MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Greater Memphis Chamber Board of Directors wants Memphis and Shelby County to look into whether a metro, consolidated government may be right for the area.
In a meeting Monday, August 30th, the Chamber board voted unanimously to endorse the creation of a bipartisan charter commission to explore the issue. In a statement, the chamber said most of the data on city and county consolidation is more than a decade old, dating back to an unsuccessful referendum in 2010.
The chamber said a charter commission could lead a new fact0finding mission on metro government possibilities.
“Our board agrees: follow the data,” Willie Gregory, chairman of the Greater Memphis Chamber Board of Directors, said in the statement. “No one thinks metro government will be a cure-all, but we need to do the research before we can say whether it will be a booster shot.”
Memphis City Council members are expected to discuss the formation of the charter commission at the council Tuesday, September 7th.
The Chamber said while it supports forming the commission, it will remain neutral on the actual issue of consolidation until more data is gathered.
“The fact is we don’t have all the facts,” Beverly Robertson, president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber, said in the statement. “We have many questions but few answers about the pros and cons of a metro government, and we need to do our due diligence as a community. In the coming months, we plan to research the impact of metro government in markets across the country and share this necessary information with the public.”
