Your Editor has one of the nicest offices in the world and it is smack dab in the middle of Clarksdale.
I love the big plate glass window that stretches from floor to ceiling and keeps me up to date on the weather, those walking by and the seasons. I watch the sun set over East Second Street and have even seen it come in my window on those late nights that turn into mornings.
The old Woolworth building was built strong and thick and I feel safer during a storm sitting in my office than I do at my home on the other end of Second Street.
Locals wave at me as they pass my window on their way to get their coffee and start their day. Tourist stop to view the Editorial Cartoons pasted on my window. And Michael Hunter pecks on my window when he wants a dollar or a ride home.
Safe Spot
Like I said, my office is built like a bunker and is a safe and secure sanctuary for our staff.
But something changed Tuesday morning.
We had a homeless man walk into our office and demand we do a story. The door to my office is always open and I quickly walked to the counter and asked if I could help him.
He said he knew all about the recent murders in this town and had information about corruption and the people doing all this. I’m paid to ask question and asked him a few. It was apparent he was somewhere else and his mind was racing.
I chatted him up as we walked out the door. He tried to come back in and I told him he needed to leave. He walked off loudly cursing me.
It rattled the ladies in my office. I called police seeking answers and a solution.
The lieutenant said he was “one of my better customers.” He pointed out it was the first of the month, they had just gotten their checks and were as “high as a kite.”
Downtown Problem
Clarksdale has a homeless problem. It was one of the first issues I jumped on when I came to town five years ago.
I have covered several stories of people working with the homeless. The city even gave a group $10,000 to open a homeless shelter. When the folk in New World found it was going in their neighborhood it caught fire. I don’t know if the city ever got the money back.
The problem with homeless people is it usually means jobless people. They have too much time, no job and they walk around and beg.
Just like you they can spot a tourist from a mile off and they hit them up. I’ve seen them go in downtown restaurants and beg from people eating. When they were offered pizza and bread, they turned up their nose. The kitchen help ran him out of the building.
The homeless have started using the bathroom downtown, too. They all but ruined the Gazebo before the cops ran them off. Now they sit on the benches less than 100-yards from City Hall. Doesn’t our Mayor see the problem when he drives to work every morning from wherever he lives?
Mayor Chuck Espy is quick to say he is the voice of the “least of these.” But we want to remind him talk is cheap.
It’s time for action.
Quick Solutions
I realize there is a mental health issue with some of these people. But Michael Hunter told me yesterday, “Everybody knows you mind a man with a badge and a gun.” For a man people call crazy, that was the golden truth.
Police need to enforce our laws. Our courts need to uphold the law. We need to support them both on this issue.
Clarksdale has a vagrancy law. That means if you are not retired or don’t have a job, you can’t sit around downtown with a bunch of bums.
Clarksdale has a public drunk law. If you are drunk on the streets of Clarksdale, you can and should be arrested and carried to jail. Once you sober up you need to be taken before a judge and made to pay a stiff fine.
Clarksdale has a public health ordinance. People who soil our streets with bodily fluids should be hauled before a judge and fined severely.
Clarksdale has a pan-handling law. But Mayor Chuck Espy joined with other cities in Mississippi shortly before I came here and said it would not be enforced. How has that worked out?
Downtown is special
Our downtown is the heart and soul of this community.
How many remember when the Woolworth building was where you bought Christmas? What were the streets of Clarksdale like then?
How many times have we seen out-of-towners come here and fall in love with downtown, buy a business and come to work here? I wonder how many have been run off by a sick, hungry, staggering bum asking for money for a drink or dope?
How many current businesses are hurting because the homeless hit up their customers before they even come in the door?
How many of you are aware there is a plan to spend millions developing a Riverwalk along the Sunflower? Are we going to turn it over to bums and muggers once it is finished?
I urge police to get tough on crime just a few feet from the Police Station. I urge our city leaders – the ones who really care and are here for the long haul – to back up the cops when they enforce the law.
Clarksdale has always had crime, but downtown was off limits. Downtown was once the safest neighborhood in Clarksdale. It can be that way again.
I urge businesses to call Police when they see a problem. If you are not going to be part of the solution, maybe you should move your business elsewhere.
Downtown sold me on this community when we came here five years ago. It has changed dramatically. I say let’s step up and take it back.
Floyd Ingram is the Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. He has fought social problems in every town he has lived in and would have it no other way. If you really care about Clarksdale, call him at 662-627-2201.
