MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Paul Young presented 36 new recommendations from his transition team Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Young’s transition team is made up of community leaders and some elected leaders whose goal is to help set a foundation for the first term of the Young administration. It has several committees working to better Memphis.
Just to name a few, there’s crime, economic development, transportation and arts and culture. One of the main focuses on Wednesday was how different committees overlap to help curb crime and keep young people engaged.
The mayor’s administration wants the solution to crime to start with listening to young Memphians.
“They did focus groups with our youth,” Brian Harris, Director of Youth Services said. “They did focus groups with adults and community liaisons and came back with recommendations based on what the people said and what the city wants to see.”
Harris said Memphis has about 24 community centers, but it is unclear how many are youth friendly.
"A lot of our community centers are currently visited by middle schoolers...about 9-12. Some of the things they recommended was gaming, technology and also having speakers come in to help them deal with certain issues they’re dealing with outside of the school," Harris said.
The young people they met laid the foundation for what needs to happen to keep them out of trouble. The Thriving Arts and Culture committee also plays a major role moving forward.
“We help facilitate a conversation around our arts culture and the impact we can have as a community,” Co-chair George Monger said.
Co-Chair Rachel Knox said over half a million young people a year are served by just 49 nonprofits.
“Memphis’ arts and culture sector has approximately 100 organizations that are dealing with arts and culture and youth, so this will have a force multiplier for the city and make sure that our young people...have the resources they need to keep them out of trouble, to keep them engaged and to make sure we’re building the best and brightest future for them," she said.
Mayor Young’s transition team is also working to boost economic development by training students to be work ready and creating competitive salaries.
Some of the committees have checkpoints for when they plan to measure how much success they’ve had. ABC24 will be sure to stay on top of those timelines.