The Shelby County Board of Commissioners was asked to approve a $6.1 million request this week to shore up operations at the county clerk’s office, after three crates of undelivered dealership tags were discovered.
Newly elected County Clerk La Sonya Hall made the request during the Wednesday, Sept. 9 committee meetings. Commissioners endorsed the proposal 13-0, and are scheduled to vote on it Monday, Sept 14.
Hall and her team unearthed the crates during inspections of the county clerk’s six branch offices. The discovery comes after the controversy-ridden tenure of Hall’s predecessor Wanda Halbert.
“We found aging technology and equipment, inconsistent processes, customer service challenges and opportunities to strengthen financial and inventory control,” said Hall. “We also discovered something that demands immediate attention. There are 34 crates of unprocessed automobile dealer packets, which include 260 packets.”
The packets were submitted by dealers to the county to register recently purchased new and used vehicles. The county issues vehicle titles and license plates based on the documents contained in these packets, which Hall said represent an “invisible line” of customers.
Employees of the clerk’s office will work an overtime shift Saturday, Aug. 12, to address the backlog. Routine renewals will be put on hold when they pick the task up again Wednesday, Aug. 16. Normal services will resume the following day.
“These citizens who purchased new vehicles or used vehicles through dealerships may never walk into our offices, but they are waiting. They are waiting for their titles. They are waiting for their registrations. They are waiting for their tags. Their line may be invisible to us, but their wait is very real,” said Hall.
The new county clerk, who earned accolades for finding the trove of documents in the earliest days of her term, inherits a department plagued by years of dysfunction. The breakdowns began during the pandemic, when thousands of vehicle tags and license plates went undelivered. The scandal dovetailed into a state-ordered audit, after Halbert submitted faulty financial reports to former county trustee Regina Newman.
“I really appreciate your sense of urgency. I appreciate your measurable results, the controls that you are putting in place. This is how government ought to operate,” said commissioner Mark Billingsley.
Billingsley, a re-elected Republican, said he would typically “object to an add-on resolution for $6.1 million.” He also said the commission is currently addressing an “emergency that this county has had for eight years.” Billingsley’s previous two terms on the commission ended in 2022. His time in office overlapped with Halbert’s.
The money will be spent to stabilize the office. In addition to getting the packets out the door, the resolution includes modernization. As the previous Shelby County deputy chief administrative officer, Hall was aware of many of the material shortcomings in the office. Many computers, operating systems and software are ill-suited for current needs. Some are so antiquated, they have trouble integrating with other county software.
Hall also hopes an investment in new technology will allow the office to continue to function without being fully staffed. The clerk’s office currently has 104 workers at its six locations. Additional kiosks around town are another likely investment. This would allow customers to avoid lines at the various branches.
The upgrades will be buttressed by stronger reconciliation, inventory control, transaction accountability and management reporting, according to Hall.
“Speed without accountability is not modernization. If you approve the appropriation today, you should expect measurable results. You should see dealer backlog decline. You should see stronger financial inventory controls. You should see more reliable technology and improved transaction processing,” said Hall.
Hall also put off the notion of an additional audit, saying the previous state scrutiny will serve as a guideline. Instead, she would prefer to hire a team of consultants to observe workflow in the division. They would also advise on the implementation of the “lean six sigma” work model, a team-based approach designed to improve speed by eliminating waste and other inefficiencies.
As a sweetener, the clerk offered to deliver quarterly reports to the commission.
“We want to demonstrate to commissioners our commitment to accountability and transparency. We will be making sure we post where we found ourselves on day one, but then we will start to track the progress that we are making,” said Hall.
Most county officeholders — including Hall and commissioners — recently took their oaths of office during a swearing-in ceremony at the Renasant Convention Center in Downtown Memphis on Aug. 31.
“A lot to absorb for one week of work,” noted chairwoman Shante Avant.
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