There is an old adage that “what is done in darkness will come to light.” City officials in Memphis who concocted a secret scheme to “sell” a couple of public parks for $1000 each in order to evade state law prohibiting removal of statues and monuments without proper approval may soon learn the truth of that saying. As soon as they “sold” the parks, two monuments to Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis were quickly removed by the “new private owners” in the dark of night.
More facts are coming to light, and it is increasingly clear that the scam was carefully orchestrated by the Mayor and local political activists to skirt the clear intent of the law. If it was such a good idea, why was it done secretly and without public input and debate?
More @ TN
I’m not sure about Tennessee, but I know in my home state here in Iowa. There are state laws, that govern cities. And they are here because cities were doing things like this in secret. For all city meetings, they must be properly advertised and open to the public. Secret meetings are banned. There are also tough laws on disposal of city property. I’m sure it happens everywhere but we had Mayors buying luxury cars for the city. Then selling them to wives or relatives the following year for $1. Now any city property must be sold at open bid. After, a few mayors and city councilmen went to prison, the secret meetings and friendly sales ended. Also, worth noting, those buying property in such illegal deals are also criminally responsible. Might be worth looking into in Tennessee, to see if they have similar laws. But that would depend on the States Attorney General, and if he is a leftist.
ReplyDeleteBadger
Thanks and yes, yes and yes.
DeleteDid Memphis officials violate sunshine laws by coordinating this sale outside of the public eye?
Did anyone gain financially from the rapid and clear undervalued sale of these two properties?
Were existing state statutes violated related to the removal or relocation of these memorials?