SHELBY COUNTY, Tennessee —
In Friday's Ransom Note: the schism in the suburbs.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is in a difficult spot. He'd love to announce a coordinated approach among the suburbs on reopening parts of the county that aren't in Memphis. But I'm told for some suburban mayors, politics seems to be playing more of a role than public safety.
That's why at this point the best Harris could do Friday was extend the county's “safer at home” order until next week. Medical experts would suggest it should be longer than that, and I think he knows that. But with some businesses and customers turning up the pressure, that's harder to do.
So we could have a situation where, if you're headed to the Wolfchase area, you can go out to eat on the Bartlett side north of Highway 64 or Stage Road, but not on the Memphis side south of that road.
That's not in the best interest of all of us, no matter where you stand on reopening.
Harris promised more details on Monday. Let's hope he makes some progress, because our leaders need to have a coordinated approach or live with the consequences.
