A Respected Councilman


I spent the morning following Councilman Myron Lowery as he showed his solidarity and respect to some of the hardest working people in the City of Memphis, the men and women of the Sanitation Department. The Councilman, wearing the “I AM A MAN” shirt in recognition of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, helped empty trash dumpsters. I have always been impressed with Mr. Lowery’s quiet demeanor, though you should not confuse this with a lack of action. Over the years Mr. Lowery has been in the forefront of many issues concerning this city: from crime, to education, to health care. This gentle man has stood for this City and deserves our respect and admiration.

As a fifteen-year community organizer, and executive director of a successful nonprofit I have had the opportunity to meet many of our elected leaders. Some were sincere, but lacked talent; some were talented but lacked vision; and some had vision but lacked scruples. In the end it is us the public that will suffer, as it should be. If we are not willing to ask the tough questions, and demand accountability then we will get what we deserve.

In the shadow of the Tennessee Waltz I believe the time is long overdue that we demand more from our elected officials. It is time we stop being swayed by flash, and glitter. We can not allow politicians to manipulate us like pawns on a chess board.

I believe Councilman Lowery represents the type of leadership and character we should demand from all our elected officials.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. Milton,

That's the problem! Lowery is one of the few decent people up there.

Anonymous said...

Tell Myron to not stop in the neighborhoods he need to clean up all the trash at City Hall. Good job Myron.

Anonymous said...

Hear the City Council can follow the police, fire and other departments. To me that fine, bet those garbage men were picking up ALL the trash while the councilman was there. They need to work as hard when not being watched. IMHO.

Anonymous said...

When one of these politicians do something like this I'm forced to ask why? Sorry but "ME NO TRUST THEM." If Myron Lowrey is doing this for good reasons then good, but I have to wait and see. Is this the first time he did something like this?

Anonymous said...

Don't go there 2:15!

Councilman Lowery is a good man. He's one of the few city officials that really cares. Yea I'll say it, I think he should run for mayor of Memphis! There!

Anonymous said...

Reginald do you think Myron would make a good Mayor?

I won't vote for Chumney or Morris, if they had been thinking of Memphis first they would have gotten together and worked out where one of them would have stepped down. Boneheads both of them. AC lost my respect now that it seem he and Herenton are deal makers at the public expense. Sorry Thomas Long, sorry Kenneth Whalum and sorry (Place name here) Ford you're not what we need in a Mayor.

Anonymous said...

I guess Lowery is trying to get brownie points for the School Board Superintendent's position or the Mayor's office which ever he can slither into.


Dare you to post the truth

Anonymous said...

How is it that so happened Myron Lowery was on the garbage truck and a ready camera was in the area. Was this staged? For what reason?

How low will people go.

Reginald Milton said...

To: CSPAN

I have known Councilman Lowery for nearly a decade. In that time he has always exemplified in personal as well as professional life someone who is caring and committed to service.

To your question if I think he would make a good Mayor. Let me state there are several qualities I look for in my elected officials:

1- He/She must be honesty, of course.
2- He/She must be open-minded. You don’t have to know everything as long as you are willing to hear the views of others.
3- He/She must have a vision.
4- He/She must be able to inspire others to embrace that vision.
5- He/She must show strong character, fortitude and determination.

I can honestly state that Councilman Lowery meets these standards and, in my view, would make an outstanding Mayor.

Reginald Milton said...

To: 2:15 PM

No, this is not the first time Councilman Lowery has gone out and helped pick up trash with the sanitation crew. I'm not sure of the number of times he has done this but I know for certain he did it last year.

To: 3:56 PM

It's called a Solidarity Action. It is where a politician will inform the press that he plans to participate in a community activity in hopes of bringing attention to the group or the issue. Being this is the 40th Anniversary of the Sanitation Strike the Councilman was bringing attention to these hard working people.

Anonymous said...

These people will do anything to get into office and then they just do what they want, never mind the people. If Lowry meant any good at all why now would he decide to step forward when i know all the time he was watching all of this trouble brewing why now. See that is why this city is in a mess the voters are blinded by good fronts wake up Memphis if we are to heal and move forward. If we elect Lowry how many times would he come out to make sure the trash is being picked up properly, how much time would he put into getting these crooks off the streets, i am sorry but i just don't trust any of the council members that are still standing after TN WALTZ, because i really think that somehow they played a part also they just knew when to quit.

Anonymous said...

Councilman Lowery is a good man. To be honest I never thought about him being mayor. If you think he has potential Reginald I'm willing to give him a look. Not saying I would support him, but I'm willing to consider it.

Anonymous said...

It amazes me that anyone would want to be a politician here in Memphis.

There are so many haters out here. You don't do a damn thing yourself to help anyone but you will cut down any thing these people do. No wonder the best people are fleeing Memphis.

If you don't have facts SHUT UP! Stop hating so much!

Anonymous said...

3:55

That's Memphis for you. We sit around on our butts and as soon as we see anybody doing anything we attack them.

So if the political person didn't get out and try to work with the community you would be saying, "They don't want to get their hands dirty." When they do get out you say, "They must be doing it for brownie points."

What is the problem with political people trying to be visible? What you want them to hide in a cave? So you never did anything to look good? You're just a hater.

Anonymous said...

The problem with Myron Lowery is that he doesn't know how to talk jive, yell, roll his eyes, and blame everybody but himself. The hood people in Memphis only respond to those type. King Willie proved that. Whenever things aren't going your way just blame the press, or a group of business men.

Anonymous said...

AC SHOULDN'T BE MAYOR OF MEMPHIS. WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO BETTER.

HE IS A CLOSET REPUBLICAN ANYWAY. SUPPORTED LAMAR ALEXANDER WITHOUT EVEN CONSIDERING A DEMOCRAT.

Anonymous said...

Herenton needs to go now this man is crazy. He must be on drugs or somethen. We need to remove him before he mess up any more.

Give Myron a change that ok with me. Anybody but Herenton.

Anonymous said...

It really doesn't matter if Councilman Lowery would make a good mayor or not becuase Mayor Herenton is not going anywhere. All the Mayor was doing was offering his experience to the city of Memphis School System. God knows they need help.

Anonymous said...

You have to realize in Memphis we have so many poor, uneducated and yes lazy people that we have put in office people who should not be running our city. So things like the Coalition for a Better Memphis doesn't matter if people don't know about them. The endorsement of the CA is useless if people don't even read the paper, and experience doesn't matter if the election is more of a popularity contest.

Anonymous said...

You see the councilman is stepping out more against the mayor. He was talking about the mayor tax raise and lowery said he has to look at it. Its time these councilman get a backbone and stand up against the crap the mayor has been putting out.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU COUNCILMAN LOWERY. WE NEED PEOPLE OUT THERE TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PEOPLE TALK BUT THEY WON'T GET OUT THERE AND DO THAT WORK. IT IS EASY TO COMPLAIN BUT HARD TO GET OFF YOUR BEHIND AND WORK TO MAKE A CHANGE. IF MORE PEOPLE DID THIS WE WOULD HAVE HAVEN ON EARTH.

Anonymous said...

3:55 you said it. When politicians do good give them credit.

In Memphis it's the other way around. If you are bad they say, "Leave him alone everybody steals." If he does good they say, "He must be up to something."

You're alright with me Councilman Lowery.

Anonymous said...

Rather than riding on the garbage truck, Lowery should use his City Council position to rally behind the Sanitation workers having better working conditions and a pension. This is showing that you really care.

I can get on the garbage truck and ride along for one day and not die. But try doing it weekly for a living with few benefits.

Lowery should try a two day stinch at the job.

That's a horse of a different color.