54.3 F
Memphis
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Buy now

spot_img

ON POLITICS: Gubernatorial candidate Craig Fitzhugh vows to put in the work that would make Tennessee better

Tennessee State Rep. Calvin “Craig” Fitzhugh, 67, has just begun his 24th year in the Tennessee General Assembly as the representative of Lauderdale, Haywood and Crockett counties. The House minority leader wants to be governor, which means first winning the Democratic Party nomination. That quest recently brought him to The New Tri-State Defender and led to this conversation with Associate Publisher/Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku.

Karanja A. Ajanaku: How important is Memphis in general and the African-American community in particular to you getting the nomination?

Rep. Calvin “Craig” Fitzhugh: It is the key.

KAA: Can you elaborate?

Rep. Fitzhugh: Yes, well, they’re in the Democratic Primary. The African Americans are a great deal of that, probably a third. And well over a third of that third is right here in Memphis. …Memphis is still the biggest community in the entire state. And it’s just critically important, as is West Tennessee. And there’s a concentration of not just black Democrats, but Democrats here….

KAA: As you move through the African-American community in Memphis, what do you hear?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I hear a lot of positives. … On a statewide basis, you hear a lot of negative (about Memphis). I don’t see it that way. I never have. … I’m pretty comfortable with Memphis. I know it. …

Memphis has had some tough times. Memphis is a different type of city from Nashville, which it gets compared to a lot, and other southern cities. But I see that there was a change made in the education, maybe not the best, but it was a movement, a positive movement. I see economic growth. I see it in downtown. I see it in midtown. I see it even in north and south Memphis. I see this thing with the (Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest) statue. I think that was a huge thing for the city of Memphis. So I see a lot of positives. …

…I’m the Democratic leader. And of course, the majority of our caucus is African American statewide. We have a big contingent here in Memphis, and they’re some good legislators. They know their business. They know their community. And I think they’re more positive than they have been in years past.

KAA: You mentioned … there is concern about how Memphis is seen in other parts of the state. The (next) governor is going to have to be able to not just smooth that out, but have a communication system so that it’s actually working to the benefit of all. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I think you have to know what you’re going to communicate. … (E)ven broader than Memphis, West Tennessee is the weakest part of our economy now. And sort of my motto – I stole it – is we all do better when we all do better. Memphis can do better, if West Tennessee can do better. It will be better in middle and east Tennessee; it will be better for all of us.

KAA: What does doing better look like with you in charge?

Rep. Fitzhugh: Just look, for instance, at our unemployment rates; they’re down. They’re down in Memphis, they’re down in West Tennessee. But we also in Tennessee have the highest per capita number of people that are on the minimum wage. You’re working at $7.50 (per hour), but you’re not earning a living wage at $7.50. … It all starts with education. It’s not the quick fix; it’s the only fix. …

I’m convinced and I think the experts say so, if we can get the generation to read by grade three, if they can learn to read, I mean really read, not just pick out a word in a book, … then they can read to learn after that. And it will give them the opportunity to educate themselves, to find out about the world, to find out about themselves, to expand their mind….

KAA: So how can you help with that?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I think we have to concentrate on it. … We’re going to have to pay our teachers more. We’re going to have to upgrade the quality of life for a teacher. …And I think the community school concept, … You know we’ve tried these charter schools where public money is going to private administrations. Fortunately, we haven’t done (vouchers), where public money goes to private individuals. …

KAA: You’re against vouchers?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I’m totally against that. I don’t think it would help the private schools it goes to. And I’m definitely sure it won’t help the public schools. And charter schools, I’m generally not in favor of them because of the same financial reasons. Now I think they have good ideas, but I think that we ought to allow our public schools, they can become charter schools themselves. …

KAA: What about the Achievement School District, would you continue it?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I think there’s something that’s been called Community School, where it’s more … than just the “education.” It includes folks from social services, it includes medical folks, it includes folks with mental health training … And it involves the parents maybe coming to school, maybe some child care for the younger kids, a community access where it’s a whole environment of learning. … As much money as we spend on the ASDs, I think we can transform those ASDs into those community schools. … I think if we can change the Achievement District to something like that, we’d be much better off.

KAA: I’m hearing more and more talk about the need to talk more directly about poverty and doing something about that. Are you encountering that kind of conversation?

Rep. Fitzhugh: Yes. … education is the key, but poverty is the result of not having education, so it’s right there with it. I’m not saying everybody has to have a two-year or four-year college degree, but we have to have a trained work force. …

KAA: One of the suggestions I’ve heard is that the next governor needs to appoint someone from West Tennessee to be the economic development director. What do you think about that sort of idea?

Fitzhugh: Well, I think you’d probably even do better if you elected a governor from West Tennessee. … But my colleagues in the legislature … understand that we’re struggling a little over here. They’ve been very good to us in West Tennessee when we put $150 million, $200 million in the Memphis Regional Megasite. They know that West Tennessee needs that megasite. East Tennessee has one; middle Tennessee has one… Where ours is located will help Memphis and Shelby County. It’s right there on the interstate, it’s right at Fayette County, it’s pretty close to Memphis.

KAA: When you’re pitching yourself, what are the characteristics that you pitch?

Rep. Fitzhugh: …I have built up this body of work … I’m a public school guy. My wife and I are the first two in both our families to go to college. I was able to serve in the Air Force, serve my country. I came back home and practiced law with a law partner who loved people … he was a bulldog in the courtroom, but we represented people that needed representation. I moved over to our family bank in ‘92. Our bank since 1939 has been called the “Bank of The Little Man.” That means when … people … couldn’t borrow from other people, they’d borrow it from us. We loan money to help people have a better life.

And then I was able to serve in the legislature with two Democrats and two Republicans (as governors). I’ve been able to get a fairly good reputation with my colleagues. I believe they trust me. I’ve got a great deal of knowledge about the budget, which is the most important thing we frankly do in the legislature. … I say just look at my body of work, just what’s happened to my life. …

KAA: Let’s say you’re in the governor’s office. …In the first week, what are you going to do?

Rep. Fitzhugh: I’m going to expand Medicaid. I’m going to do my best to figure out how and the best way to do that. We screwed that up, the legislature. The biggest moral failure in the 23 years I’ve been up there. …

I’m also going to stop privatizing stuff that is governmental, things like parks. And I’m also going to let cities do their thing. Like this statue thing (in Memphis), the legislature shouldn’t have stuck their nose in that. …

And I think I will go in as a minority (party) governor, but it will put some balance in it. Right now we are very overwhelmed with the number of Republicans in the House and Senate, and then a Republican governor. The best way to balance it out some is to put that chief executive, somebody in the other party. We’ll have to work together – and we will. I’m not going to win them all, but I think we can very clearly cooperate and communicate. Tennessee’s really done, frankly, pretty well. But we could be doing quite a bit better.

Related Articles

Stay Connected

21,507FansLike
2,634FollowersFollow
17,200SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles