‘PLATES JUST SITTING IN BACK ROOM’ Memphians Furious Over Car Tag Delay
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert is facing a firestorm of outrage from motorists who are sick and tired of long lines and long delays in obtaining their car tags.
“This is a bipartisan problem. Everybody is angry,” said Wake Up Memphis host Tim Van Horn. “Everybody just wants to get their car tags and get on with their life.”
Van Horn’s wife, like many citizens, is driving around with expired tags because of the county clerk’s backlog.
Halbert, who is a Democrat, has blamed Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, who is also a Democrat.
We share your pain,” Halbert told LocalMemphis.com in February. “We are frustrated. We’ve been blowing the bullhorn ourselves.”
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Making matters even more complicated is that all Shelby County drivers must obtain the state’s new license plate.
“We are going to experience delays because of the number of challenges. We haven’t had these plates in such a long time,” Halbert added.
But Halbert’s Republican opponent tells KWAM NewsTalk Memphis that’s still no excuse to leave motorists without proper tags.
“It’s happening county-wide,” Jeff Jacobs said during an interview on KWAM. “It’s not just a few people. It’s a lot of people.”
Jacobs told KWAM that he knows exactly how to fix all of the problems that have plagued the Shelby County Clerk’s office.
“I’ve seen how it should operate and we can get it back to being better,” he said.
Jacobs said that he and his wife are in the same boat as many other residents. He advised people who have yet to receive their tags to keep documentation in your vehicle — just in case you get pulled over by police.
As for the delay in distributing tags — Jacobs has a theory about what’s really going on in the Democrat-controlled county clerk’s office.
“I believe those plates are just sitting in a room waiting to be mailed out,” he told KWAM.
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