Paul Ryburn's Journal

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.

I got a notification this morning that Saturday’s Tiger game will be broadcast on WKNO-TV at 7 PM.  Here’s a tip if you plan on watching the game on TV:  Watch with the sound on.  Listening to the station do its fundraising drive during the breaks is hilarious.  Last time, they actually managed to get in an “Alas, poor Yorick; I hardly knew ye” quote.  Basketball and Shakespeare.  Gotta love it.

Tonight’s going to be a fun night.  At 7:00 the Flying Saucer will roll out their new, improved UFO Club, with new rewards for people who drink 200 beers to get to the “Ring of Honor.”  As someone who has already been through 3 times and is working on a 4th, I’m very interested to hear what they have to say.

Around 9 I’ll head south to Earnestine & Hazel’s, where Dynaflow will be playing.  I missed them at Downtown Olympics and at Calhoun’s NYE party, so I’m excited to get to hear this band for the first time.

In other news, Brad Birkedahl, formerly of The Dempseys, will make his premiere with his new band The Burnin’ Love Band on Thursday, March 4 at Blues City Cafe at 8 PM.  If you can’t make it Thursday, they’ll have shows Friday-Saturday the 5th and 6th as well.  More info about the band on Brad’s website.

Looks like City Market at Main and Union is going to happen.  They won a forgivable loan from the CCDC yesterday.

“25 years ago” in the CA: On February 19, 1985, a restaurant operator on Beale said that if they experienced another year like the last one on Beale, there wouldn’t be any shops left.

Last night I attended the rally for the panhandling and single beer ordinances.  At lunchtime I’ll put up a post reviewing what was said, and two important dates/times in the next five days.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating a king cake, which she brought to the Saucer’s Mardi Gras celebration/Trivia Bowl last night.

Whoever made the cake forgot to put a baby in it, so it’s unclear who will be supplying next year’s king cake.

I came home from work last night, and as I got in the elevator of my building, Number 10 Main, I noticed a sign listing upcoming events. They’re having a wine, cheese and appetizer pairing for residents Friday night. Later this month they’re having “Sunday at the Movies” showing The Shawshank Redemption, and a backgammon tournament. Next month they’re having an Oscar viewing party, a chess tournament, and a supper club field trip to Flight.

Number 10 has been a wonderful place to live for the last 7 years (which reminds me, I need to renew my lease this month to make it 8). As the sign stated, they try to make the place more than an apartment building… they want it to be a community. If you’re thinking about moving Downtown, it’s definitely a place you should consider.

Oh – one note on the wine, cheese and appetizer event this Friday: Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

(Since bloggers are now required by law to disclose any monetary interests, I have to mention that Number 10 gives residents a bonus if they refer new tenants. I really do love the place, though, and I think the fact that I haven’t moved in 7 years speaks for itself.)

In the news: Support is building to fix broken sidewalks Downtown. This has been a topic at recent South Main Association meetings, and I’m glad to see it’s moving in the direction of being addressed.

If you’re a fan of marketing guru Chris Brogan, mark the date May 6 on your calendar. He’ll be speaking at the Peabody.

Interesting post I found through Twitter this morning… Someone has created a Foursquare/Twitter mashup called PleaseRobMe. Foursquare is one of my favorite iPhone apps, where you earn points for “checking in” at places around town. Check in more than anyone else at a location and you become the “mayor” of that place. I’m currently the mayor of the Saucer, Downtown Huey’s, and a few random places where I eat lunch.

The PleaseRobMe mashup raises an important point, though: When you check in, it generally means you’re not at home. Since Foursquare can be integrated with Twitter, burglars could follow people whose homes they plan on hitting, to find out when they won’t be there. I live in a controlled-access building (another reason I like Number 10) so I’m not too worried about it, but it’s something Foursquare users might want to consider.

I read on Facebook that alcohol, soft drinks, sweets, and profanity are among the things people are giving up for Lent.  I’m giving up observing Lent for Lent.  I think that’s what Microsoft Excel refers to as a circular reference.

I’ll be at the Center City Commission at 114 N. Main for the meeting/rally in support of the panhandling and single beer ordinances.  Hopefully you will be too.  See you there!

In this post I’d like to introduce you to some of Downtown’s most visible street people, who are out every day hustling.  These people illustrate the need for the ordinances restricting panhandling and single beer sales.

You’ll frequently see “Calvin” on the streets around Beale and the FedExForum. He’ll usually station himself near a metered parking space that is open. Sometimes he’ll wear an orange vest, and when a car approaches he’ll wave a towel in the direction of the space. You may think Calvin is a parking attendant. He’s not. He’s a panhandler with a long arrest history for parking scams and drug and drug paraphernalia charges. The Downtown safety patrol once confiscated a fake parking credential he was using. Under the new panhandling ordinance, panhandling at parking meters would be illegal.

“Billy” has been Downtown causing trouble for years. I decided to nickname him Billy because he has a beard like a billy goat. He likes to hang out in Court Square, or in front of Walgreens or Jack’s Food Store on Main. He’ll approach people with a handshake, asking for money to get something to eat. Once he collects enough, he’ll go buy a beer at the convenience store. He repeats this cycle all day. After several beers, he gets drunk, loud and abusive, especially toward women. A couple of years ago, two sweet English tourists in their early 20s were trying to take a photo of the Main Street Mall, and Billy repeatedly approached them and suggested they do lewd things to an area of his anatomy. I called the police on him and ushered our guests to safety inside Walgreens. I wonder how many tourists have left with a bad impression of Downtown Memphis over the years because of Billy.

“Dallas” likes to do the “tour guide” gimmick. He’ll get copies of the Downtown Merchant Guide and Memphis Flyer (free publications) out of distribution boxes. Then he and another panhandler will attempt to sell them to tourists. I have seen him walk alongside tourists for blocks at a time. Dallas is about 6’3″ and is pretty physically intimidating – I imagine plenty of people have given him money simply because they felt threatened. Walking alongside people as you panhandle them would be banned under the new ordinance.

“Sharp Dressed Bum”, so named because he’s often seen in neatly-pressed club attire, is another panhandler who likes to do the tour guide gimmick. He’ll work the area around the Peabody, the Rendezvous, and Beale, chatting up tourists, then asking them for money. Refusals are usually met with threatening gestures, as though SDB is going to come at you, as well as tirades like, “Well, f*** you then, you f***ing bitch! I don’t need your g****mn money anyway! F*** you! You hear me? F*** you!”

“Beetle” is a master of the art of hanging out. He loves to panhandle in Court Square, then he’ll use the money to go buy beer at a store on the Main Street Mall. Once he starts drinking, he gets in arguments and fights with the other street people. For a while, he had a girlfriend, also a panhandler, whom he got pregnant. They panhandled with the baby (in 45 degree weather) after it was born. Then she got pregnant again, by another man, and in a drunken rage he beat her up. He spent 6 months in jail on an assault conviction, but he’s back on the street now, hanging out in Court Square, panhandling guests on the Sleep Inn patio, sipping on a tallboy of beer.

These are the kinds of troublemakers targeted by the proposed panhandling and single-beer sales ordinances. Take away their ability to panhandle, and suddenly it won’t be profitable for them to hang out Downtown all day. Take away their quarts and 40s, and you’ve taken away the fuel that leads to the arguing, the lewd comments, the fighting. If they want to continue to panhandle, fine – they will still have the option to do it, but it will be passive panhandling in spaces designated by the city, and their intimidating abusive behavior will not be permitted.

“Scratchy” is a homeless man who lives in an alley near Bardog Tavern. Scratchy never bothers anyone. He’ll walk around all day, scratching his beard. If you approach him with an offering of leftover pizza or a cigarette or a Coke, he’ll meekly say “thank you” and take it and walk away. The new ordinances will not affect Scratchy in any way, because he never asks for anything and never goes into stores to buy beer. The proposed ordinances are not aimed at the homeless. Believe me, if we thought any law was being passed that would hurt Scratchy, Downtowners would rise up against it in large numbers.

Please don’t get the idea, after reading all the troublemaker stories above, that Downtown is unsafe. That is not true. I have lived down here 8 years and feel completely safe, and statistics indicate 38103 is the safest zip code in the city. Rather, it’s a handful of individuals such as these who create the perception that Downtown is unsafe. It’s costing the area millions in revenue from people who have a bad experience and decide never to come back. As a resident, it’s costing me potential friends I never get to make, because people who consider moving Downtown have a bad experience and decide to remain out east. I want my neighborhood to finally live up to its potential, and the ordinances are an important step in that direction.

Please consider coming to the rally at the Center City Commission (114 N. Main, at Adams) tomorrow at 5:30 PM to show your support for the proposed ordinances. More information on the ordinances and how to support them here.

I forgot to mention one more option for Mardi Gras tonight, on Beale.  Beginning at 5 there will be a parade, with Beale Street krewes throwing candy from decorated floats.  Parade ends inside Club 152 with a crawfish boil, crawfish races, and awards.

The CCC has a new page describing the proposed panhandling and single-serve beer ordinances, listing steps you can take to show your support for these measures.

At the bottom right of the page, there is a petition you can fill out.  Please take a minute to fill it out if you support these ordinances.

I have an idea for a post describing some of the troublemakers the ordinances are looking to address, but it’s too long to type up in a lunchtime post… maybe after work I’ll do it.

Someone left a copy of the special Mardi Gras menu for Kooky Canuck in my building’s lobby, so I took notes.  This is their one day, Fat Tuesday-only menu.

For appetizers they’ll have crawfish egg rolls with red hot ranch, and catfish curls with spicy Cajun remoulade.

There will be a N’awlins Caesar salad with Cajun croutons and blackened crawfish, chicken, or catfish.

Two Cajun po’boys will be offered, fried catfish or fried crawfish tails.

If you like pasta, they’ll have a Kickin’ Cajun Pasta with blackened crawfish or blackened chicken with spicy alfredo sauce, peppers and onions.

They’ll have red beans and rice and jambalaya, and for dessert there will be bread pudding with bourbon sauce, and mini king cakes.

Wow that entire menu sounds good… wish I could eat both lunch and dinner there, but it’s too far to drive for lunch.  So I’ll hit Kooky after trivia, when I can enjoy their drink specials too – $2 34 oz. Bud Light, $2 12 oz. Hurricanes, $2 hand grenade shots.

Tonight was a rare night when I didn’t go out.  It was just too cold to bother with, so I stayed in an subscribed to PokerVT.com which I mentioned in a post earlier today.  I’ve been watching Daniel Negreanu’s small ball poker tutorial videos, and they are excellent.  Absolutely worth the activation fee for joining the site, which was not cheap.  Once I finish the lessons I’m going to abandon the assortment of poker games I’ve been playing lately, and get back to no-limit hold’em in cash games and tournament format.

Time for bed, although I could stay easily up until 3 watching these videos.

Hmmm.  It’s snowing.  Snow, where were you about 5 AM this morning, in time to possibly give me a day off?  Now I’m going to have to deal with this stuff on the 240 going home.

Air Traffic Mike, who will be back in town this evening, shared an interesting fact with me about the Winter Olympics’ host country, Canada. It was originally called “CND” by its inhabitants. It only became “Canada” after the new immigrants tried to spell it:

“C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?”

I’ve been asked to recognize some Downtown police officers who received awards recently: First of all, congratulations to Officer J.T. Duncan, who was named Officer of the Year for 2009 recently for the South Main Substation. Officer Duncan works the “Bravo” shift and this is the second year he has been nominated for the award. In the nomination, he was commended for still being a “beat the bushes” type of officer even after 18 years on the beat. Incidents were cited in which he prevented a number of burglaries and robberies Downtown. Much thanks to Officer Duncan for his hard work. With Downtown having more foot traffic than other parts of the city, “beat the bushes” type officers are much appreciated.

Also, congratulations to Gerald J. Tuznik (Alpha shift), Brian D. Hall (“Charlie” shift), and Darnell Gooch, Jr. (“EDU” shift), the other nominees for the South Main Substation Officer of the Year award.

Congratulations to Lt. William P. Woodard, who was named Supervisor of the Year for the South Main Substation for 2009. Lt. Woodard was cited as doing a great job planning manpower for large events such as Memphis in May, the COGIC convention, and the Fourth of July events. Lt. Woodard worked nearly every holiday when a major event was going on, and on most weekends during the busy April-October busy season Downtown. Lt. Woodard was also complimented for his cool-headedness during riot situations on Beale. Thanks to him and all the command staff at the SMS for the work they do deploying officers to keep Downtown the safest neighborhood in the city.

Want to be on TV? Stop by Circa Tuesday after work and grab some snacks. Andy Wise and his crew will be there filming a segment for Thursday’s 10 PM newscast.

I’m seriously thinking about signing up for PokerVT. It’s a poker training site featuring videos by Daniel Negreanu and other pros. There’s a course on Daniel’s “small ball” style of play. There are hours of videos of the pros playing each other online, and they explain what they are thinking as they try to put their opponents on hands. There’s also a course on poker math by a professor. I watched all the sample videos and they are really, really good. Joining fee is a little steep at $149, but if I joined the site, I’d definitely stay home from the bar quite a few nights to watch the videos. If I stayed home 6-10 nights, the course would pay for itself in terms of bar tabs I didn’t have. (Hopefully it will pay for itself in poker profits too.)

In fact, I’d probably stay home tonight, if I didn’t have knowledge that Air Traffic Mike will be back in town. I guess that’s my excuse to drink for today. See you at Pint Nite.