Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. makes his case before supporters at the opening of his campaign headquarters last Saturday in the Eastgate Shopping Center. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

An installment of the Tri-State Defender series crafted to paint a more complete picture of the candidates for Mayor of Memphis.

Mayoral election - 2009: Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum Jr. Mayoral election - 2009: Charles Carpenter

Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr.’s rousing reception last Saturday at the grand opening of his campaign headquarters in the Eastgate Shopping Center underscores his big advantage in the special election for Memphis mayor: He knows voters, and they know him.

“I wish you would catch the fever – and it’s the A C fever,” urged attorney Ruby Wharton, who pleaded with her husband’s supporters to talk up his candidacy for Memphis city mayor.

“I want all of you to get the fever and leave here and spread it in the home, spread it on the job, and then spread it in the community. Let’s spread the fever – the A C fever,” she said in a raised voice underneath a tent in the parking lot.

In her introduction of Wharton, Tomeka Hart, Memphis Board of Education commissioner and president/CEO of the Memphis Urban League, said she was honored to call Wharton her mayor.

Linda Hobson (right) chats briefly with Wharton while Georgia Nelson Robinson and Stevie Moore look on.

“We need a mayor who is an agent of change,” said Hart, one of Wharton’s six co-chairs, including businessman Darrell Cobbins, minister Ray Peterson Sr., businesswoman Lois Stockton, City Councilman Jim Strickland, and Jose Velazquez, former executive director of Latino Memphis and deputy director of National Council of La Raza’s affiliate services.

Wharton stood on a small platform in the center of the tent to preach the gospel of what’s right with Memphis. “If you came out here and you were expecting me to tell you all that’s wrong with our great city, you are in the wrong place. If you came out here to listen to me say what we must do, what we will do, what we can do, you are in the right place.”

The crowd roared, clapped and waved their campaign signs as the man of the hour delivered sermonic messages of inspiration and praise.

More than 30 people have either pulled a petition or filed one for the Oct. 15 special election, which is the first step in the qualifying process.  Wharton filed his petition on Monday (Aug. 24) at the Shelby County Election Commission.

Several political leaders made cameo appearances including Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone, former Shelby County mayor William “Bill” Morris, and Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes.

Wharton has been able to connect people and communities, according to community activist Stevie Moore. He recalled a meeting in 2002 when several prominent ministers first supported Wharton’s candidacy for Shelby County mayor.

“I remember when he first ran for Shelby County mayor against (banker) Harold Byrd,” he said. “We met at Willie Moore’s – my brother’s restaurant – and 40 ministers were contemplating on voting for Wharton or Byrd. A C was chosen. And I’ve been with A C since.”

Georgia Nelson Robinson, an avid supporter who said she doesn’t mind spreading the fever in her Frayser community, says Wharton has the skill set the city really needs right now.

“He’s a people person,” she said. “We’re glad he accepted the challenge. We need somebody for the people.”

Hickory Hill resident Linda Hobson said Wharton is a regional thinker who is concerned about the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County. Both Robinson and Hobson, however, are concerned about the number of candidates in the race.

“It’s a little outrageous. Some of them need to get out. They’re not qualified,” said Robinson.

On Saturday (Aug. 29), from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Lillian Brown is hosting a fundraiser for Wharton at Joysmith Gallery, 46 Huling St., to coincide with more than 100 other Wharton fundraisers in the city.

Meanwhile, Adele Fish, 11, with her “A C Wharton for Mayor” sign flashing, was on hand to get a lesson in politics.  “I’m here with my mother, Kathy Fish,” she explained.

The Wharton ideology

Wharton, in his role as county mayor and campaigner, has been a bridge builder across racial fault lines and geographic boundaries. His critics charge that he plays it safe and is reluctant to take risks.

Adele Fish, 11, hoist her “A C Wharton Memphis Mayor” campaign high during the rousing rally.

Wharton is not diverting any energy toward responding to his critics.

“Deep inside, what really makes me tick is that I’m an eternal optimist,” he said in an interview last week at the county mayor’s office. “Once we put aside the racial, the religious, the geographic, the political partisanship, they (citizens) want very basic things.

“My driving force is not how many miles of road I can build or how many buildings... or how many stories I can construct, but how many people can I build.”

Wharton’s own story began in Lebanon, Tenn., where his parents instilled in him and his four siblings a sense of duty and service. His father, a sharecropper and “entrepreneur on a small scale,” operated a store called “Wharton and Sons Grocery.”

“It was one of the oldest businesses in Wilson County,” said Wharton. “The original store is just a wooden shack, but it has been preserved and is now on the fairgrounds there in Fiddler’s Grove (Historical Village).”

Wharton said his father extended his customers’ line of credit. “Seldom did they pay. We didn’t sue them. We didn’t bar them,” he said. “People would come in on pay day; they would have $25 dollars on the books already and pay $5 dollars on it, and then get $25 dollars more in grocery.”

Wharton’s mother still lives in Lebanon, about 250 miles from Memphis. She is 93 and still tends a garden, said Wharton, who traces his philosophy stem from “my strong family upbringing.”

“My daddy and my mother believed that every person has the responsibility of taking care of his or her self and their families. They also felt that after each individual has done all he or she can, or could, that our society or government has a responsibility to step in and help.”

This precise ideology “keeps me ticking,” said Wharton, adding that the concept is the hallmark of the Democratic Party and helped to shape his own political thinking.

Wharton’s commitment to building capacity within people prompted a run for the office of Shelby County mayor, he said. It also is a motivating factor in his bid for Memphis mayor as well.

Some of the issues he has addressed as county mayor will remain the same, said Wharton, such as crime reduction and prevention, economic development, school funding, tourism and jobs.

Crime abatement. “As a former defense lawyer, I represented thousands. So the best way to fight crime is to make sure our families don’t fall apart. Gangs, crack, guns, and kids are the most volatile elements you’ll find anywhere; and they’re all converging here.”

Wharton said he birthed Operation Safe Community (a joint initiative by law enforcement, government and business leadership) while sitting at a table in the county mayor’s office one Sunday afternoon.

Economic development. “I worked with the PILOT (Payment-in-Lieu-of-Tax) program (offered for redevelopment projects within the Memphis Central Business.) I made changes in it and in two short months we brought in over 500 jobs. We need to come up with creative efforts in terms of helping with the infrastructure, with loans, without giving away or abating the taxes. I have traveled and will continue to travel the world for industrial and business prospects. I will be the No. 1 sales person.”

African-American businesses have gotten the short end of contracts, said Wharton. “It was 1 percent when I took office; now it’s around 8 percent. (African Americans are 52 percent of the county, according to   U.S. Census figures for 2008.) Anything over $100,000 I have to go down (to the County Commission) and get seven votes.”

School funding. “I supported the county taking over funding of the Memphis school system. One of the happiest moments of my life was yesterday when I signed 10 or 15 scholarship award letters.”

Tourism. “How many people have a world-class river? How many people have 2,000 acres at Shelby Farms and an airport second to none in terms of access?”

Wharton said the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau’s marketing budget needs doubling. “If we do a better job in telling our story … If we just exhibit the soul … we could pack this city every weekend. We can’t build everything.”

Jobs. “The key is to rebuild the middle class. We have got to undertake a massive effort in getting the jobs in here. I know how to do that.”

At a glance

In 2002, A C Wharton Jr. was the first African-American elected mayor of Shelby County. He won re-election in 2006 with approximately 77 percent of the vote.

Wharton and his wife, Ruby, who manages The Wharton Law Firm, raised six sons. One of them, attorney André C. Wharton, joined the family practice in 2004.

The mayoral hopeful received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tennessee State University in 1966 and earned a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1971.

Before being elected county mayor, Wharton served as Chief Public Defender of Shelby County, an investigator for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in Washington, D.C., and an attorney for the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights under law.    

The Whartons have established several scholarship funds for education.