You may have heard that two ordinances will be proposed to the City Council that will affect the experience people have in Downtown Memphis. One will increase panhandling restrictions and declare part of Downtown a no-panhandling zone, except for designated areas where passive panhandling will be allowed. The other will eliminate the sale of single-serve beers by convenience and similar stores in much of the Downtown core and Uptown. The sale of these single-serve beers has been found to be the link between panhandling and crimes such as disorderly conduct that occur frequently Downtown.
Please take a minute to follow this link to read what the Memphis CVB has to say on the subject.
(Edit: I’d posted about a breakfast here, but I’ve since learned it’s not a public breakfast. Sorry for the confusion.)
I want to reinforce what’s being said here: These ordinances are not meant to chase the homeless out of Downtown. Rather, they are intended to curb the behavior of a few troublemakers who come Downtown every day to scam and hustle people. These troublemakers get drunk, aggressively panhandle, get in fights, and generally create a horrible perception of Downtown. These people are generally not homeless and have made a career of hustling people.
Activist groups would mislead you to believe that enacting these proposals would simply diffuse the troublemakers to surrounding neighborhoods – North Memphis, Med Center, South Memphis. Other cities that have enacted similar ordinances have found that this does not happen. Surrounding neighborhoods simply do not have the necessary combination of heavy foot traffic and tourists to be profitable to the panhandlers.
These ordinances are also facing heavy oppositions from the beer companies, who are bringing in lobbyists and lawyers from Washington, real heavy-hitters, to pressure the City Council. We cannot allow outsiders to determine the fate of our neighborhood.
Please take the time to learn about these proposed ordinances, and if you support them, please do the following:
1) Take a few minutes to e-mail or call the members of the Memphis City Council and let them know how you feel. It is imperative that they see widespread public support for these measures. Here’s a link to bios of each council member. The bios contain e-mail and other contact info.
2) We need as many people as possible to show up for the City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 23 at (Edit: Time TBA, I’d posted 3:30 but that’s the full Council meeting, see below) at City Hall, 125 N. Main. Again, it is imperative that they see our support in numbers. The ordinances will be considered by the public safety and homeland security committee chaired by Myron Lowery. Proposals can die in committee at the Council just as they can in Congress. We need to do everything we can to encourage them to move forward and take these proposals before the entire Council at the next meeting.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard feedback from out-of-towners or people from other parts of Memphis, saying, Downtown has so much to offer but I’ll never come back. So many stories of people being followed, aggressively panhandled, cussed out, lewd comments made to women, etc. I love my neighborhood and want people to come down here and enjoy it as much as I do. If you feel the same way, please take the time to voice your support for these measures.