The spoils of being on today’s City Council
In his reference to the 1828 presidential election of Andrew Jackson, U.S. Sen. William L. Marcy coined the phrase “to the victor belong the spoils.”
This phrase gave birth to the 19thcentury spoils system, or patronage system, of government. It allowed political parties and candidates to appoint individuals of their choice to government jobs, high-level and otherwise.
Today our system of government incorporates practices of both spoils and merit systems.
High-level administrative appointments remain at the discretion of the elected executive – the president, governor, mayor, and so on. But general service positions at the federal, state, and local levels must be applied for by interested applicants.
Recently, however, we’ve seen the Memphis City Council adopt its own spoils system, filling vacant seats with political appointees.
According to the city charter, when a council member vacates a seat, remaining council members can appoint an interim member to complete the term.
The council elects the interim member from a pool of interested applicants – some of whom are qualified and some of whom are not.
This year, four of the council’s 13 members have resigned. The council filled one of those seats in May, appointing Ford Canale, who easily won election 10 weeks later.
Three of those seats remain open and will be filled by political appointees until next October’s city election.
On Nov. 20, council tried but failed to elect an interim member to fill the term of Bill Morrison, who resigned Nov. 1. The stalemate was due, in part, to Council Chairman Berlin Boyd’s refusal to vote. Unfortunately, this led to a waste of time and taxpayer funds.
The use of parliamentary procedures or administrative rules to block or stonewall legislative actions is as old as American democracy.
At the federal level, there is the filibuster, where a member of Congress takes to the floor during debate and speaks continuously, thereby shutting down debate on a bill.
The party in power can also tie legislation up in committee, and thus, prevent a bill from getting consideration by the whole body.
That’s what happened here. The City Council Chairman sets and manages the agenda.
When appointing interim members, Memphis City Council should move toward a more competency-based, meritdriven approach. Council members should be required to cast an “up or down” vote, and discourage any opportunity for parliamentary stonewalling.
Memphis politics may be driven at times by personality, but if our citizens earnestly desire change and a more efficient city government, they must demand that the council stop abusing its power to fill vacant seats with political appointees.
This is at least one way our citizens can select the most qualified individuals to represent them and move toward a city government that works for all the people.
Thurston S. Smith, a federal government retiree, was a 2015 candidate for Memphis City Council District 7.