Like Father, Like Son

As promised I said I would keep an eye on District 6 newly elected Councilman - Edmund Ford, Jr. To me a district with one of the highest poverty rates in the State of Tennessee deserves representation of the highest caliber. In the beginning I felt Mr. Ford was a bit green for the position, but I respected his tenacity. When the good citizens of District 6 elected him over me to represent them in City Council I was one of the first to offer him a sincere congratulation.

One of the strongest qualities I admired in former Councilman Edmund Ford, Sr. was his willingness, no his pleasure, in getting out among his constituents. He listened, engaged and supported community residents. During the past year I have seen the same willingness from his son. Councilman Edmund Ford, Jr. has stepped out on critical issues such as the funding of the Memphis City Schools and housing for the poor. Being part of a family that has had moments of great success and great failure Mr. Ford must continue to work to carve out his own path. As before, I continue to wish him much success.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

When Mister Ford ran he got my vote. Didn't know you then Mister Milton. Its good he's doing a good job. Don't you give up we need you too.

Anonymous said...

Reginald why oh why are you being nice to this guy?! He got in because of his papa. The Fords have screwed this city!

Anonymous said...

Anybody else would not be this kind. People need to know we have never heard you say one negative thing about Edmond Junior. If people had known you better Milton you would be a city councilman right now. It sad you spend your life helping people instead of trying to be in the limelight. Now the people who don't know crap but everbody know them like Fullilove get elected. It not fair.

Anonymous said...

Didn't like his family,
Didn't think much about him,
Didn't vote for him, but if you think he's an ok person I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

Janis Fullilove is the only remaining joke on the city of Memphis council. The rest seem to know what they are doing.

Anonymous said...

Edmund Ford Jr. has been incredible on the city council. He is extremely active in the community and has really become a shining star for Memphis and South Memphis! Who knows maybe Mayor Ford, Jr. in the future???

Anonymous said...

He lost me when he voted to cut school funds! As a teacher it is tough enough to provide for our students now it is impossible.

Memphis needs to decide if it wants to educate its youth or not.

Anonymous said...

"Memphis needs to decide if it wants to educate its youth or not."

You've got to be kidding!!!

The school system is failing not because of money but because this parents are having children they can't afford and can't take care of. Over 80% of the MCS children are below the poverty level. Half of them won't even graduate.

They should cut the funding some more. Better yet give me back my money and let me educate my own children, thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

"Full of sh_t" is what she is. Fullilove knew she had a drinking/gambling/drug problem when she ran. Now the residents of her district aren't receiving the professional oversight now that she is in rehab. Like that's going to work.

Anonymous said...

Education is no big deal. kids need to be street smart and that is what is so great about our city. We teach great values to the children with lessons that will last a lifetime! Who needs to be book smart???

Anonymous said...

So 10:58 you are saying that education is not important in a society that rewards those that are educated. You got me on this street smart stuff, I don't know what you mean by that. If you are saying they need common sense sure, but that doesn't mean they don't need a good education. Those City Councilmen who voted to cut the school budget were wrong. Edmund Ford jr was wrong to do this and I hear he is a school teacher!

Anonymous said...

The memphis city school system is horrible! I agree with the cuts. You really dont need an education to succeed. Look at our city council! It is awesome and they are not a highly educated group and have done so well. Our city is thriving. Use the school money to increase the salaries of the policemen. They need to further cut the school system and teachers. They are not a vital part of the system. The council has done a great thing by cutting them. Cut them more.

Anonymous said...

Awesome work city councilman Ford!!! way to take up for our city in your vote!! Lets hire our own citizens from our community for the police. Once again you did the right thing and you are the best thing that has ever happened to south Memphis!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Reginald. This is very good blog. Keep up the good work and hopefully someday this city will be lucky enough to have you representing us.

Anonymous said...

I agree! Great Blog. Milton for Mayor!

Anonymous said...

You have some of the best teachers in the country right here in Memphis. It doesn't matter what the rest of you think. We don't get paid enough for the work we do. We don't just teach we are baby sitters, counselors, friends, negotiators, foster parents and a thousand other titles. Are we appreciated? Hell no!

Edmund and the rest of those cowards will pay come next election.

Anonymous said...

Those that are trying to attack him on his MCS funding vote need to look at both sides. If he is a teacher and he decided to cut MCS funding, don't you think that there was good reason? The administration before Dr. Cash demonstrated financial incompetence with the food issue and other things, and he most likely saw that up close. In my opinion, he could have easily voted in the way of his school cohorts or abstained. That would have been easy; but he didn't. I actually commend him on his vote. Remember we are also in an economic situation where everyone is sacrificing. He actually said that in an interview that the city made cuts as well. I see that as being financially responsible overall. I would like to hear Reginald's opinion concerning this.

To end my message, I commend the young man on a great 11 months in office, and I thanked him yesterday at LeMoyne-Owen on his vote concerning residency. He's finding his own way and I actually SEE him in his community working, such as the cleanup and his townhall meetings. We may not have Harold Jr. here, but I see a few of his qualities in this man.

Anonymous said...

With so many new councilmen it's going to take them time to figure out what they need to do.

Anonymous said...

Reginald you work with community groups what is the Memphis Council doing to help?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Milton we talked at the Orange Mound clean-up last month.

So your readers will be aware in the clean-up I saw you, by yourself, remove something like 100 tires from a ditch. You were covered in mud and you never once complained!

When I asked you if you was going to run for office again you said that you wanted to focus on your community work.

Mr. Milton you need to run for office. There's not a lot of good people out here. Everybody's out for themself. God is behind you, trust me.

Reginald Milton said...

To 8:17 a.m.
I call it the way it is. No one has ever called me two-faced. If you're doing a good job I'm going to be the first to say so.

Edmund is out there working very hard for his community and he deserves credit for that.

To 9:52 a.m.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm not sad. I have a wonderful vocation that allows me the opportunity to help others. If my life never change I'll still be the happiest person on Earth.

To 9:51 p.m.
Janis Fullilove is going through some difficult times. Though I'm sorry for her and wish her a full recovery I have to be honest and state she knew she had an addiction and should have sought treatment first then looked at public office.

To 10:58 a.m.
"Who needs to be book smart???" I could not disagree with you more. A solid education, especially in these changing times, is critical. We must find more effective ways to engage our youth. Not just for their sakes but for ours as well.

To 12:48 p.m.
Thanks. In office or not I'll always be a supporter of my City.

To 4:38 p.m.
I'll be calling on you if I ever run for mayor. Ha ha.

To 4:14 p.m.
You said "Our teachers are useless." You could not be more wrong. These men and women give so much of themselves with little praise. The problem is that we expect them to do everything from teaching to substitute parent. This is not right.

To 6:29 a.m.
Your comments are appreciated.

To 1:52 p.m.
One of the things I hope to get across to our City Council is the need to secure funding for community activities. There are a lot of neighborhood groups out there fighting the good fight alone. They need resources and I feel the city should help provide some assistance.

To 3:41 p.m.
I'm still sore from the Orange Mound Clean-up. Thank you, but there were others helping to move those tires. As a Commissioner for City Beautiful and a citizen of Memphis it breaks my heart to see how some people show so little respect for their community that they don't mind turning it into a junk yard. I might can't clean up the whole city but by God I'm going to try!