SHELBY COUNTY, Tennessee —
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks with the suburban municipal mayors every day.
“I think we are all making really, really tough decisions, and we’re making them rapidly. And as you know, if you make decisions rapidly, from time to time there will be a mistake and all you can do is to try and correct that mistake and move on,” Mayor Harris said.
The magnifying glass is home for Mayor Harris and the other Mayors. They live on one side of it, and their constituents live on the other.
“We met earlier this week and all decided that we still needed to maintain and encourage social distancing and keeping people to stay on the right path of staying home and away from non-essential services,” explained Mayor Harris.
This will eventually end. There will be a time when people will ask, “Do you remember the coronavirus?” Everyday life will resume.
According to Mayor Harris, “My personal opinion is the recovery should probably happen gradually and that we continue to focus on social distancing and protecting our population.”
One more thing. This is county budget time, and there’s a big deficit. On April 20, Mayor Harris will present a budget.
“If our deficit continues to grow, the toughest thing to do at that point is to try and get a budget passed that does not require layoffs.”