- FAST FACTS:
- Wharton Holds First Town Hall
- Meeting Focused on Crime
- Citizens Offered Solutions
tom.powell@wreg.com
tompowell3 on Twitter
(MEMPHIS November 30, 2009 8:47 PM) -- When Mayor Wharton campaigned to become city mayor, he promised to bring Memphis City Hall from Main Street to your street, by holding town hall meetings during his administration.
He delivered on that promise Monday night by hosting his first town hall at Breath of Life Christian Church on Frayser-Raleigh Road.
Residents in the Raleigh-Frayser area have become increasingly concerned about crime in recent weeks due to several murders involving teenagers.
A couple hundred people showed up to vent about crime problems, and to offer solutions.
Mayor Wharton began by saying, "We said we weren't coming to speak, we were coming to listen." With that, hands shot up in the crowd. People were eager to have their voices heard.
Single-mom Demetra Clark told Wharton that she doesn't feel safe enough to allow her 14-year-old daughter out of their apartment at night. "We're working hard everyday, but when we come home there is fear," she said. "We don't know what we're going to walk into."
Clark asked Wharton to help clean up a lot behind her apartment complex that has become an escape route for criminals. Wharton told her someone would speak with her one-on-one after the meeting to get the ball rolling.
Former gang-banger Ronald Baldridge was also in the crowd. He told us he was a former enforcer for the Gangster Disciples. He was shot in 1985 and is now paralyzed. He has since written a book called From Gangs to God. He told Wharton police should work closer with grass-roots organizations, like his group called P.I.A.N.O., an alliance that works to bring "harmony back into the lives of at risk boys by working together like keys on a piano."
Wharton told the crowd he plans to use their suggestions in his overall effort to curb crime, especially gun violence. Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell and several city and county officials were also on hand to speak with citizens and listen to their concerns.
