MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis City Council Chairman JB Smiley Jr. believes that Shelby County can’t go through another four years of “being stagnant.”
“If we don’t take bold action now, it may not be a community for us to come home to,” Smiley told ABC24 in June 2025.
Smiley says that we have to be honest about the state of Shelby County: the population is declining, and businesses are leaving the area. Smiley is also concerned about blight, crime, gun reform, the Shelby County jail, and the relationship between the County Commission and the Shelby County Mayor’s Office…