Word around camp a.k.a. Shelby County is that tonight's Shelby County Mayoral Forum with the 7 Democratic qualifiers will be live streamed. If in fact it is live streamed, then I will live skeet it here.

JS- "on may 5, 2026 the power is yours." "I been doing something but with your help I can do more." #SCMayor2026

JS-thanking everyone for being patient and listening to the process. "people are hurting right now. people are afraid." "we have an opportunity to get it right." "we can continue down the same road of perpetuating the status quo....or you can vote for me a disruptor of the status quo." #SCMayor2026

ML- "who we will elect for this job matters." "you're hiring someone who's going to be responsible for a 1.6 billion dollar budget." will meet quarterly with municipal mayors. "pre-k for all of our students in Shelby County." advocating for mental health resources #SCMayor2026

HK- "hope for a safer Shelby County." "I want us to be a healthier and hopeful Shelby County." "hope is an action. hope is a promise. that is what you will get from me as Mayor." "have hope with Heidi." #SCMayor2026

HK-" one of these candidates is not like the other but it's not what you're thinking." "I have 25 years of working in Shelby County government.""I am about public service, solutions, and second chances." "Shelby County has a past." "but I believe we have a bright future." #SCMayor2026

HC- "imagine a regional one health center built on union ave." "imagine cutting the ribbon in Fraser with the new school" "imagine a new school in Cordova" "come join us because we provide a better and brighter" #SCMayor2026

MB- "I love this county and I love the people and the families in the county." "I come from the inner city" "everybody deserves a perfect way of life." "let's bring jobs but let's bring good paying jobs." "Shelby County you deserve better than what you're getting." #SCMayor2026

we are now at closing remarks #SCMayor2026

ML- "if you hire me for this job, I know I'm prepared to do the work." #SCMayor2026

ML- "I love our community and sure we have our challenges but we're not in a downward spiral." "we will thrive here but we need the right person at the helm. who we hire matters. we need the right person for the job." "I'm the only person that has sat on that body (county commission)." #SCMayor2026

HK- "imagine a Shelby County that works for everyone." "I'm so tired of being on the list for everything negative in Shelby County." #SCMayor2026

HC- referencing healthcare, education, and crime. believes Shelby County is currently hitting all 3. "safety, that's a work in progress." "the county mayor has a responsibility to work with the sheriff.""sometimes relationships get tedious." #SCMayor2026

MB- would push back on the downward spiral. "we gotta pivot" "we gotta go and talk to our Governor." "we have to fight for our county." "we have to have some good lobbyists." "and our mayor needs to have a relationship with our Governor whoever our new Governor might be." #SCMayor2026

JS-"the reality is our community is in a downward spiral." going to make sure people in Shelby County are healthy, connected, employed and safe. going to make sure county government is run efficiently. #SCMayor2026

final question- some say that Shelby County is in a downward spiral, what do you say to those people and how would you go about reversing the perception? #SCMayor2026

HK- "we only get $41 dollars a day/per inmate." #SCMayor2026

HK-"The Mayor needs to be active and participate with legislation and that is what I have done with my career for Shelby County." "have actively lobbied for automatic expungements for Shelby County citizens." "we may be in the corner but that doesn't mean we are bed." #SCMayor2026

HC- "County Mayor's role is a regional role." needs to understand how to talk business and economic development #SCMayor2026

MB- "you gotta be at the table regardless of how you get there." #SCMayor2026

MB- referencing being Assessor of the year in part due to being the best across all 95 counties. "you're going to have a hard time Shelby County dealing with the sales ratio." "you gotta be at the table to determine what kinda pie you gon eat." #SCMayor2026

JS- believes we have to get all the county mayors and municipal mayors together with one vision. has a hard time cowering to the state who doesn't want the best for our County. #SCMayor2026

ML- "who you hire for this job matters?" "we gotta compete regionally." "we need to go up there with a collective punch." referencing other major projects while Shelby County just wants to fund Regional One #SCMayor2026

next question- given the current make up of TN state government, what is the mayor's role in interacting with state government to make sure we get our fair share? #SCMayor2026

HC-no taxes in 8 years, 4% raises for all employees, funding for regional one, built new schools, built first transitional house for ex-offenders. "when I'm your county mayor, we'll continue that." #SCMayor2026

MB- thought the building of the schools was good. didn't care for the lack of transparency during the budget process. "we gotta know what everybody's doing." #SCMayor2026

JS- believes ban the box initiative was done well. believes Harris dropped the ball on "a budget that makes sense." #SCMayor2026

ML-"one thing he's done well is the schools." would invest in education differently, including pre-K #SCMayor2026

HK-would handle budget process differently. believes the 2 new school being built are his greatest legacies #SCMayor2026

next question-approaching the end of 8 years of the Harris administration. name 1 thing to applaud and 1 thing to do differently #SCMayor2026

MB- will equip the health department with the proper resources to make sure the way is where it was supposed to be. referencing Electrolux and that they paid their fair share. "we gotta make better financial decisions." "accountability. let's hold 'em accountable." #SCMayor2026

JS-says the biggest problem is that xAI came in and did not engage the public "under my administration we will push back" #SCMayor2026 **as a note, JB Smiley, Jr. was recently photographed at a groundbreaking for a project commissioned by xAI

ML- "we wanna make sure we're attracting business to be here but we gotta do it safely." "we should arm our health board with legislation to make recommendations" "I believe we need to give our health department a little more teeth." #SCMayor2026

HK- referencing that we can't just allow any and everyone to pop up in our communities and set up shop, especially those that may harm us #SCMayor2026

HC-"first of all we wanna thank them for bringing xAI to Memphis." "there is no real standard set for emissions." now referencing Westwood and xAI and referencing the limited number of turbines #SCMayor2026

question-referencing xAI, do you feel health department and current restrictions in place are adequate for protecting citizens? #SCMayor2026

lightning round question-do you support a recall provision for local elected officials? all said yes #SCMayor2026 ML JS MB HC HK

HC- referencing county commission resolution from years ago to fund MATA. "We want real people to do the real hard work and that's hard work." #SCMayor2026

MB- "you wanna fund MATA with public and private partnerships." need to have input on the MATA board, "gotta work with the state and the federal level." #SCMayor2026

JS- "a couple of months ago I had an opportunity to ride MATA" city of memphis is not enough to invest in MATA. will fund MATA and fund a regional transportation system, if elected. #SCMayor2026

JS- "must have dedicated teachers in the classroom." administration will push to increase teacher pay "we have to make sure we provide some stability in education." "we spend so much time not focusing on the right stuff." #SCMayor2026

ML-"I'm the only person running that has children in our school system currently." referencing education funding passed during time on the County Commission "first item of business once elected is investing in children." #SCMayor2026

HK- "would support extending the pre-K for 3 year olds." "we have a problem with the illiteracy rate with adults." "we have to make sure we are educating families and helping them." #SCMayor2026

HC- "27% of students are reading below grade level because they are facing challenges we don't see." "25% of your population doesn't have a high school diploma." "we need to wrap our arms around our families." #SCMayor2026

MB- "would get in collaboration with the school board and superintendent." "more parent engagement has to be done." "whatever we can do to try and get good teachers in these classrooms." "what are we doing to help the parents understand what the work is." #SCMayor2026

next question- memphis and Shelby County school district serves over 100,000 students. success rate is low and what are your steps to improve the numbers. #SCMayor2026

next question-favorite bbq spot? #SCMayor2026 MB-cozy corner HC-interstate HK-i'm a vegetarian. ML-cozy corner JS-cozy corner

next question-if we build a new jail where should it go? JS-off of Kirby MB-wherever constituents say HC-201 poplar HK-corrections center ML-penal farm #SCMayor2026

HK- "families are so incredibly important to me. I think we need to invest in families." "how are they able to get their food with lack of transportation." "we've expunged almost 3,500 women." "we need to make sure our communities are full not just their jobs but their bellies as well." #SCMayor2026

HC- "Food insecurity is not a problem just overnight happens." #SCMayor2026