We Aren't Chopped Liver, They Are

In today's column, Wendi Thomas asks why most of the 9th District Congressional candidates are nowhere to be seen in this year's City Council elections, where more than half of the seats are up for the taking.

Remember last August's overcrowded primary race for the Ninth District Congressional seat?

Remember how refreshing it was to see all those new faces eager to hold public office?

And wasn't it frustrating that so many were willing and ready to leave Memphis for more prestigious pastures out east?

Memphis isn't Washington, D.C. But despite the rancid smell swirling around many corrupt elected officials these days, the River City's not chopped liver either.

Not even a year later, these ambitious congressional candidates have another chance to work for the public good, and boy, does the public need some good.

[Wendi Thomas]

Only three of the former 9th District candidates are running for City Council this year, and none of the major contenders are among them.

It appears that just three of the 22 congressional candidates will run for city council. Jesse Blumenfeld has filed in District 2, Cecil Hale has filed for the District 9, Position 1 seat, and Rudolph Daniels filed in District 1.

Daniels, who got 770 votes in the Republican primary, realized that he'd have more influence on the council than as one of 435 House members.

"Everybody wanted the glamour job" in Congress, he said, "but I'm looking to solve some (local) issues and make sure they never arise again."

Daniels has the right idea. But what about the most visible runner-up of all, the second-place finisher from out of town?

Well, attorney Nikki Tinker, who came in second in the Democratic primary with 19,157 votes, has announced she will challenge Cohen in 2008.

In the six months since he was sworn in, what could Cohen have possibly done to deserve an ouster? Nothing, of course.

A City Council seat, while not as glamorous as a seat in Congress, serves exactly the same citizens as the 9th Congressional. And next year, when Tinker, who has never held an elected position in her life, asks us to replace a congressman who hasn't even had a half a term to prove himself, Memphis voters should ask her a very simple and obvious question in return.

Where were you last year when we needed City Councilors? What are we to you, chopped liver?