Last night I attended the meeting/rally at the Center City Commission office in support of the proposed panhandling and single serve beer ordinances. It was different from previous meetings I’d attended at the CCC, which were run by CCC officials. This time, the CCC provided the space, and handed the floor over to concerned citizens, particularly Shawn Danko of Kooky Canuck.
The ordinances will go before the safety/homeland security committee at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, February 23. This is a six-member committee that can vote to take the proposals before the full council, vote to take the proposals before the council with a recommendation to reject, or kill the proposals in committee. The committee is chaired by Myron Lowery.
Many of the council members, we were told, might take the position that they don’t care much about the proposed ordinances, because “it’s not my district.” Therefore, it’s very important that people who love Downtown but live in other parts of Memphis sign this petition and provide their address. Council members must be made to understand that Downtown is the doorway to the entire city. Eventually, you have to come Downtown to truly experience all that is Memphis – a game at the FedExForum, a show at the Orpheum, great music on Beale. Aggressive panhandling and drunk, disorderly conduct keeps ALL Memphians from enjoying their city as much as they otherwise could.
It’s very important to e-mail, call or write the Council members and express your support. E-mail addresses of all the Council members can be found here.
We were told that if anyone knows a Council member personally, one face-to-face conversation can be worth 100 e-mails. If you know one of the members and can talk to them for a few minutes, it would go a long way.
It’s also important to ask business leaders in the Downtown community to contact the council and express their support. The council needs to hear first-hand the economic impact the aggressive panhandling and disorderly behavior has on the area. Although Downtown is statistically the safest area in Memphis, there’s a perception that it’s unsafe. A survey showed that 99.3% of Memphians feel that safety is an important component of an active, booming Downtown; yet 35% of Memphians surveyed do not go Downtown because of safety concerns.
We need to show our support in numbers at the 2/23 8:30 AM committee meeting. Not everyone can make it; I personally doubt I’ll be able to get off work. So, it’s extremely important that those who do have flexibility in their schedules plan to attend.
There will be a sign-making party at Kooky Canuck on Monday 2/22 at 7 PM. Even if you can’t attend the 2/23 committee meeting, stop by and make a sign for someone who can. (Besides, Kooky is not a bad place to grab some dinner or a beer.) We’ve been told the signs will be more valuable when the ordinances go before the full Council, but that’s fine, they can be re-used.
Everyone please voice your support over the next five days, and let’s get these ordinances to the next step in the process.