04/24/2026
Tucked behind the paywall, part of my response when asked to explain in 60 seconds is below. You can watch my full response in the comments. I'll elaborate at a different time. Go VOTE!
“[Because] I offered myself as a solution,” Feagins said about her tenure as head of the state’s largest school system. “I have experience in takeovers in districts where intervention has gone all sorts of ways. So I know what that looks like on the outcome.”
“However, I understand the intention here,” Feagins said. “When local governance is seemingly not working, something has to be done, and so we’re here.”
Feagins said she hasn’t had a chance yet to review the specific provisions of the takeover law.
“There’s a lot in there, and so this could go in many ways,” she told a group of 80 that included leaders of the suburban Chambers of Commerce as well as aldermen and mayors of the county’s six suburban cities. “But nevertheless, as Shelby County mayor, the responsibility would be to be transparent with the people about how taxpayer dollars are being used, whatever that looks like.”
Feagins said the next county mayor should demand transparency from any oversight board formed based on the legislation.
“Demand results — the same thing that I wanted when I was superintendent for 295 days,” she said.
Marie Feagins commented on the MSCS takeover law at a forum for Democratic contenders for Shelby County mayor.