Shelby County no stranger to lawmaker residency disputes

June 29--Where lawmakers live draw focus

When former Collierville alderman Tony Sarwar was accused of not living in the town, he said the stress made him lose 12 pounds.

A restaurant owner, Sarwar said he was going through a divorce and as a result on a handful of late nights he slept at his parents' home in Cordova after work rather than wake his then 12-year-old daughter to take her back to his rented house in Collierville.

"It was gut wrenching because you literally want to pick up the phone and call every resident in Collierville and let them know this is something with no validity to it," Sarwar said. "When someone is wrongly accused of something, it's almost impossible, even when you come to find out later it's absolutely false, there's always that theory that I did something to make it go away."

Where an elected official lives has for the last few weeks commanded Shelby County's attention.

Henri Brooks was forced last week to forfeit her seat on the County Commission after an investigation found she did not live in District 2. She is challenging her removal.

Commissioner Justin Ford also is being investigated by the county attorney on that same charge. Ford said he pays rent on an apartment in his district in Whitehaven, but the utilities are not connected there.

Sarwar said in 2011 when he was being accused that the talk was "political rhetoric."

A residency charge against Pat Vander Schaaf, who in 1995 was on the Memphis City Council, was characterized as a political "pack of lies." Former state representative Roscoe Dixon accused Vander Schaaf of living in a condo in Florida and flying in for meetings. He called for her resignation.

Vander Schaaf didn't deny that she spent time at her condo, but insisted that she lived in Memphis. She ultimately served 28 years on the council, but would lost her seat in 2003 after a shoplifting conviction.

Jerry Crawford was not appointed fire director by the City Council in 2004 after being questioned about living in Fayette County.

Former Bartlett Alderman Rick Faith had to explain in 2008 that while his wife and children had moved to Paris, Tenn., he still lived in Bartlett and visited his family on weekends.

The late Judge George McCrary was accused of living in Memphis while serving as Bartlett's municipal judge.

Then County Commissioner Joe Ford represented a Memphis district in 2009 when he was accused of living in Bartlett. Ford, the father of Justin Ford, was elected interim county mayor, making the accusation moot.

Outgoing County Commissioner Steve Mulroy was sued in 2006 by fellow Democrat Joe Cooper over accusations that he did not live in District 5. He said he did and was able to prove it.

Mulroy was the only Democrat to vote to replace Brooks last week.

"If the rule says that you have to live in the district and you officially certify that and you're lying, that's not good," Mulroy said. "It's not good to lie. You should follow the rules and tell the truth about where you live."

But residency can be a "fuzzy concept," which can be proven by utility bills, mail or if your neighbors know you, he said.

"There is no one definitive way under the law that I'm aware," said Mulroy, a law professor at the University of Memphis.

Districts were crafted to insure diversity on elected bodies, but they aren't the only way to achieve that goal and may not be the best way to serve the voter.

The cumulative voting formula gives voters a certain number of votes that can be used for one candidate or any combination of candidates, while the choice voting system lets voters rank candidates in order of preference.

Both formulas are gaining traction across the country, Mulroy said, and the evidence indicates that the results are "much more proportionally diverse" when it comes to race, ethnicity, gender, ideology and political party.

"I do think we need to revisit whether we need districts at all," he said.

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