Michael Whaley will be next chairman of Shelby County Commission. Avant named vice chair

Michael Whaley will be the next chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners with a bi-partisan vote Monday night. The vice-chair of the Shelby County Commission will be Shante K Avant.

Avant was absent from the meeting.

The vote was accomplished without the turmoil that was present during last year's election .

Whaley received votes from all nine Democrats and Commissioners Mick Wright and Bradon Morrison from the Republican side of the aisle. The vote took three rounds in order to get a candidate past the needed seven votes.

Commissioner David C. Bradford was nominated from the Republican side for both chairman and vice chair but did not get the needed seven votes.

Commissioners Britney Thornton, Erika Sugarmon and Edmund Ford Jr. all passed on both the chairman and vice chair votes for the first two rounds of voting.

Last year, the trio stymied the vote for current Chairwoman Miska Clay Bibbs due to the contentious budget talks that ended with many of their incentives cut from the budget.

Both Whaley and Bradford spoke about cutting down meeting times when given the opportunity to speak before the vote for chair.

Commission meetings, committee meetings and regular meetings are infamously long, sometimes lasting over 12 hours with only a few commissioners present by the end.

Both Whaley and Avant will take their respective leadership roles starting Sept. 1.

The salary of the chairman was also passed. Whaley will receive a salary of $36,900 for the year he serves which is $2,000 more than the other commissioners on the board.

Millington lease renewed

The Shelby County Clerk's office in Millington now has officially established a lease for the Millington location. The resolution that established the lease passed on the consent agenda Monday.

During last week's committee meetings, Land Bank Administrator Esther Sykes-Wood told the Commission that Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert did not support the lease.

Sykes-Wood said that in 2022 Millington drafted a lease and approved it in 2023 but it was not executed during committee meetings.

Millington has been trying to get a lease for the space since 2023.

The lease will go month to month for three months starting after December 2024.

The clerk's office has had previous issues with leases. In November, the Poplar Plaza location closed due to unpaid rent and not having a lease established. The closure of the office kickstarted the ouster investigation of Halbert, according to Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Michael Whaley will be next chairman of Shelby County Commission. Avant named vice chair