News
The Votes Were Cast, How Did We Do?
Coalition for a Better Memphis asks serious questions of candidates running for public office
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.
CBM Releases Voter Guide for August 3rd, 2006 Shelby County Elections
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.
Coalition for a Better Memphis Elects New Executive Committee
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.
A Welcome Addition
The Memphis Flyer -- APRIL 26, 2006
This being an election season, the same old power brokers are out in force.
As always, there is this or that slate of candidates sponsored by this or that self-interested individual or political organization preoccupied more with their own power or prerogatives than with the greater social good.
Well, help is on the way. A new group, the Coalition for a Better Memphis, came into being last year under the organizational aegis of Calvin Anderson of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee and Dean Deyo of the Leadership Academy.
Comprising an impressive variety of local civic organizations, the coalition undertook through a series of questionnaires and interviews to rate candidates in the following categories: Vision; Qualifications and Experience; Ability to Implement Initiatives; Integrity and Ethics in Government; the County Debt; and Education Finance.
Ratings Aim to Educate Voters
The Commercial Appeal, April 19,2006
Copyright2006,commercialappeal.com -- Memphis,TN. All Rights Reserved.
During election season, political endorsements are handed out time and again.
But a group of more than 50 local businesses and organizations has taken that process a step further, creating a grading system for candidates running for Shelby County Commission.
The Coalition for a Better Memphis, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group founded this year, released its first results Tuesday in an effort to better educate local voters.
"We think that long-term, this will encourage good people to run for office," said Dean Deyo, former president of Time Warner Cable. Deyo is one of the coalition's organizers, along with Calvin Anderson, a vice president of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
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.
Building Better Memphis Voters
The Commercial Appeal January 9, 2006
Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
IT STANDS TO REASON that local voters could make better choices at the polls if they know more about the people who are running for political offices.
On that premise alone, a group of community leaders deserve kudos for trying to devise a candidate rating system.
The group is hoping to convince dozens of organizations to join the Coalition for a Better Memphis.
The coalition wouldn't recruit or endorse candidates, but would interview and score them based on an established set of criteria. Dean Deyo, one of the coalition's organizers, said the goal is to create a "non-partisan and non-political" method for evaluating political hopefuls.
Group to set up grading system for local candidates -- Coalition meets today to begin planning
The Commercial Appeal, January 5,2006
Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com- Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
In an effort to better educate Memphis voters and perhaps encourage more qualified folks to run for office, a group is meeting today to plan a grading system for candidates.
Based on a similar program used in Atlanta for the past eight years, the Coalition for a Better Memphis hopes to give ratings for candidates for local office.
"The more information a voter has about a candidate, the better choice they will make and at the end of the day we will have better public officials," said Dean Deyo, the former president of Time Warner Cable who is organizing the preliminary meeting with Calvin Anderson, a vice president of Blue Cross-Blue Shield.
