County Commisioner Tami Sawyer announced her candidacy for Mayor of Memphis on March 7. If elected, she would be the first black woman to be Mayor of Memphis.
Tami Sawyer announced March 7 she will be running for the Mayor of Memphis in the October Mayoral election.
Sawyer said she hopes to prioritize the building of a budget that is equity-based, help fix the way transportation is affecting employment and the way citizens are not able to get places on time and negotiate the cost of utility bills.
Sawyer confirmed her candidacy by tweeting a short statement, “I’m running to be the next mayor of Memphis. We can’t wait for equity and opportunity to be the values that drive our city forward.†She ended her short announcement with a celebratory “Let’s do this Memphis.â€
Sawyer was elected to the Shelby County Commissioners to represent District 7 on Aug. 2, 2018. She said she was raised in Memphis and has plans to make positive and influential changes to the city.
“My vision for Memphis is a city where equity and opportunity for everyone regardless of their identity,†Sawyer said. “A city where we invest in low-income communities — where we invest in education. It’s a city that is thriving and filled with collaboration and innovation and where lines of differences don’t delineate whether or not we have the opportunity to succeed.â€
Sawyer has cited data that states Memphis is the second highest city in the United States overall to have the most poverty among the black children in the community. Sawyer confirmed her determination for change by declaring there is an urgency for change in the community because there is an economic decline and change needs to happen immediately.
Sawyer said she believes one of the major ways of helping poverty is through the investment of education from parents in the community and the improvement of transportation throughout the city.
She said she is concerned for the children in the black community who live below the poverty line.
“We have a small rate of generational wealth in the black community,†Sawyer said. “It is estimated that in the next 12 to 25 years that wealth will be zero dollars for the black community across the entire country.â€
If Sawyer wins this election, she will be the first black woman to become the mayor of Memphis. The Memphis Business Journal named Sawyer one of the “5 Women to Watch†and The Tennessean also named her one of the “18 Tennessean to Watch in 2018.â€
UofM’s SGA Vice President Antonio Scott shared his opinion on how he feels about Sawyer’s announcement on running for mayor.
“I’m overjoyed with enthusiasm to know that someone who has a history of advocacy like Tami Sawyer is running for mayor,†Scott said. “Her dutiful experience in public service coupled with her undying commitment to equity and access for all serves as only the initial reasons as to why I’ll be voting for Tami in October. Tami would champion issues in Memphis like education access and equitable opportunities for minority-owned businesses.â€
The general election will take place Oct. 3.
