{"county":"shelby","description":"","district":"8","districtgroup":"memphis_city_council_super","id":181,"key":"city_council_district_super_district_8_position_2","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Janika White","next_election":"2019-11-08","notes":"191","officegroup":"memphis_city_council","partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- Policy judgment on Memphis-specific matters with a citywide rather than neighborhood lens, since super-district seats are elected at-large within a geographic super-district covering roughly half the city.\n- Budget literacy: the 13-member Council approves the annual city budget and sets the city property-tax rate.\n- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on ordinances and resolutions; committee work that precedes full-council action.\n- Citywide constituent relations across roughly 300,000 residents \u2014 broader case-work and policy reach than a single-member district.\n- Memphis-specific issue depth: MLGW, MATA, EDGE incentives, blight, and the city's relationship with Shelby County government.","quantity":1,"source":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2027-10-05","term_start":"2023-10-05","term_years":4,"terms":[{"current":0,"description":"","electiondate":"2019-11-19","name":"Cheyenne Johnson","person":{"biography":"Cheyenne Johnson was appointed to the Council on January 8, 2019. She serves as Chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Vice Chair of the Budget Committee, liaison to the Downtown Memphis Commission, and as a board member for the Blight Authority of Memphis. Cheyenne Johnson is the former Shelby County Property Assessor. She served three terms in this position; a total of ten years. In 2018, She retired from Shelby County Government as a professional public servant with emphasis on administration after approximately 34 years of service. She is also a former educator for Memphis City Schools System.\n\nShe was the first black female elected Property Assessor in the State of Tennessee in 2008 and later, in 2015, she was named Tennessee Assessor of the Year because of her strong analytical, problem-solving and leadership skills and abilities.\n\nAs a resident of Super District 8 for her entire adult life, Councilwoman Johnson remembers the glamour that once existed throughout the District. She looks forward to collaborating with the Council to restoring District 8 to its greatest potential by decreasing blight and crime. She wants to ensure quality education and schools for our children, as well as fairness in taxation.\n\nCouncilwoman Johnson demonstrated trustworthiness and dependability throughout her three terms in office as Assessor of Property and fulfilled her duties with integrity and transparency. She is a bridgebuilder with members of the community, both private and public sectors, working to achieve common goals in areas of mutual concern.\n\nA graduate of the University of Memphis, Councilwoman Johnson received her Public Administrator certification from the University of Tennessee. She is a dedicated and loyal member of Mt. Pisgah Christian Methodist Episcopal Church where she serves on the Board of Trustees.\n\nSince being introduced to the political arena in 1978 by her political activist husband, Alvin Carmichael Johnson, Councilwoman Johnson has been very active in politics and is a past member of Shelby County Democratic Executive Committee. Councilwoman Johnson has two sons, Michael Grisham and Gerald LaFayette.","firstname":"Cheyenne","lastname":"Johnson","token":"asdf9"},"term_end":"2023-12-31","term_start":"2020-01-01"},{"current":1,"description":null,"electiondate":"2023-10-05","name":"Janika White","person":{"biography":"[https://attyjwhite.wixsite.com/janikawhite](https://attyjwhite.wixsite.com/janikawhite)\n\n[https://www.facebook.com/janikawhitenow/](https://www.facebook.com/janikawhitenow/)\n\n\nJanika is a native and lifelong Memphian who has been serving the people of the city that she dearly loves. Janika is a graduate of Central High School, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and earned a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After law school, Janika served as the judicial clerk to the Honorable Kenny Armstrong at the Chancery Court for Shelby County. Janika then had the distinct honor of clerking for the Honorable Bernice B. Donald at the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.\n\nFor almost a decade, Janika has practiced alongside the legendary Walter Bailey and is currently managing partner at Janika White Law PLLC. She is a skilled and successful litigator with experience in complex and high-profile criminal defense and civil litigation. During Janika\u2019s time as an attorney, she has prided herself in passionately advocating for her clients, ensuring they know the full extent of their constitutional rights, and granting each and every person the detailed attention and representation they deserve. Her close-knit family of community leaders, activists, and the church instilled in her strong values of service and leadership at an early age.\n\nJanika is no stranger to service \nShe was born into it. She\u2019s the daughter of John and Anita White. Both Mr. & Mrs. White worked at legacy Memphis City Schools as educators and administrators for nearly 40 years. Janika is also the niece of the late Reverend Ralph White of Bloomfield Baptist Church in the heart of South Memphis, where she was a member under her uncle\u2019s leadership and benevolence. Affectionately referred to as \u201cUncle Pokey,\u201d Reverend White was a giant of a man in the Memphis community.  He was involved with the Citizens for Community Values of Memphis, Shelby County Domestic Violence Task Force, the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, and served as the West Tennessee Field Representative for Promise Keepers International. Janika walked alongside Reverend White as he poured his heart for the people of Memphis, served with pride and dignity, and called for reform and justice time and time again in the courtroom. \n\nJanika is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Bloomfield Urban Ministries, the National Bar Association Ben F. Jones Chapter, Leo Bearman Inn of Courts, Tennessee Trial Lawyers, and Memphis Bar Association.\n","firstname":"Janika","lastname":"White","token":"tMT3N4BgWg"},"term_end":"2027-10-05","term_start":"2023-10-05"}],"title":"Memphis City Council Super District 8 Position 2","type":"legislative","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-05-17 19:58:08"}