I read your Feb. 6 article about the parks being renamed ("’It’s done’ / City Council renames Forrest, Confederate and Jefferson Davis parks").
I particularly loved this quote from that pinnacle of public service (done as part of her plea deal), the esteemed Councilwoman Janis Fullilove: "We cannot allow Republicans in Nashville to sit up and dictate to us in the city of Memphis what we should do."
Yes. Yes, you can allow it, and you will. Why? Because they are the state legislature. That is why.
Imagine if we applied that logic on a state level. "We can’t let the (insert political party here) in D.C. sit up and dictate to us in the Great State of Tennessee what to do."
Now imagine if I, as a member of my local neighborhood association, decided that I was not going to let City Hall dictate to us on Rembert Street what to do.
You may grouse, but the fact is that pushing through a bill at the eleventh hour to change historical parks (whether you agree or not, it is history) without the consult or consent of the populace is an abuse of your consent to rule from the people of this city.
A discussion is necessary, this is true, but to just slap names as generic as "Health Sciences Park" or "Memphis Park" on a place is just stupid. There is a legislative process for a reason. There is debate, and voting, and dissension for a reason. When you decide that you will not use this process, you run the risk of destroying it.
Tommy Wilson
Memphis
