It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government."
Thomas Paine
Henry Nickell for
Memphis City Council
District 9, Position 3
WHO IS HENRY NICKELL?
Henry (H.B.) Nickell is a native Memphian educated in the
Memphis Public School System. He received a Bachelor's of Science (Cum Laude) with Honors and a Masters of Science in Physics
from Memphis State University. Upon completion of his master's degree, he was asked to serve as a faculty member
in the Physics Department at Memphis State University.
Nickell was a consultant in electromagnetic field theory and acoustics with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) on
the Trident Submarine and other projects for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Naval Air and Sea Systems Command, Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, and the office of the Secretary of the Navy. He also consulted in acoustics with Tracor, Inc.
Nickell switched careers to move back to Memphis, and came to MLGW in the energy conservation department, helping Memphians keep
utility bills low during the energy "crisis" and the 1980 recession. Shortly thereafter he formed a commercial and industrial
group to help business and industry survive the downturn and keep jobs in Memphis. Nickell managed the gas deregulation responsibility
and industrial customer relations. Nickell and his employees undertook an evaluation of the TVA Contract, other electric supply options,
and the TVA nuclear construction program that resulted in the negotiation of a $14,000,0000 per year credit to MLGW customers and a streamlining
of TVA's nuclear program. Nickell won a Meritorious Service Award for this work, was named Manager of the Year for other innovative cost
savings and recognized nationally in the Energy Industry for his contributions at MLGW. He completed MLGW's Executive
Development program, and was elected to the MLGW Pension Board by an overwhelming majority of MLGW
employees who knew he would fight hard to rectify pension plan inequities.
After leaving MLGW, Henry Nickell formed his own company, Energy Analytics Corporation, providing corporate customers assistance in producing, transporting, or consuming
energy in a volatile market. Because of his reputation as an Enron adversary, he was asked to provide technical and financial expertise to one
of California's largest electric customers in contract negotiations with Enron shortly before their demise.
Henry and his wife, Laura live and grew up in East Memphis, belong to Independent Presbyterian Church, have served on Boards
at the Memphis Brook's Gallery, were docents for the Wonder's Exhibits, and have been active in the Colonial Acres and Massey Hill Neighborhood Associations.
CURRENT STATE OF MEMPHIS CITY GOVERNMENT
CITY DEBT
In 2002, incumbents told the Central Gardens Neighborhood "the overall fiscal health
of the City is good". They are still boasting of a $60 million operating budget surplus and
want Memphians to re-elect them because of it.
They are obvoiusly not looking at the same City Budget that I am for year ended June 30, 2002. Page 30 records that the
City has
$3,260,000,000.00 in liabilities. Yes, Memphians owe $3.26 BILLION, 5 times the City's annual income!
(These numbers do not include Shelby County debt of $1.6 BILLION.)
What these incumbents are not mentioning is that in Fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, Incumbents spent their $637 MILLION operating
budget and borrowed $600 MILLION on top of that. They had $60 MILLION in change left over from the $1.237 BILLION. Debt of the City
of Memphis rose $600 MILLION, 10 times what they "saved" in the operating budget. It will take 10 years of operating savings of $60
MILLION per year to make up for the debt incurred in 2002 alone!
If they "saved" that much every year it would take 18 years to pay off the debt incumbents have racked up in the past four years,
34 years to pay off long term debt , and 54 years to pay off total liabilities not including interest.
There are two ways for a government to meet increasing year to year obligations. The first is more taxes and the second is more debt. In front of this
election year, it is not surprising that incumbents are opting for more debt which will not show up in a final audited
annual report for several years to come.
Of the $3.26 BILLION of liabilities, $2.078 BILLION is long term fixed debt, $637,599,000 is future revenue
not yet collected, (the Incumbent Administration is counting their chickens before they hatch), and the remaining $544,401,000 shows as accounts
payable,etc. How can you have $544,401,000 in liabilities and accounts payable in a $630,412,710 City Budget unless the City doesn't pay it's bills?
You thought Enron had some "fuzzy math"!
How does this impact Memphians? You owe $4,932.21 per resident, $13,166.00 per household, and $19,728.84 per family
of four. If you have a family of four, a $100,000.00 house with an $80,000.00 mortgage, your Elected Officials have
effectively
raised your mortgage to 100% of the value of your property and taken away the equity that you owned in your home.
In 1998, the Memphis annual financial report shows long term debt of $1.12 billion. In
the last 4 years, incumbents have overspent their $660 million budget by an average of $230 million per year.
These numbers tell us the City is in worse shape than the County for two reasons. First, Memphis has more debt than Shelby County.
Second, County officials own up to their problems, the City officials tell you they saved $60 MILLION when they
in fact went into the hole $600 MILLION!
(The City website says the
city budget for 2002 is $630,412,710. These numbers do not include county debt.)
Negative Population Growth
According to the Chamber of Commerce Web Site, the population of Memphis in 1990 was 610,337. The
estimated population in 2002 in 660,960. This looks like a gain of 50,063 in the overall Memphis population.
But how many people
have been annexed since 1990? Between 1990 and 2000, 51,169 residents were annexed according to the Commercial Appeal,
April 12, 2001. That means the Memphis population has grown by 546, despite annexing 51,169.
Without annexations, the population of the City of
Memphis and its tax base would have shrunk by 7.7%.
Education
Choose a candidate with actual classroom experience in educating young Memphians. Henry Nickell served as an instructor in the
Physics Department at Memphis State University. He taught students from a wide range of public and private schools in the
Memphis area.
In researching the Memphis City Council role in administration of the Memphis City School Systems, it has become obvious that the
City Council has no control and very little influence over the School Board or the Board of Education. Most of the School Board's
funding is from State
appropriations, Federal Funds, or a State or Federal appropriation subdivided by Shelby County Government.
The control that Memphians have over the Memphis Board of Education is who they elect to lead the Memphis City School Board. The
other potential option is a voter refferendum to restructure the Memphis City School Board. I do not believe that the education
of young Memphians should be a "political football". I would favor a referendum to restructure the Memphis City School Board so that
the decisions made regarding the education of young Memphians is based solely on their educational needs, not current political
winds in Memphis.
I have worked with the Memphis City Schools for over 20 years in their facilities management efforts. The School Board has
had difficulty hiring and retaining top quality facilities managers. Additionally, the City Schools suffer from "capacity problems"
where large school buildings are heated, lit, and cooled when only a small number of classrooms are in use at a particular facility.
John Willingham has proposed a concept where the education side of operating the school system would be decoupled with the
facilities management side of operating the city schools, and either City Government or a third party property manager would be
utilized for property management. I favor further study of that proposal.
Zoning Control
The Memphis City Council needs to be out of the business of rehashing or overturning Land Use Control Board decisions.
The Memphis and Shelby County Department of Land Use and Urban Development was formed to control the overall land use and zoning for
Memphis and Shelby County. In several instances, long term plans for the development of the Poplar Corridor and I-40 Corridor were develoopment
at considerable expense to the public and considerable effort on the part of the departmental staff. These types of long
term development plans were designed to be in the best interest of developers and property owners so that everyone would know
where they stood when they invested in a piece of property in these "zones". The City Council acted as an appeal board whenever a
Land Use Control Board decision was "outside the plan". Over the past few years a "free for all" has ensued, where any party
not liking the outcome of the Land Use Control Board Decision, for any reason can appeal the decision of the Land Use Control Board
to the Memphis City Council. In every case that I am aware of, cases went before both the Land Use Control Board and the Memphis City
Council requiring a maximum amount of time, a maximum amount of anxiety, and a maximum amount of legal and / or lobbying fees
incurred by both parties.
I favor restructuring this process so that the appointment of Land Use Control Board Members is de-politicized. All Members
should be required to go through background checks, be prepared for "spot financial audits" during
their tenure. This needs to be coupled with City Campaign Finance Reform where it would be illegal for those who are before the
land use control board to contribute to the campaign of any City or County Offical.
MLGW
Herman Morris hopes to loan the Federal Government approximately $5 BILLION from the pockets of Memphis citizens and
MLGW ratepayers.
The 2002 City Budget, Page 30 records that Memphians owe $3.26 BILLION, 5 times the City's
annual income! Shelby County debt is $1.6 BILLION, of which Memphians will owe two thirds, and now Herman Morris has the "bright idea" to prepay TVA
for electric useage for 15 to 20 years into the future.
This "prepay" is a fancy name for the City going $5 billion further in debt to loan the Federal Government approximately $5 billion!
I represented one of Enron's largest electric customers in California during
contract negotiations with Enron prior to their bankruptcy with a very similar financial derivative based power supply contract.
Most of the industry has had the good sense to move away from these types of risky financial derivatives. Why should
Memphis taxpayers be loaning $5 billion to the Federal Government ?
If Herman Morris gets his way, Memphians will owe approximately $9.26 BILLION total, $14,161.22 per person,
and $56,644.88 per family of four.
Memphians need to think very hard before they commit to four more years of financial irresponsibility.
City Council, YOUR UTILITY RATE Making Authority Almost every state outside the Tennessee
Valley has a Public Utility Commission (PUC) that regulates rates charged by utility companies. Because the TVA act only allows sale of TVA electricity to NON-PROFIT
utilities, the Tennessee Valley electric distributors are rural co-operatives or municipally owned utilities. Each municipal legislative body serves
as a Public Utility Commission for the area it serves.
The Memphis City Council is required by Charter and State law to regulate the rates charged by MLGW. Is your CITY COUNCILMAN qualified
to function as a Public Utility Commissioner? Does he know about PGAs, OFOs, Cost of Service? Does he know when he is approving
expenditures not allowed by Law? Don't you think it is time to have at least one City Council Member who knows about these issues?
If so, vote for Henry Nickell!
Investment of General Fund Money in Stock Markets at MLGW
MLGW employees tell me that MLGW has been investing the General Fund money in the stock markets through money management firms and has
lost considerable amounts of money, especially in the last two to three years. Long-term employees believed that investing general funds
in stock markets was not permitted and was a violation of MLGW's charter. They assumed that Herman Morris, President had found some
"legal loophole" that made this process legal.
Do you belive MLGW should charge you for their losses in the stock market?
Now they need a rate increase. UNDER STATE LAW, THESE LOSSES CANNOT BE
RECOVERED FROM YOU, THE RATEPAYER UNLESS CITY COUNCIL IS TOO UNINFORMED TO DENY THESE LOSSES.
I believe that these funds should be recovered from the personal
assets of the Executives and Management who ordered MLGW staff to engage in this practice. If you agree, vote for me.
Herman Morris's $950,000 Quantum Mansion According to the Chandler Reports,
Herman Morris paid $950,000.00 for the
"Quantum Mansion"at 1800 Overton Park. NBC bank gave him two concurrent loans on the same house at once totaling $855,000.00. Federal guidelines on home
mortage loans is that the maximum loan amount is two and one-half times a family's gross income. Mrs. Morris has told other Utility
Industry wives that she hasn't worked in over six years. Herman Morris's income is reported as $186,000 per year. Two and one-half times his
salary gives a maximum loan amount of $460,000.00. Morris was able to borrow almost twice the maximum loan amount under Federal home loan guidelines.
Does Herman Morris have an amount of income equal to his MLGW income on the side? MLGW has strict guidelines on secondary employment.
How much does he make as an officer or board member of Memphis Networx?
The public has a right to know, and the Mayor and City
Council have an OBLIGATION TO INVESTIGATE and answer questions that the Public has about
this Public Official.
If you agree that the public has the right to know about secondary incomes of full time City Officials, vote for someone who believes that
Public Officials are answerable to the voters who elect them, Henry Nickell.
Overhead Distribution vs. Underground, Tree Trimming
Do you wonder why Germantown and Cordova had their electricity back on while most of Memphis was off? These areas were on underground
circuits.
MLGW uses an overly simplistic "first cost" analysis to decide on underground vs. overhead electric distribution. Most Utilities
use "lifecycle cost" analysis which include such things as lost customer revenue, partial replacements, probability of storm damage, and tree triming.
MLGW does not factor in customer losses, loss of life,lost customer revenue, partial replacements,or even tree triming.
It's about time for
MLGW executives to give up their close relationships with tree trimming contractors and develop better customer relationships
by requiring all new and replacement circuits to be underground, and begin an underground retrofit program in older parts of town.
Topics that will be covered in the upcoming weeks:
2000-2001 winter PGA overcharges
Increase in MLGW Administrative expense proposed in 2003 budget
Executive staff
Herman Morris Advertising
If you want someone who understands MLGW issues, won't be fooled by MLGW Administration propaganda, and won't stand by while
MLGW Management blows YOUR dollars, VOTE for me, HENRY NICKELL
How Can Henry Nickell Help?
We pick our politicians by popularity. Why are they popular? Fancy credentials, sports heroes, movie stars,
good looks, or because they are already well known or incumbents. Shoud we?
Steven Covey, the author of
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People writes that TRUST consists of two components;
Character and Competence.
Look at what your Politicians can do to you after you elect them. Your elected officials can tax you beyond your ability or desire to pay and confiscate your property
if you don't, approve utility rates you can't afford and cut off your vital infrastructure if you can't pay, run this City so far into debt that
every remaining taxpayer that can leave, will leave, default on debt payments and have a Federal Judge assess every remaining
resident, condemn your property and order it to be demolished without
compensation, and condemn your property for "the public good".
We should begin choosing our elected officials based on character, the will to do right by our fellow man, and competence ,
the skill and ability to do right by our fellow man.
I will do everything I can to:
Put Memphis Residents 1st
Encourage Business Development and Jobs Creation
Insure the Integrity and Cost Effectiveness of the Memphis Infrastructure
Minimize Taxes
Approve only Financially Sound Proposals
Minimize Risk Defered to Taxpayers and Government
Henry Nickell wants:
Memphis to get its debt and spending under control!
our tax dollars spent on OUR neighborhoods, not downtown.
A referendum to restructure the city school board.
The City NOT to be involved in risky private ventures where the developers always win and taxpayers always loose.
MLGW management re-focused on keeping our lights on, our rates low and answering the phone.
Term Limits and City campaign finance reform.
IF YOU WANT to see your tax dollars spent on the needs of the many, not the wants of a few, and you want to see tighter spending
controls, not higher taxes, vote for Henry Nickell, City Council District 9 Position 3
The Character and competence to represent the Taxpayers of Memphis honestly and effectively
An Educator: Physics faculty and teacher at Memphis State University
A Public servant: 20 years experience managing public services at MLGW, helping Memphians meet their essential needs at the lowest
possible cost
Vote for HENRY NICKELL, the character and
competence to represent Memphians fairly and honestly.
Make Henry Nickell all the change you need for a better City Council.
They won't buffalo Nickell.
Check out this website over the weeks to come for more from Henry Nickell
Contact
Henry Nickell
P.O. Box 172309
Memphis, TN 38187-2309
hnickell@energyanalytics.com
683-9206
Contributions
Campaign Treasurer:
Robert Morehouse
P.O. Box 172309
Memphis, TN 38187-2309
voice 309-2786
email rm5550@aol.com
fax 309-1359
Make checks payable to:
Friends to Elect Henry Nickell
Energy Analytics Corporation provides energy consulting, energy portfolio design, management and consulting,
industrial energy engineering, utility consulting, natural gas deregulation consulting, electric deregulation consulting,
least cost planning for energy portfolios, energy futures consulting, utility billing consulting, energy risk management,
energy personnel and recruitment, energy supply alternatives, energy budgeting and budget forecasting, electric, gas,
and energy contracting, MLGW, Memphis Light Gas and Water consulting, TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority consulting. Henry Nickell,
( H.B. Nickell ), President. Are you tired of losing the energy trading war ? Do you need reinforcements to survive the dereglation battle ?
It's time to call out the heavy artillery !