Shelby Co. Black Caucus supports
The Shelby County Commission Black Caucus is voicing its support for Dr. Michelle Taylor, the nominee for director of the Shelby County Division of Health Services, a day after a memo circulated showing that a panel did not recommend she be hired as director.
“The leaking of an internal HR memo was highly unprofessional and purposely released to call into question the leadership of Mayor Lee Harris,” read a statement from the Black Caucus issued Thursday. “Dr. Taylor is now caught in the middle of a political play distracting from the fact that she brings with her a list of achievements that make her more than qualified for this position.”
Taylor is currently the Air National Guard Aerospace Medicine Division Chief for the Office of the Air National Guard Surgeon General. She holds a doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s in public administration from Harvard University.
She is expected to be approved by the county commission Monday.
The memo, written by La Sonya Harris Hall, interim director of the Shelby County Health Department, said a panel, including people from local hospitals, nonprofits, public health entities, the private sector, public health advisory board, the Shelby County Health Department and more, had interviewed two final candidates for the position.
Both candidates had limited experience in managing a division as large as the health department, in overseeing a large grant portfolio and in implementing large-scale change, the memo noted.
Neither were recommended for the job of health director in the memo, which was shared with commissioners and the media by Commissioner Mark Billingsley. Instead, the panel recommended identifying additional funding to supplement the position’s salary to improve recruitment of more qualified candidates, directing the search firm to identify a stronger candidate pool and maintaining the current interim leadership until a permanent director is approved.
“The memo refers to Dr. Taylor as ‘articulate’ and questions her ability to manage a team,” read the statement from the Black Caucus. “Dr. Taylor managed medical teams for the United States Office of the Air National Guard Surgeon General. Her experience as a manager of teams and her intelligence is without question. The racial undertones of this memo plus the use of it to attack Dr. Taylor are both reprehensible.”
Commissioner Tami Sawyer is chair of the Black Caucus, while Commissioner Mickell Lowery is vice chair. The caucus was first proposed in April and approved by resolution in May.
In releasing the memo, Billingsley said he felt the report differed from the mayor’s characterization of the panel’s decision as described Wednesday in the county commission’s general government committee.
“Shelby County and our citizens deserve experienced and proven leadership that has the ability to manage a $100 million dollar health department budget, seven-hundred employees and all in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic,” Billingsley said in a written statement Thursday. “If Mayor Harris chooses to support a candidate for the Director of the Health Department, he needs to own it and not misrepresent his own advisors’ recommendations.”
Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.