Coalition makes a good beginning

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.

The group's first test will be this year's Shelby County Commission primaries, in which 39 candidates have qualified to run for 13 seats.

This week, the coalition began sending out questionnaires to those candidates. Follow-up interviews will be scheduled with the candidates who respond.

Then a committee of coalition members will give candidates numerical scores in several different categories.

These scores will be different from "all or nothing" endorsements in that citizens will be able to read the ratings and decide for themselves which candidate attributes are most important.

For example, a citizen who believes economic development is the county's most important issue might decide to vote for the candidate who scores best in the coalition's ratings in that area, even if the candidate doesn't rate as well in other areas.

Of course, the coalition's ratings will only be as effective as the group's credibility allows them to be. If citizens believe the coalition only speaks for special interests or particular political viewpoints, then the ratings are likely to be less influential. But if the coalition is seen as representing a broad cross-section of the community, then its ratings will have more weight.

The coalition modeled itself after a similar group in Atlanta, which was heavily represented by businesses and business organizations. However, the Memphis group seems, at least on the surface, to have recruited a more diverse membership than its Atlanta counterpart.

Yes, the Memphis Area Association of Realtors and the Memphis Area Home Builders Association are coalition members. But so are the South Memphis Alliance, the Barksdale/Cloverleaf Neighborhood Association and the Wellington/Shadowlawn Historical District.

Assuming the ratings process truly produces a consensus of these groups with very different agendas, then the finished product should be taken seriously.

At the very least, coalition members seem to be asking the right questions. The questionnaires sent out this week quiz candidates about their views on important issues such as what to do about the county's debt, how they would handle potential conflicts of interest and what economic development strategies the county should follow.

We'll know more about the coalition when it publishes its first voters' guide prior to the May 2 primaries.

At this point, though, its preliminary efforts deserve a pretty high rating.

URL: http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/editorials/article/0,2845,MCA_25348_4510068,00.html