Good Morning HONORABLE JUDGE POTTER, I am a retired Bishop in the Christian
Methodist Episcopal Church. I have served the city of Memphis and this
community as the Pastor of Greenwood CME church, Mt. Pisgah CME and Temple
of Love CME Church.
I am also the Executive Director and National Spokesman for the Dr. Martin
Luther king, Jr. American Dream Team Initiative/Model Memphis Plan. It is a
"Corporate Neighborhood Model designed to help people take personal
responsibility and accountability for their communities and their own destinies.
I am representing serious concerns on behalf of thousands of Fox Meadows
Residents, the Fox Meadows Neighborhood Watch Association, and concerned
citizens of the City of Memphis. PLEASE KEEP THE KNIGHT ARNOLD FOOD & FUEL
CLOSED - Better known as the BP STATION. Our community needs time to heal
and recover from years of fear with GANGS, DRUGS, and VIOLENCE at that
business.
The community has been fighting for years to declare the BP Station a PUBLIC
NUISANCE. They are in fear that it will re- open too soon. Some people in Fox
Meadows have lost their faith in the justice system, and they are NOT here today.
They think our Public Officials don't care, and that the judicial system is playing
POLITICS with their lives, their neighborhoods and their communities.
The extraordinary work the Memphis Police East Precinct and other law
enforcement agencies have done to put their lives on the line to document
evidence of criminal activity of a Public Nuisance - should NOT be in vain.
District Attorney General Amy Weirick should be commended for shutting down
this Public Nuisance - to save a community plagued with gangs, drug, and violence
for many years. She should also be commended for keeping it CLOSED.
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Residents have found some peace with the BP station being shutdown on Oct. 9.
A young Mother told the media the other day that she feels safe walking with her
kids across the parking lot for the first time in a long time.
There is a daycare center next door. Since the BP station has been closed,
Parents can pick up the kids without fear of their kids being hit by stray bullets,
seeing drug deals take place and young men loitering hopelessly in front of the BP
station, or their Mother's purse or life being snatched. Judge Potter, please save
our children and our community.
A day with the BP STATION BEING CLOSED feels like a thousand years TO SOME
FOLKS IN Fox Meadows. People have been waiting in fear a longtime. Judge
Potter, give us some time to HEAL and to meet with the District Attorney General,
Mr. Hermani, and the citizens of Fox Meadows -to plan and develop sound
solutions to these SERIOUS problems.
Fox Meadows residents will Not tolerate businesses who come into our
communities and operate without regard for public safety. Mr. Hermani, you may
have lost thousands of dollars in profits being shutdown, but we have lost
thousands of our children to gangs, drugs, violence. If you sit down with us and
cleanup the corner of Knight Arnold and Mendenhall, we will do business with
you and you could double your profits. I get my clothes cleaned at Fox Meadows
Cleaners right across the street from you.
Ms. Weirick called one of our Fox Meadows Neighborhood Watch members
Monday and asked that I call her office to setup an appointment. Concerned Fox
Meadows residents want you shutdown for good. We really need some time to
heal.
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Mr. Hermani, we want to work with you and reach a compromise: we are
supportive of you running a clean, safe business. Fox Meadows residents would
like to see you CLOSE your business at a reasonable hour. To keep your business
open for 24 hours in the future would be a problem for them.
Institute a neighborhood clean-up campaign in the proximity of your store and
hire residents to do the work. Make sure your new employees can pass a criminal
background and drug test. Install security surveillance cameras on all areas of
your business, hire a security guard around the clock, Institute and sponsor
programs to help our youth. Distribute literature at your store to empower your
customers to live out their God-given destines. We will help you -if you help our
youth.
There are other creative ideas we can come up with to work and live together.
Even though you live in Collierville Mr. Hermani, we donot want to refer to you as
a BAD NEIGHBOR , BUT A GOOD NEIGHBOR WHO CARES ABOUT THE
COMMUNITY IN WHICH HE DOES BUSINESS.
We are Christian people, and we believe in redemption and repentance. None of
us are perfect...we are striving for perfection. Let's strive for perfection in making
sure our neighborhoods are safe and clean from gangs, drugs, and violence.
Thank you Judge Potter for hearing the "Voice of the PEOPLE in the Fox Meadows,
and Memphis community."
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