Anywhere else, no public oversight or financial accountability would be big stories, but not in Memphis. Why? Non-existent public oversight and financial recklessness have been normalized in Memphis.

Public examples include recent MLGW power outages and the lacking financial accountability regarding $200M in Accelerate Memphis spend. There have been 3 major power outages, in good weather in the last 3 weeks, and no oversight power outage questions from the Dopey Duo in MLGW Committee Council Chair Philip Spinosa or Vice Chair Pearl Walker.

Two of the outages were from circuit breakers and another from a racoon. In the 6^th year of MLGW’s capital improvement plan, foundational substation work should be done. And since its not, if the MLGW Board of Commissioners are not going to order a substation risk assessment, in the interest of public safety and after a recent substation explosion, the Council needs to order the assessment. But no Council questions on outages, in the wake of MLGW’s $1B+ capital improvement program.

And meanwhile, the City of Memphis cannot account for $200M in Accelerate Memphis spend. This blog reported when the FOIA was entered to the City of Memphis. The cumulative FOIA read:

For the period of 7/1/22-6/30/25, please provide a listing of each Accelerate Memphis project with project budget amount and amount disbursed against each project. Please also provide Accelerate Memphis funds currently unallocated.

The City of Memphis response was arguably criminally negligent with Accelerate Memphis project accounting through 5/31/25 for only $47,971,309 total in projects and $17,205,574 expended. The former accounting in no way builds upon the FY24 City of Memphis Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (pg18-19) where $200M in projects and $123.89M was expended through 6/30/24.  

We are talking about identifying where $200M in public funds went and no local media reporting? Maybe the Memphis City Council cares where $200M has been spent. We will see when the new City finanical reporting comes out, as discussed in Council Budget Committee on 10/7/25. 

At the same time, does the Memphis City Council care about the finances of the behemoth downtown slush fund in the Sports Authority? The Sports Authority was somehow left out of the Councilor Chase Carlisle authored financial reporting resolution. Hopefully the Sports Authority will be added into the final resolution.  

But back to Accelerate Memphis. The City’s inability to come anywhere close to reconciling Accelerate Memphis spending against FY24 financials prompted a complaint to the State Comptroller. Maybe Jason Mumpower, the State Comptroller cares. We shall see....