Suburban mayors make appeal to Memphis City Council for MLGW voting rights

The mayors of Collierville, Bartlett and Germantown made an appeal to Memphis City Councilmembers to pass the ordinance putting a measure on the ballot to add two voting members who reside outside the city limits on the Memphis Light, Gas, and Water board to a vote.

There was no action on the matter taken at the Tuesday meeting as the agenda item was only a discussion.

Two board members from the MLGW board were also present, arguing that because of the population influx in the suburbs, the customer base deserves to have voting members who represent their areas. Mayor of Germantown Mike Palazzolo said the voting power for the two suburban members is a "natural progression," after the addition of non-voting members was made in 2017.

MLGW President Doug McGowen said regardless of how many members are on the board, he will do his job the same.

Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker asked, if the two suburban members were added, would the city be able to add additional city-residing members, increasing the city-residing members from five to seven.

According to legal counsel from MLGW, the addition of the city-residing members would have to be done through a charter amendment. Walker said her concern would be a board that has a majority that is non-Memphian.

MLGW has said at multiple meetings regarding the referendum that currently, 32% of ratepayers reside outside city limits.

Councilwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington said she does not support the referendum whatsoever, and she needs a compelling reason for the suburban members to have voting power.

Not all City Council members were outright against the addition of the voting members. Councilman Jeff Warren said this is "taxation without representation," which should be considered when discussing this.

Warren also said he hopes adding the suburban voting members could mean a move to get more city inclusion in county boards.

Warren made the argument that letting suburban members on the board could help get more influence in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Warren did say the real fight would have to be how to get the referendum passed.

Palazzolo said the vote will be the will of the people, and that the people will do the research and make the right decision.

Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas said she wanted to know how the county is investing in MLGW, and asked if they were willing to put in colleterial or one-time payments to MLGW. She said utility fees, like MLGW customer bills, would "not be enough."

"What can we look to you all for in the form of dollar signs?" Easter-Thomas asked.

Councilmembers got a briefing from McGowen during last month's meeting regarding the referendum. Currently, there are two board members who represent the suburbs, but they do not have voting power.

Palazzolo said the process of appointing the voting-right members would still be with the Memphis mayor.

A referendum would have to go on the November ballot to add the voting members.

If the Council were to pass an ordinance referendum, it would still be up to Memphis voters to vote on adding the two members.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville mayors advocate for MLGW voting rights