Council squalling occurred about the “energy burden” but no action was taken. The Memphis City Council unanimously passed the FY25 MLGW budget without discussion on 11/26/24. Advocates for the locally impoverished claim that Memphis has the highest energy burden in the country (percentage of utility bill to income). But in practice, the Historic Council does not care about this energy burden.

The only way in which the benefits of a public utility can be realized is if both the MLGW Board of Commissioners and Council rigorously check budgets and contracts. The MLGW Board of Commissioners had no budget questions and in Tuff n Cool fashion, Council Chair JB Smiley, Chair Elect Ford Canale and Budget Chair Chase Carlisle blew off the 11/25 MLGW budget hearing altogether. Carlisle has been an advocate of the Council not even overseeing the City’s $2 billion industrial engineering firm, as Carlisle himself describes MLGW.

Tactically, the Carlisle statement attempts to distance the public from questioning the mechanics of a public utility that they the Memphis public own! And Canale, the new Chair elect seems to agree.

On the other side, the public mistakes Councilors’ "compassionate" theatric statements around matters like the “energy burden” as action. It is not. The former is theatre. Action comes in the form of Councilors demanding information to be produced for the public record or in formal procedural motions like moving to kill, table or defer, while putting themselves and others on the voting record. 

But folks like Ford Canale and Chase Carlisle find $582M in MLGW capital budget increases funny, while the Council blows off questions posed by the public altogether. Canale goes as far as to adjourn meetings without hearing public comment from targeted members of the public, while hearing other selected commenters. Indefensible.

There is no doubt about it. Both Chair elect Ford Canale and Budget Chair Chase Carlisle are public botchers. They find the $582M MLGW Way Forward capital budget increases funny (above). No inspection of the 50% increase from $1.17 to $1.75 billion; just funny. And the former follows Canale’s massive oversight botch of public transit as chair of the Council Transportation Committee and Carlisle’s oversight botch of the budget during Strickland’s departure as budget chair.

These are two reckless, fiscal liberal, corporate socialist Republicans that only know spooner elitist twat boy bullying. 

At the recent Council meeting Carlisle moved previous question on the FY25 $2.5 billion MLGW budget before any discussion. The intent of previous question is to end debate on an item or in this case prevent any discussion whatsoever of the FY25 MLGW Budget.

Meanwhile, with the result of no discussion, public concerns were ignored and not taken up. Multiple members of the public had submitted questions, as requested by Councilors, with one of them involving an item in the Electrical operating budget called “Miscellaneous Distribution Expenses.”

The vague item had increased by 39% or $14M from $36M in FY24 to $50M in FY25. Many in the public wanted FY24 and FY25 itemized detail with amounts, on this vague but expensive “miscellaneous” budget item and an explanation on the reason for the year over year cost explosion. But the public just got ignored, without answers, from a Council that claims to be concerned about the “energy burden.”

As far as checks on McGowen’s authored budget increases of $582M in the Way Forward capital upgrade budget, the Council ignored those public concerns as well. In fact, due to a deficient press, the public masses have no idea of the explosive increases waged by the Strickland like McGowen led MLGW.

Sadly, both MLGW Chair Phillip Spinosa and Vice Chair Pearl Walker had the public's questions in hand for the budget hearing, a day prior to the final budget vote. But those questions went unanswered. The fact is that if the City Council were serious about the energy burden, the public would not have to provide Councilors with questions. After all, the FY25 MLGW Budget Book was available for City Council and public review, some 40 days ago, in mid October. 

Theatrically squalling about the “energy burden” does nothing. The only way the Council can lessen the impact of the “energy burden” is through rigorous budget and contract approval work throughout the year, which is not happening with this Historic Council.

Finally, on another matter, no one wants to build on Jack Sammons Avenue. So much for all of the grandiose outcome claims coming from the Mayor and Chamber, all made in the winter wonderland of the Enchanted Forest. See below.