W. W. Herenton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Willie W. Herenton is the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Herenton is a graduate of the historic Lemoyne-Owen College in south Memphis, and the University of Memphis. His doctorate was earned at Southern Illinois University. He is also a recipient of two honorary doctorates from both Rhodes College, and Christian Brothers University, both of Memphis. He has four children, the youngest of which was born in late 2004.

Herenton is in his fourth four-year term, to which he was re-elected in 2003. He is the first African American to serve as mayor of Memphis.He won his first term by defeating incumbent mayor Dick Hackett. Prior to serving as mayor, Herenton was the director of Memphis City Schools for twelve years; his doctorate is an earned one in the field of education. In his State of the City address on January 1, 2006, he announced his intention to run for a fifth term in 2007.

[edit] Criticisms of Herenton

• Failure of fiscal management of the City of Memphis [1]
• Failure to communicate effectively with the City Council [2]
• Multiple allegations of improprieties regarding Memphis Light Gas and Water [3]
• Target and catalyst for the City Charter rewrite [4]
• Target of a citizen recall effort [5]
• Doing little in response to the significant rise in crime under his leadership[6]