Photos bring laughter as panel says farewell
The final meeting for the current Shelby County Commission Monday night included the expected thanks and farewells.
There was also a less-expected addition to the meeting: Baby photos of each commissioner.
Commission Chairwoman Heidi Shafer shared the photos along with three words she chose to describe each commissioner. Commissioners tried to guess which colleague the words described, then burst out laughing as photos of the young commissioners came on screen.
For most commissioners, it was their final meeting due to term limits.
“Take a look at that picture and ask yourself, what happened?” joked Commissioner Reginald Milton, gesturing at his photo.
The photo for Commissioner Walter Bailey, who has served on the commission since 1971 with only one interrupted term, was of him as a young man — not a child.
For her part, Shafer shared a photo of herself at age 3, wearing pigtails and smiling a tight-lipped smile since she had just lost a tooth.
She said she hoped the photos would show people that elected officials are just “regular people.”
Final business
The final commission meeting also included more serious moments:
The commission approved a hotly contested development near Collierville, overrode Mayor Mark Luttrell’s veto of an ordinance limiting the mayor’s power over civil litigation and awarded county funds to a variety of charitable organizations.
The ordinance, which was passed earlier this month and then vetoed by Luttrell, makes the mayor unable to use the county attorney when suing the commission, as Luttrell has done. It would also require that the commission give approval before outside counsel is hired at rates over $50,000.
Shafer also withdrew a resolution she had previously proposed that would have required the chief administrator of the Economic Development Growth Engine, also known as EDGE, to report to and be hired by the board, not the city and county mayors. She said she withdrew the resolution since a group to study EDGE has momentum she believes will carry on into the new administration, which takes office Saturday.