On the seventh floor of City Hall, the seat of power for Memphis government, Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery has less than seven weeks left to govern.
As the Oct. 15 special election looms, Lowery is convinced that he is well-positioned to replace Willie W. Herenton, the city’s first elected African-American mayor.
The last time an interim mayor held this type of advantage, Lowery was about 35 years old. Now that he is the mayor pro tem, Lowery is trying to avoid a different kind of fate than Bishop J.O. Patterson Jr., who lost the 1982 special election to Richard “Dick” Hackett.
Patterson lost a runoff election that a federal judge later ruled unconstitutional.
“I’m uniquely qualified to sit in this chair,” said Lowery, who will go up against 28 candidates in the special election. “In fact, I’m the most qualified of any of the candidates. Even the county mayor (A C Wharton Jr.) is new to politics as it relates to my years of experience – 18 verses seven.
“I have got three college degrees; so I’m qualified. I’ve been elected six times. Show me somebody in this community who’s been elected six times – five times consecutively to the City Council and one time to the charter commission?”
Lowery’s path to the mayor’s office began at the Council, when he won election in 1991.
“This is my time to run,” said Lowery. “When I first ran, I lost in 1983. That didn’t discourage me. I ran again in 1987. I lost again. I ran again in 1991 and never looked back. I had 119,000 votes in 1991. I defeated a 20-year incumbent, (A.D.) Alissandratos.”
During his first day as mayor, Lowery drew fire from critics for trying to fire City Attorney Elbert Jefferson and, earlier, for his selection of Jack Sammons as his chief administrative officer.
Lowery again called for Jefferson’s firing after recent disclosures that Jefferson signed and expedited taxpayer funds for Herenton’s potential criminal defense.
As for Sammons, Lowery said he brought experience to the job, and that is critical in times of transition. “My CAO has more experience in city government than many employees in city government. I selected the best person for the job who knows where things are in the various divisions.”
Lowery’s chief critic is blogger and talk show host Thaddeus Matthews, who is highly critical of the new mayor on his talk show. Lowery said he finds it unconscionable when Matthews uses the N-word.
Several noted mayoral hopefuls have appeared on Matthews’ talk show in recent weeks, including Wharton. “He (Wharton) sat there and allowed this man to use that word (N-word) about me,” Lowery said. “Now personally he didn’t hurt me. But he hurts our community.”
Lowery said a mayor should unite, not divide, citizens. He vowed never to appear on talk shows that use the N-word. “Using the N-word is only a step away from taking a gun and shooting somebody,” he said.
‘They know they can trust me...’Lowery’s childhood was quite different from the life he now leads.
He grew up in Poindexter Village in Columbus, Ohio. His parents were divorced, which forced his mother to clean houses and raise four sons on welfare.
“So my story is the rise of a mother on welfare, who pawned the television set to pay light, gas and water to help make sure that her kids could have utilities ... who worked extremely hard, who didn’t manage her money well,” Lowery said.
Lowery headed to Memphis in 1964 to attend LeMoyne-Owen College.
“I came in on a Greyhound Bus and a pork chop sandwich. My grandmother packed two pork chop sandwiches because I love pork chops. And I never looked back,” he said.
Lowery credits his grandmother for teaching him valuable life-lessons. “She instilled values in me that I carry with me today,” he said. “The values of hard work, the importance of education, and learning how to read, write and to speak well.”
Bishop Patterson, he said, has been his political role model. “If everyone lived his/her lives like Bishop Patterson lives his, we would have a much better city,” said Lowery, who was a student at LeMoyne-Owen during Patterson’s tenure on the City Council.
Lowery pursued politics himself after working 12 years at WMC-TV Channel 5 as a broadcast journalist. He left the station in 1983 after filing a highly publicized racial discrimination lawsuit, which he won.
“I covered the City Council and I didn’t like what I saw,” said Lowery. “I didn’t like the fact that the City Council is not allocating dollars on an equal basis to everyone in this community. I didn’t like the arguing and the bickering; I thought I could do a better job.”
He moved into politics by serving as former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr.’s press secretary. There, he said he learned the “inner workings” of local and national governments and Ford’s propensity for community service.
Since July 31, when Lowery was sworn in as mayor pro tem, he has worked 12-to 15-hour days. He keeps a record of every thing he has done from speaking engagements to visitations to signing off on various contracts.
Lowery’s salary as mayor is $171,500, a substantial increase over his $30,100 a year salary on the Council. He said is donating $1,000 of his mayor’s salary per pay period to The LeMoyne-Owen College.
On Saturday, he opened his campaign headquarters at 3254 Elvis Presley Blvd. “I’m talking to citizens every day about what I’m doing,” said Lowery, “from visiting fire stations to visiting city employees ... during everything from holding news conferences about our summer youth program.”
He said citizens know what he’s doing to move Memphis forward. “And they know they can trust me based on what I’ve done in the past. Myron Lowery, as mayor, is already doing what others are promising to do.”
The right place at the right timeOn Sept. 3, Lowery met with the employees at City Hall in the Hall of Mayors and encouraged them to ask questions about government.
“Conversations with the Mayor” served as a bully pulpit for employees to voice their concerns about personnel matters, consolidation, and the media, he said.
Like a ship’s captain, Lowery steered the conversation during lunch hour, but yielded to department heads to answer specific questions. Human Resources director Lorene Essex assisted Lowery with personnel questions.
A female employee asked about the difference in pay between secretaries and administrative assistants. A male employee asked about the city’s drop plan, which gives employees an opportunity to retire and still hold on to their jobs and pension.
A man wanted an update on the suggestion that county trustee collect city taxes The late trustee Bob Patterson made an offer to the former mayor to collect the city’s taxes.
Lowery assured the man, “Your jobs will be protected. No city employees will be laid off. Do not worry about your job.”
When the question of consolidation arose, Lowery said consolidation is the best thing for Memphis and Shelby County. “I wish we had called for consolidation 20 years ago,” he said.
Donna Davis, the mayor’s spokesperson, answered the question about media inquiries. “We have a shift in culture and the media is shocked about it. They’re getting answers to their questions,” she said.
Lowery said there are issues he’d like to tackle if voters elect him in October. “I would like to open up a new climate in the city that would encourage people to come back to the city,” he said. “(And) I would like to create a safer atmosphere in terms of public safety.”
He said the recidivism rate is too high and that criminals should pay a stiff price for committing crimes. Nevertheless, he said, “We’re reducing crime, but we haven’t done enough.”
The mayor also said the city isn’t doing enough to award African Americans and minorities contracts. “I don’t have the figures for this area and I need to check on that,” he said.
Memphis is a wonderful city that should be promoted properly, said Lowery. “I’d like to start by promoting us to Memphians. Too many Memphians are down on our city. Too many play the race card.”
Though his goal is to create a climate of openness and transparency, the mayor pro tem said he wants to do more tomorrow that he did yesterday.
He said the mayor’s job is to serve its citizens. “This is a dream job. Many people would like to sit where I’m sitting.”
About Myron LoweryAfter graduating from LeMoyne-Owen College, Myron Lowery taught part time and earned a masters in education at New York University. While studying at NYU, the former president of LeMoyne-Owen, Dr. Hollis Price, tipped Lowery about an opening at Channel 5 for a full-time reporter.
“That sounds interesting,” he told Dr. Price. There, he built connections and relationships in the community. He also worked at FedEx in corporate communications for 17 years.
Lowery and his wife, Mary, have been married for 23 years. They are the parents of three children.
As mayor pro tem, Lowery said, “I happen to be in the right place at the right time.”
