Tag: FedEx

Last week, two local officials found themselves trying to explain statements -- or omissions -- made in their recent past. When FedEx Logistics announced that it was relocating its headquarters to downtown Memphis, city council member Berlin Boyd was given credit for helping to seal the deal, which involves millions of dollars in tax incentives. What Boyd didn't disclose until recently was that he is an employee of FedEx Logistics and also tied to the ownership of the former Gibson Guitar Factory where FedEx is moving. Boyd claims he has done nothing wrong, though he could face up a $10,000 penalty for failing to list this particular conflict of interest. On the other side of the Shelby County, a Commercial Appeal investigation found that Collierville's assistant town attorney Mike Cross was quoted in a legal matter that dates to the removal of the statue of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in 2017. On social media, Cross had called the white supremacists who converged on Charlottesville "good God-fearing patriots." The discovery of these posts prompted District Attorney Amy Weirich to strip his authority as a prosecutor. Cross preempted further controversy by resigning due to "health reasons." On this week's Tennessee Politics conversation, political analyst Otis Sanford examines these recent events and elaborates on how changing attitudes toward Confederate monuments may mean having to explain those social media comments made years ago.