09/28/2009 22:03

347 Myron Lowery - Getting it Done

Tonight I was listening to Memphis Mayor (pro-tem) Myron Lowery, during the replay of his radio appearance this morning with Drake and Zeke. He gave out his email address on the air, so I thought I'd write about a traffic signal issue. For some time I've thought there should be a left-turn arrow for eastbound traffic on Walnut Grove to turn northbound on Sanga; the traffic here only seems to be getting worse during the evening rush hour. I sent Lowery a brief email at 8:49PM, asking who I should contact about these matters. He replied at 9:01PM, telling me that Wain Gaskins was the man for that, and he CC'd Wain on the message. Only time will tell whether or not I get a follow-up, and certainly I'm aware that one complaint isn't going to get a new traffic signal installed. But I emailed the mayor of my city at almost 9PM, and had a meaningful response within about 10 minutes. As a resident of Memphis for the last 25 years, allow me to describe the ways this surprises me: I emailed the Mayor of Memphis. No big surprise there, I guess. The Mayor responded to my email. Whoa! really? And it's not a form letter? The Mayor's reply correctly delegated my inquiry to the appropriate city official, and CC'd that official. This wasn't just a token thank-you, he actually read the message and took the time to redirect it to the right person. It was almost 9:00PM. I think our previous Mayor would have been getting his swerve on around that time of night. The reply only took 11 minutes. Is this for real? I realize the man's campaigning to keep this job, so he's going above and beyond in order to impress his constituents. That said, consider me impressed. Myron Lowery earned my vote tonight.