Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s first six months in office | What do Memphians think of his progress?

“The last thing I wanted to do was come in, in my first term, and raise taxes,” Young said in April defending his tax hike.

Young had proposed a 75-cent increase earlier in the budget season, but as it got closer to a vote, 55 cents was thought of as a more realistic increase.

On June 25, council members voted 8-5 on the increase of 49 cents.

Young promised the 49-cent property tax increase, a $30 increase in vehicle registration fees and a $12 fee for solid waste would better help his administration address the city’s most pressing issues.

Some people appreciate the approach Young is taking on hard topics. However, they want him to be more innovative when it comes to issues of public safety and equity and be more vocal about the state’s gun laws.

“Candor. I tell people this all the time about Mayor Young. If he says something, that means he truly believes it. I don’t necessarily have to agree with the Young administration on every particular thing,” City Council Chairman J B Smiley said.

“I’m still kind of on the fence in terms of a grade at this point,” Memphis pastor Earle Fisher said. “I think his natural posture is to be a much more moderate mayor, than I would prefer, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no value in what he’s presented up to this point. But I think it’s going to take the collective effort from all of the community stakeholders.”

And with a city that is a majority of renters, according to the county’s assessor’s office, others want the mayor to use his background in housing and urban development to champion more housing equality for poorer Memphians.

“Housing injustice is still huge in Memphis,” Memphian Gilbert Barnes Carter said. “It’s still very unfortunate that so many Memphians that are at or below the poverty line are still struggling to keep roofs over their heads….He has a great opportunity to effectuate change. But is he going to do that or be in cahoots with opportunistic builders and developers, particularly in black and brown communities?”

The next move Memphians are watching for is Mayor Young’s decision concerning Interim Police Chief C.J. Davis. Despite opposition to her controversial reappointment, he has stood by her, and back in May, a spokesperson for the mayor said that Young intends to continue that support.