MemphisShelbyInform

I have a long record of sending and following up on open records requests locally and across Tennessee. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Mostly things have improved except for the Memphis City Schools and there the situation has gone from bad to terrible. They are just too big and important to deal with the people who pay their salaries and benefits.

I can remember when I had to go downtown to City Hall on each City of Memphis open records requests and pay 25 cents per copy or take my own copy machine along with me. Since the departure of Elbert Jefferson and Willie Herenton, things have improved greatly and now we regularly get the information electronically which is easier for them and certainly easier for me.

I have been dealing for some time with Ms. Bridgett Handy Clay, the public records coordinator for the City of Memphis. She is pleasant to deal with, polite, efficient and answers all questions promptly. Then I pick up the CA and find that she has been fired. (She is in an appointed position and not covered by civil service). I called several sources at City Hall to find out about this firing but to no avail. Now I have a copy of an email that Ms. Handy Clay sent to Jill Madajczyk (her replacement) and it raises a host of new questions. (Read it over and let me know what you think).

The nature and content of the questions sound like there could possibly be a lot of paid time padding in the City Attorney’s office. Also the nature of the inquiry about Jackie Waller leaves a lot of questions. I hope that Mayor Wharton and Herman Morris will make a full revelation about this matter and that the open records information process will not be damaged.