WREG.com

Newly elected Memphis council members and mayor elect say it takes a team effort

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Because of your votes, a lot of new faces will join the Memphis City Council.

The controversy this week surrounding Council member Janis Fullilove is getting a lot of attention.

She went off during a Council meeting saying she doesn’t get the respect she deserves.

Some said they’re aware of what happens when city leaders don’t work together. They want to change that.

13- members of Memphis City Council will take office January 1.

People who live in the city said they want change, not confrontation.

Patrice Robinson is going to be one of the new faces.

“I am so excited to be able to work with a new Council, a new mayor. My plan is to make sure that we work together for all citizens in Memphis,” she said.

Although they want to work together, some were pretty outspoken.

Longtime Council member Janis Fullilove didn`t hold her tongue this week after getting passed over as Vice- Chairwoman of the Council.

“I`m so happy to see some of you leaving here and for those of you that remain, you watch out for me because I`m going to embrace every one of these new council members,” she said.

Despite the controversy, newly elected Council members and Mayor- elect Jim Strickland said they want just want deal with their differences professionally.

“What I’ll do is I’ll meet with them individually, find out what their interests are, see where we align and where we can work together and make it more of a team effort,” said Strickland.

“Addressing some of the issues that we have with poverty and I think that the majority of Council members are looking forward to serving the city and I think we`re all going to work well together.”

Incoming Council Chairman Kemp Conrad said Council members must have a good relationship with the Mayor`s office, something he said was lacking in previous years.

WREG reached out to Fullilove several times today, but she did not return our phone calls.

35.149534-90.04898