The Main Street Journal asks various community leaders about the issues of the day. All opinions expressed are strictly those of the person attributed.

Outside the usual suspects of politicians, who would you like to see run for Memphis Mayor?

Thaddeus Matthews, Blogger & radio host.
I personally think that the best choice for mayor at the present is Robert Lipscomb. Bar none his experience in city government and housing, city finance for exceeds any one in Memphis including those presently running.

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Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register.
Fred Smith.

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Mick Wright, Blogger and contributor to Main Street Journal.
Memphis needs a visionary leader who understands the Mid-South’s economy and can chart a course for the city that will build up the community, attract business, create jobs and reverse the mass exodus of citizens, taxpayers, entrepreneurs and families leaving the area in droves. Fortunately, we have such a leader — a Memphis resident who is also a prominent businessman with an international reputation, a student of history and politics, and with an innovative mind. He has achieved his success outside of the political realm, hasn’t lost his humility to fortune or fame, and has even proven recently to be the one person who can talk some sense into Rep. Steve Cohen. If only for that last reason alone, FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith deserves our consideration.

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Steve Steffens, Left Wing Cracker.
I have had a hard time thinking of someone outside the same old same old, then it hit me: Brad Watkins, lead organizer for the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. It was his organizing work, along with the writing of Steve Ross (Vibinc) that led to the pressure to reform MSARC after it had fallen into an abyss.

His blog, CONFESSIONS OF A WEST TENNESSEE LIBERAL, is filled with ways to make government actually WORK for the people who pay the taxes that fund it. His piece today about reforming MATA is spot-on, and he would be a terrific person to get the city moving in the right direction.

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Joe Larkins, Lead Dog Video.
I was talking to my wife Bethany Smith (who is way more politically in-tune than I am at least on a national level) about who we would like to see as mayor who is not currently in the mix. Since this is speculative exercise, the person both of us think would have made a great mayor is the late Thomas Boggs of Huey’s fame. Thomas Boggs dearly loved Memphis and was keenly aware of its past and its potential. Always the optimist and realist, Thomas Boggs knew how to build coalitions and how to market something. He was also one to admit mistakes and was willing to step back to see what changes needed to be made to make something work. Thomas Boggs would have made a great mayor not only of Memphis but of a metro government.

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Brian Stephens, Shelby County Election Commissioner.
Outside of the current forerunners I would love to see a successful business owner care enough about the city to take a big risk and move us forward. Denver is a great example of what a business person can do in a government role. This sort of business minded attitude allows him to cut costs, share in success and make the city the first priority and not his pension.

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