Lee Harris sworn in as Shelby County mayor
New Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and members of the Shelby County Commission were sworn in Aug. 30 during a ceremony at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
This was the first time in recent memory that Shelby County commissioners and the mayor were sworn in during a joint ceremony. Harris said that joint ceremony shouldn't be taken for granted. “I’m enthused by the fact that we’re able to pull off a unity ceremony," Harris said. "I hope that will be a sign of things to come, that we’ll be able to work together collaboratively."
Harris resigned from the Tennessee State Senate on Aug. 31 and took office as mayor Sept. 1.
He has served in the Tennessee Senate since 2014, becoming the youngest senator in the state at that time. Once there, he was named Senate Minority Leader. Resigning from the Senate is "bittersweet," he said. "I've got a lot of mixed emotions around resigning that senate seat," Harris said. "I think we did make a big impact in Nashville. I think I worked well with a lot of folks there. I learned from really good people, really good public servants, and so I’ll miss that experience.”
Harris' transition team at work
Harris, 39, is a law professor who campaigned for less blight and poverty as well as better mass transit and education.
He has already begun filling the more than 100 positions he'll appoint, naming his chief administrative officer Aug. 28.
A transition team, divided into six task forces, is currently at work on a report that Harris will receive in October. That report will likely
become the basis of a strategic plan for Shelby County, said Danielle Inez, who heads the transition team.
"This is an opportunity for the mayor-elect to put the county on a path forward where we actually have the types of issues that matter to the people that live in this county," Inez said at a transition team meeting earlier this week.
New commissioners sworn in Aug. 30 include Amber Mills, David Bradford, Mick Wright, Michael Whaley, Tami Sawyer, Mickell Lowery, Edmund Ford and Brandon Morrison. Commissioners starting their second term are Mark Billingsley, Willie Brooks, Reginald Milton, Eddie Jones and Van Turner.
Harris said he wants to work closely with the new Commission and that he considers himself "just one of the commissioners."
"I’m hopeful that we don’t get bogged down — which happens sometimes — in the issues that only really affect the special interest groups," he said. "We should be talking about big things, things that could really change lives, lots of lives. We should be talking about education, we should be talking about neighborhoods, we should be talking about transit. Those are the things that matter.”