in understanding the intricacies of Memphis' political and economic landscape.