The Memphis City Council on Tuesday approved a 2 percent raise for the city’s fire department. Passed amid litigation over the city’s alleged betrayal of its prior commitment to give firefighters a raise, the last attempt to provide the raise failed earlier this month, after Council Member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton accused the department of “rape” over its request for a raise.
After the December 2 meeting concluded without a vote, Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s resolution to amend the city’s 2026 budget to include a 2 percent raise for firefighters passed with eight of the 13 members of the Memphis City Council voting in favor.
The meeting included confusion about Cooper-Sutton’s vote: she was initially reported to have voted in favor of the resolution, but her vote was quickly changed to reflect a vote against it.
Cooper-Sutton, a Democrat whose campaign event was once interrupted by a drive-by shooting, referenced “rape” in her opposition to the request on December 2.
“We keep doing business with the same people and the same players sitting in the same seats doing the same thing all the time. Everybody just wants, wants, rape this city, the same players, the same faces, come here and you rape, and you rape, and you take, and you take, and you take from this city since I’ve been living here,” said Sutton.
The Memphis Democrat stated, “You’re wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, and God sees your intention, and he sees your hearts, and he’s going to deal with each and every one of us accordingly.”
A lawsuit was filed in July by the Memphis Fire Fighters Association, alleging the city reneged on its commitment to give firefighters a 5 percent raise in its 2026 budget, instead reducing the percentage increase to 3 percent.
The union also condemned Cooper-Sutton’s remarks referencing rape.
“A 5 [percent] raise was unanimously approved by the council in 2024 and then reduced by the council in 2025 to 3 [percent],” wrote the union. “Memphis firefighters aren’t raping our city; they’re doing their JOBS. At some point, we must return to a time where we can trust our elected officials and believe they’re going to do the right thing.”
– – –
Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
