Updates to this article from JB Smiley and Joe B, Kent:

JB Smiley: At the first Council meeting in April, council passed ordinance 5897 which increases transparency as it relates to MLGW spending. Also, I do not believe there has been any change since I have been on the council as it relates to the order and time in which public input is given.

Joe B Kent: JB Smiley is accurate on both points. There may not have been a change since JB took over, but there has been a 12% rate increase. The request to speak is regarding his role as chairman following the 12% rate increase. It is within his discretion to allow it, yet he is not permitting it after the rate increase. 

Secondly, ordinance 5897 did pass and aimed to increase transparency on items below $250K. However, it appears to be more of a symbolic gesture in my view. Here's why: On the last agenda, there were 27 items on the MLGW agenda over $250K. Only 1 out of 27 items was discussed, while a public comment card from Glenda Hicks on the Smart Meters item was rejected. This leads to the rhetorical question: if they only discussed 1 out of 27 items over $250K, do you think they will prioritize items below $250K? 

I openly opposed ordinance 5897 during public comment because I see it as mere pageantry and a waste of time. JB has not addressed the financial transparency issue I raised, which I consider to be the most critical and potentially involving illegal concealment of public documents.

As opposed to being outraged, the new JB Smiley-chaired Memphis City Council has reveled in a sea of pageantry, while being seated as the first majority-female Council, making them a "Historic Council." None are outraged that the previous Council, many of whom are still seated, superseded the incoming Council's MLGW rate-making authority when they increased electrical rates by 4% for each of the 2024, 2025, and 2026 years.

Increasing rates in 2024 can be defended as the evaluative responsibility of the previous Council, but also in 2025 and 2026 with a new incoming Council? Not hardly. The increase in 2025 and 2026 was an insult to the face of the incoming Historic Council, but none are outraged.

In fact, the Historic Council is taking the City further backwards by 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. Fundamental MLGW oversight can only happen by evaluating MLGW's monthly financials, and the public could add oversight value. But here is the problem: the MLGW Board of Commissioners is also willfully refusing to perform their oversight duty, while allowing the MLGW administration to conceal their monthly financials from the public.

No one is outraged. And this lack of public outrage and tanking transparency comes after the granting of a 12% rate increase that will ultimately translate into $150M more per year for MLGW.

Transparency Lacking at MLGW and Other Agencies

Keep in mind that all local publicly owned quasi-government agencies, such as the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE), Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), and Memphis Health Education and Housing Facilities Board (MHEHFB), publish monthly financials. 

The Historic Council should have access to the December 2023, January, and February 2024 financials for MLGW. MLGW was publishing monthly financials before the recent 12% rate increase, but in a repulsive and indefensible reversal, they are no longer doing so. This is outrageous, but there is a concerning lack of public outrage over this regression in transparency.

Ineffective Advocacy Approaches

The most likely manner in which the Historic Council will want the community to approach them on this basic transparency matter is through the "joke advocacy organizations" in Memphis, like MICAH. These organizations will likely express not a sense of outrage, but humbly request that the Council please have MLGW publish their monthly financials, as they have done for years in the past. In this way, the joke advocacy organizations and the Historic Council can chalk up a "win," as if they are moving the City forward, when they are really just running in place at best.

The Need for Civic Outrage and Progress

The lack of civic outrage is a key reason why Memphis never seems to move forward. The systemic, elitist design demands that we must go backwards before going forward, ensuring that we remain stagnant, if even that. This lack of progress is unacceptable, and the community must demand greater transparency and accountability from its elected officials and public agencies.

The Role of the National Civil Rights Museum

At the top of the local "public advocacy" food chain is the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM). The NCRM is overseen daily by a local corporate executive board committee chaired by Pitt Hyde. The NCRM Board is chaired by Herb Hilliard, who is a former financial executive with First Horizon and now Chair of the Tennessee Public Utility Commission.

As Board Chair of the NCRM and the Tennessee Public Utilities Commission, Hilliard's local public testimony would be valuable in understanding his expert view on the return on community investment for the majority-Black Memphis community, given the $100M in excess public cash sitting on MLGW's gas balance sheet.

Lack of Transparency Across Agencies

Meanwhile, absent press reporting or outrage by a host of local advocacy organizations, several other entities struggle with public transparency. These include the Agricenter Commission, which oversees the $226M Agricenter, and MATA, which refuses to acknowledge or answer public information requests while going backwards as a transit agency. Now, MLGW has also joined this concerning trend of reduced transparency.

The Need for Civic Engagement and Progress

This lack of outrage, amidst a sea of advocacy organizations and pageantry for a "Historic" County Commission and City Council, is why Memphis falls further behind or, at best, stays running in place. The community must demand greater accountability and transparency from its elected officials and public agencies to drive meaningful progress for the city.