The City Council Homeland Security and Safety Committee will again be discussing the proposed panhandling and since beer ordinances next week. The meeting will be at Tuesday, March 9 at 10 AM, 5th floor of City Hall, 125 N. Main. If you support the ordinances and can make it to City Hall at that time, your presence is very much needed. As I’ve said before, Council members need to see that this ordinance has widespread support among Memphians.
Note that I said Memphians, not just Downtowners. The Council needs to see that people who live in other parts of the city support the ordinance as well. It’s not true that this is “just a Downtown ordinance.” For one thing, 66,000 Memphians who live in all parts of the city come Downtown every day to work. They deserve a safe environment as they walk to and from their cars, and as they go out to lunch. Also, all Memphians deserve to have safe access to Downtown’s amenities such as the Orpheum, FedExForum, Cannon Center, and Autozone Park. Tax revenue from Downtown businesses is used to support all areas of the city.
Why does the panhandling ordinance only declare parts of Downtown a panhandling-free zone, and not other parts of the city? Well, Downtown is a unique case. There are a lot of public areas Downtown – the Main Street Mall, Court Square, the Elvis statue on Beale, the Beale Entertainment District. These are all hotbeds for panhandling. In other parts of the city, panhandlers tend to beg for money on private property. How many times have you been approached by a bum at the Circle K on Union, or the Piggly Wiggly on Madison, or the Bookstar on Poplar? The owners of these businesses have the right to ask the panhandlers to leave their property. The new ordinance actually provides more protection for them as well, by prohibiting panhandling within 25 feet of a business entrance, and within 50 feet of an ATM or entrance to a healthcare facility.
Please attend if you can, and show your support. These ordinances are vital to Downtown living up to its vast potential.