Jim Strickland (politician)
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James Steven Strickland Jr. (born October 22, 1963) is an American attorney and politician who is the 64th and current mayor of
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, serving since 2016. A
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
, he previously served as a member of the
Memphis City Council The Memphis City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Memphis, Tennessee. It is made up of 13 members: 7 single-district members and 6 "super district" members. Council members are elected to four-year terms with a two-te ...
. Strickland is also an
adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.


Early life, education, and early career

Strickland was born in
Mishawaka, Indiana Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South ...
before moving to Memphis, Tennessee. There, he graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1982 and received a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
and
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...
in 1989. In 1998, Strickland opened a law firm with one of his classmates at the University of Memphis,
David Kustoff David Frank Kustoff (; born October 8, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States representative from . The district includes the bulk of West Tennessee, but most of its population is in the eastern part of the Mem ...
, who now represents much of Memphis' eastern portion in Congress. Strickland's professional experience also includes working in the law firm of ''Glankler Brown, PLLC'' from 1990 to 1998, clerking for Justice William H. D. Fones of the
Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial tribunal of the state of Tennessee. Roger A. Page is the Chief Justice. Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state le ...
, and working as an adjunct law professor at the
University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...
.


Memphis City Council

After being first elected to the City Council in October 2007, Strickland was re-elected in October 2011. In 2013, he was elected to serve as Vice Chairman and was the Chairman of the Council for 2014.


Mayor of Memphis


2015 election

On January 15, 2015, Jim Strickland announced his plan to run for mayor. Throughout his campaign, Strickland focused on crime, poverty, and blight throughout Memphis. Strickland was
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
mayor on October 8, 2015, with 42% of the city's vote, beating incumbent Mayor
A C Wharton A C Wharton Jr. (born August 17, 1944) is an American educator, politician, and attorney who served as the 63rd mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and previously mayor of Shelby County. He is the first African American to serve as Mayor of Shelby Count ...
who received 22% of the vote. The election was an uncommon victory over an incumbent, with the last case being in 1991. Strickland's win marked the first time since 1972 that a council member took the office of mayor. Strickland was Memphis' first white mayor in 24 years. In Otis Sanford's book ''Boss Crump to King Willie: How Race Changed Memphis Politics,'' he notes that "Strickland also made history by receiving more of a percentage of the black vote than any winning white candidate since William B. Ingram in 1963."


Tenure

Mayor Strickland entered office with several preceding problems: the threat of forced de-annexation for the Tennessee General Assembly, millions in unknown financial obligations, and the looming risk of losing the city's fourth-largest public company, ServiceMaster. Strickland overcame early challenges by effectively dodging the threat of de-annexation which would have potentially lost 111,000 residents and somewhere between $27 million and $80 million in tax revenue for the city of Memphis. He passed the first city budget in a unanimous and "unheard-of seven-minute" vote. The second budget passed by Strickland included a $5.9 million increase for the Memphis Police Department for recruitment and an additional $6 million for officer overtime. Strickland also budgeted for the expansion of public libraries which included the reopening of 10 branches. Another $2 million was dedicated to street paving, bringing the overall total to $18.5 million, almost double that spent on streets in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Mayor Strickland was also able to retain ServiceMaster by relocating the company to
Downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis. It ...
, which marked a major victory for the city, saving 1,200 jobs and $100 million in payroll. Mary Kay Wegner who was in charge of the company's search for a new headquarters called Strickland "one of the chief influencers" on their decision to stay in Memphis. Strickland placed a focus on contracts going to minority and female contractors. The percentage as of April 2017 is 21.1%. The change is a 68% increase from January 2016 when Strickland entered office. These efforts made up part of a larger plan to reduce contract disparity and approach city government in terms of data. The city of Memphis began to collect data and set monthly goals in order to target other specific issues, such as successfully reducing 911 response times, which were reduced from over a minute wait time in 2015 to 14 seconds in 2016. Due to the expansion of companies such as ServiceMaster and non-profits such as St. Jude Children's Hospital, there is an estimated $7 billion in current and future developments for the city of Memphis. In response to the
death of Tyre Nichols On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, was fatally injured by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, dying three days later. The officers, all members of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) SCORPION unit, pulled Nichols fr ...
, Strickland said in statement that he was "sad and angry" for the family of Nichols and for the
Memphis Police Department The Memphis Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Organization The Memphis Police Department (MPD) provides police services to the people of the city of Memphis in a 304 square-mile are ...
. He also indicated that the SCORPION unit, which the five officers who were charged with murder in Nichols' death had been members of, had been inactive since an internal investigation was started following Nichols' death. Strickland had previously praised the SCORPION unit for its multiple arrests and asset seizures in an address to the city in January 2022.


2019 election

In January 2019, Strickland announced his intention to run for a second term. He was challenged by former mayor W.W. Herenton and Shelby County Commissioner
Tami Sawyer Tami Sawyer (born April 27, 1982) is an American politician and civil rights activist. She was elected in August 2018 as Shelby County Commissioner for District 7 and resides in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She se ...
. Strickland won re-election to a second term, garnering 62% of the votes cast for Mayor in one of the lowest turnout elections since the current Mayor/Council form of government was approved in 1966.


Personal life

Strickland and his wife, Melyne, have two children. His brother, Brian Strickland, is a television writer and producer for
The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
.https://www.tvguide.com/news/heres-a-deep-look-at-how-the-masked-singer-creates-those-coveted-clues/


See also

*
List of mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of mayors of Memphis, Tennessee This is a list of mayors of Memphis, Tennessee. See also * Timeline of Memphis, Tennessee References External linksMemphis Mayor's Office - MemphisTN.gov {{Memphis, Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of ...


References


External links


Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strickland, Jim 1963 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Mayors of Memphis, Tennessee University of Memphis alumni Tennessee Democrats