I am running for Shelby County Probate Court Clerk for many reasons but the main three are these:
1. Protect your Tax Dollars
We have several great public servants who have decided that it is time for them to do something else and have chosen not to seek re-election. My fear is that these good people may be replaced by others who have no respect for the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s dollars. Most of our elected clerks today are able to run their offices purely on the revenue they generate (fees. etc.). When John Ford was the General Session Court Clerk he used the fees he collected plus $2 million from the General Fund to run his office. Chris Turner came in and turned that office around and was actually able to eventually return $2 million a year in excess to the county. That is a swing of $4 million a year, money that could be spent on schools, equipment for the Sheriff’s Department, the MED, Emergency 911 services or other County priorities. It matters who governs, and the people need someone in office they can trust to protect their tax dollars and not use their office budgets as a slush fund.
2. Provide convenient and efficient service
Most people do not know what goes on in Probate Court, or they only know a small part of what Probate handles. Probate comes from Latin, probāre, and means “to prove”. Not only do the divisions of Probate deal with wills, trusts, and adjudicating disputes over who gets property when someone passes away, but the courts also handle the very tricky issues of Conservatorships and Guardianships. I want to make sure that the court is run as efficiently as possible so as to 1) minimize the amount of time the people who are grief stricken and/or shell shocked from the loss of a loved one have to deal with beauracratic red-tape. 2) Make sure that we have the tools to evaluate and process those with mental-illness as quickly as possible. [It is a moral outrage that we have so many people in our jails that have a mental-illness, but, as a society, have not done everything that we can to get them the help that they need.] As court clerk I will be an advocate for the mentally ill to get them evaluated and then make sure they receive the help they need. 3) I will work to make sure that those who may be given power of a Conservatorship or Guardianship over another human being uses that power in the best interest of the person they are charged with helping. The Knoxville News Sentinel did a story a few weeks ago about Nashville musician Danny Tate, whose brother, David Tate here in Memphis was able to go to a Nashville Judge and get complete control of his brother’s estate with an “emergency” hearing, where Danny had no clue the hearing was going on, did not get a chance to defend himself at the hearing, and three weeks later at a follow-up hearing, was not able to have a lawyer to protect his interest. Now there maybe several sides to that story it is unclear whether the musician needed to be protected or not but the moral is the system is severely flawed and I plan on being an advocate at both the state and local level for change.
3. Prepare for our Future
Finally I am running because we are a divided society. This week marks my 29th birthday, and for that entire time (and much longer I presume) this community has been fighting the same old battles with itself. We are always arguing about race, city vs. county, wealthy vs. poor, Republican vs. Democrat, it is getting stale. Now, don’t get me wrong I am all for argument. I think people of different opinions getting together and flushing out their disagreements and differing perceptions is what drives growth and ingenuity. However the leaders of the past in our community have never risen above the fray to try and bring us together and move forward. Our bickering and short-sightedness has left our community on the outside looking in at the developments other communities have been able to accomplish. I will be a leader who will help us put the past in the past and move forward to the society we want to be 30 and 40 years from now. There is great talent and awesome ability here in the greater Memphis area and my promise is to be a leader that will encourage all of our neighbors to seek out their own individual potential and use their gifts for the betterment of themselves and the entire community.