The Coalition for a Better Memphis, an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, wasted no time in submitting serious questions to city council and mayoral candidates. A questionnaire with more than a dozen questions was mailed to each of the candidates.

Memphis TN, July 18th, 2006

The Coalition for a Better Memphis (CBM) today issued the 2006 Shelby County Voter Guide. The voter guide provides evaluations of some of the candidates in the August 3rd election including Shelby County Mayor, Shelby County Sheriff, Shelby County School Board, Shelby County Commission, Memphis City Council and the Memphis Charter Commission.

Memphis TN, June 22, 2006

The Coalition for a Better Memphis, a non-profit, non-partisan voter advocacy group, today announced it has welcomed Roby S. Williams and Bobbi Gillis as executive committee co-chairs for the August 2006 Shelby County election campaign. Roby S. Williams is president of Black Business Association and Bobbi Gillis is executive vice president of FaxonGillis Homes.

The newly elected executive committee will be responsible for the upcoming August 2006 election which is one of the largest ballots in Shelby County history.

Election results for the May 2nd election are available on the Shelby County Election Commission Website - www.shelbyvote.com.

The Commercial Appeal, March 3, 2006
Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.

As a newcomer to the local political scene, the Coalition for a Better Memphis doesn't have much of a track record yet.

But based on the group's early work, it seems like an organization that could provide a valuable public service for this community.

The coalition was founded several weeks ago with the stated goal of giving citizens more information about local office seekers.

Coalition members plan to screen and rate political candidates, then distribute the information they collect in published voters' guides and other media outlets.

Early in 2005, the Memphis Regional Chamber became aware of a successful project called The Committee for a Better Atlanta that had been operating since 1996 and has been credited with helping to elect highly qualified public officials in Atlanta, GA.

A group of Memphis community leaders became aware of the project and felt that a similar effort might assist Memphis voters. After reviewing the Memphis Chamber’s initial research, the group went to Atlanta and met with the Atlanta Committee. Two of the members of the Memphis group – Calvin Anderson of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee and Dean Deyo of the Leadership Academy – have taken on the role of co-conveners of a planning task group which has helped to develop The Coalition for a Better Memphis (CBM).