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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYou black folk just put up your hands and step away from the town.
Mason Tennessee is a small predominately African American (60%) city that's about to benefit from a huge Ford battery plant that will be built nearby. That would be good news anywhere but Tennessee.
State senators have demanded they shred the city's 133 year old charter, fire their interim city administers, and be governed by Tipton county officials, which is mostly white and nearly all republican. The black administration is interim because the entire white city council had to resign recently because of massive fraud and corruption, leaving residents to clean up the fiscal mess.
The city of Mason was flying under the radar until big money and 20,000 good jobs came to the very immediate area, now the state wants them to hand over the town and go away. If they don't comply the state comptroller says he will take over the city's finances and demand approval for any expenses over $100, a move that will cut services for the town.
The take away quote from state Comptroller Jason Mumpower:
According to Mumpower, Masons leadership is ill-equipped to manage the challenges, and opportunities, ahead.
Government isnt working for the people who live in Mason now and people and companies are not going to invest in Mason, Mumpower said.
The opportunity for growth is at their doorstep and I dont want the people of Mason to lose that opportunity, he said. They are about to be bypassed if their city leaders dont make responsible decisions.
State officials ask residents of a small, predominantly Black town near the site of new Ford investment to forfeit their city charter or face takeover.
MASON, Tenn. The Tennessee Comptroller issued an unusual appeal last week to residents of this small, majority Black town, which occupies fewer than two square miles in rural west Tennessee.
In my opinion, its time for Mason to relinquish its charter, Comptroller Jason Mumpower wrote in a letter mailed to each one of Masons 1,337 property owners.
Mumpower urged local residents to encourage your local officials to do whats necessary to allow Mason to thrive. There is no time to waste.
State comptrollers, responsible for financial oversight of local government, typically communicate directly with elected local leaders and not their constituents. We have not issued a letter to citizens like this before, Comptroller spokesman John Dunn said, noting it is unprecedented for us to publicly call for a town charter to be relinquished.
But the Comptrollers unprecedented public callout comes at an unprecedented time not only for Mason, but for the state. Mason, located in the southeastern corner of Tipton County, now finds itself with some of the most coveted real estate in Tennessee.
Its one of the nearest towns to the massive new site to be built for Blue Oval City, a key component in Ford Motor Cos multibillion-dollar pivot to electric vehicle manufacturing.
*snip*
Mason lies just five miles from the future site of Blue Oval City, Ford Motor Companys 4,100-acre electric truck and battery plant, landed by state officials last year with nearly $1 billion in taxpayer incentives. The operation is expected to generate 27,000 new jobs and $22 million annually in state taxes after its planned 2025 opening.
More here:
https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/03/14/this-is-akin-to-a-hostile-takeover/
https://jalopnik.com/tennessee-state-official-threatens-to-seize-town-over-f-1848666004
brush
(53,726 posts)to get the racists off their backs. Racist fuckers who couldn't give a crap about that small, Black town until Ford decided to move nearby.
2naSalit
(86,307 posts)DoJ needs to get involved in.
Baitball Blogger
(46,671 posts)maxrandb
(15,287 posts)to stop this racist crap.
If not, we will know where Ford stands.
It's pretty fucking simple.
Nothing will change. The racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy...NONE OF IT...will change, unless and until we make racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy unprofitable to the corporations, businesses and individuals that fund it.
dutch777
(2,958 posts)multigraincracker
(32,632 posts)I'd guess that they'd act on this issue if pressure was put on them.
Write a letter.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)I a passive aggressive way, Ford is letting slip its old racist, anti-semite, shizoid profiteer self during WW II. Fictional personhoods reflect the pathologies of their founders and internal leadership.
The companys German subsidiary, Ford-Werke, was indeed a functional component of the German war machine. As did other German companies, Ford-Werke used slave labor from a concentration camp to produce military material.
https://historyofyesterday.com/three-american-companies-that-shamelessly-supported-nazi-germany-58fe33910303
DENVERPOPS
(8,785 posts)Either ford doesn't allow this takeover of a city by the Tennessee State Government, or Ford takes their plant to some other state.
U.S. citizens can put an incredible amount of pressure on Ford and get them to do the right thing............
Sneederbunk
(14,275 posts)leftieNanner
(15,056 posts)lpbk2713
(42,735 posts)They need legal help. It will pay off in the end.
Phoenix61
(16,992 posts)If they need help, and they probably do, its available. There are many organizations out there that work with city governments to help them make the best choices for their citizens. Seems if the controller had been at all concerned over the past 20 years the city wouldnt be in the jam its in. Same goes for the county which makes them a decidedly poor choice. What does make sense is helping them find a really good city manager. They can reach out to the Tennessee City Managers Association for help on that. Its beneficial to Ford to have a thriving town close by so its only fair they kick in to help make that happen. Happy to hear the NAACP is involved.
Haggis 4 Breakfast
(1,453 posts)White entitlement or white supremacy is, refer them to this story. (Yes, that includes little Tuckems.)
paleotn
(17,870 posts)who are proud of their overt racism. I don't know who's more disgusting, the fascist politicians or the gawd, guns and fetus fetishers who vote for them. TN has gone straight to hell. I was born there. I rarely go back.
DENVERPOPS
(8,785 posts)based there??????????