Old Memphis Cemetery

Said the county has been receiving tax bills on Memphis Cemetery since 1988 and criticized the omission of Form-Based Code from the comp plan rewrite.

Emotionally described the cemetery as the only burial ground for Black residents when he was growing up, thanking volunteers and noting the chairman cleaned his WWII-veteran grandfather's plot.

Supported the cleanup but pressed for a guaranteed long-term maintenance plan, noting grass will regrow by summer.

Shared her family's generations-long ties to the cemetery and thanked the board and community volunteers.

Called the vandalism a racist, politically motivated attack on a historic Black gravesite and backed the $100,000 allocation plus a long-term plan.

The NAACP president thanked Commissioner Ballard but demanded accountability on long-term funding and how community foundation donations will be used.

By phone, cited Property Appraiser records showing the county administration building's address as the cemetery's owner and argued the county has owned and neglected it since 1988.