Herenton says term-limit question aimed to keep him off the ballot

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton charged Wednesday that a ballot question to extend city term limits is on the ballot fraudulently and is worded to keep him from running for mayor again next year.

“It’s deception, it’s conspiracy, it’s fraud,” Herenton said. “There’s nothing ambiguous about that. Trace the sequence of events. Trace the officials that are involved and through this process we’re going to determine the who, the what and the when.”

Herenton held a news conference at his attorney Robert Spence’s office on Wednesday, the first day of early voting, where they said the ballot question language voters will see was inappropriately placed on the ballot because it is different than what the City Council approved in January.

The council-approved and certified ballot question language states that a person would be ineligible to hold or be elected to the office of mayor or to a City Council seat if they have served “at any time after Dec. 31, 2011, more than threeconsecutive four-year terms,” unless they are elected or appointed to fill an unexpired term, Spence said.

After Herenton in April announced his intention to run for mayor in 2019, the part of the question specifying “after Dec. 31, 2011” was removed, Spence said.

Herenton served four terms as Memphis mayor from 1992 to 2009, and said the language change is aimed at preventing him from running next year.

City Council attorney Allan Wade acknowledged a “drafting error” that created a discrepancy in the language on materials sent to the Shelby County Election Commission: the cover letter and the ordinance itself.

“We believe it can be cured by an appropriate interpretation by a court,” Wade said.

The ballot question being posed to voters asks whether a person who has served more than three consecutive four-year terms should be ineligible to hold the mayor’s office or a City Council seat — without the Dec. 31, 2011, cutoff date. That criteria would apply to Herenton’s mayoral tenure.

“The issue of whether he is being targeted, that there’s a conspiracy — that is not correct,” Wade said.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland hasn’t announced whether he’s seeking re-election in 2019, but Herenton accused Strickland’s administration of being part of a plot to keep him off next year’s ballot.

The ballot question is a City Councilcrafted measure — Strickland and his administration weren’t part of that process, and Strickland wouldn’t want to keep anyone off the ballot, his political strategist Steven Reid said Wednesday.

“The Strickland administration had no involvement in the conception, drafting or submission of the referendum to the election commission,” Reid said.

If voters approve the ballot question that would extend the Memphis mayor and City Council term limits from two to three consecutive four-year terms, it will face a legal challenge, Spence said.

A lawsuit against the people involved in drafting the ordinance and placing it on the ballot could also be filed, Spence said.

Memphis voters will see three charter amendment questions on their ballots, dealing with term limits and runoff procedures in city elections. The three questions survived a legal challenge last week that argued they’re misleading and deceptive.

Chancery Court Chancellor Jim Kyle said if voters approve the questions Nov. 6, they could be challenged before the 2019 city election.

Reach Jamie Munks at 901-529-2536, jamie.munks@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @journo_jamie_.