Sheraton Removes The Neighborhood "Trash" - And Response (3)

  • Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Thanks to the managers of the Sheraton Hotel on Broad Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard, the neighborhood is now free from the bothersome "trash" that has been accumulating for several years. The "trash" had been loitering around the sidewalks in front of the Sheraton Hotel along Broad Street, and while much of it bothered no one, some of it became a nuisance.

Of course, I'm talking about the homeless and other down-and-outers who were attempting to find a little friendly spot in which to survive the day.

Some were panhandlers, but many were just "hanging around." I suppose the city fathers call that vagrancy and frown upon their inactivity, but the city fathers have no good solution to their plight. With no homes and no work, these "trashy people" seem to have little choice in their daily activity.

A few of the so-called vagrants have made friends in front of the Starbucks Coffee Shop connected to the Sheraton Hotel, and they use the sidewalk meeting spot to have pleasant daily conversations while sipping their Starbuck's coffee within sight of Oprah's signature. However, the managers of the hotel decided that the appearances of these people are not up to their standards and have labeled them all as vagrants and loiterers. They decided to remove the "trash." The police, at the demand of the city fathers, have removed these people using their strong arms and handcuffs.

Today, Broad Street in front of the Sheraton Hotel is free from the bothersome "trash" that has irritated the businessmen and the City Council for so long. Now the streets are available only for the clean, upstanding, and wealthy workers of America. So, now you can send your letters of thanks to the managers of the Sheraton Hotel and the City Council.

Dale Wykoff

* * *

Mr. Wykoff,

Thank you for the information. I can again start patronizing the Starbucks Coffee Shop on Broad Street now that the loiterers and panhandlers have been removed.

 

It was such a nuisance when I wanted to sit and drink a cup of coffee in peace and quiet without having six different people try to bum spare change or even sit down at the table with me to tell me about their bad luck with health. There have even been a few times when I would have stayed at the Sheraton but chose elsewhere because I didn’t want to be bombarded by panhandlers every time I came and went from the hotel.

P.S. Quotations are for just that. When you are quoting someone else. So if you were quoting someone please site the source. Otherwise quotations don’t add emphasis to the word(s) and are not needed if the statement is your own. In which, it is not nice to call another person “trash”.

 

To the managers of the Sheraton, City Council and Chattanooga PD:

Thank you for making my trips to a local business and stay a local hotel pleasurable and safe again.

 

John Masters

Chattanooga  

 

* * * 


Mr. Wykoff, 


I must admit that I find your opinion on the crackdown on vagrancy in the center city quite ridiculous. The grand irony in your piece is that the Times Free Press recently asserted that tourist spending in the center city was nearing $1 billion. 

 

To somehow question the actions of limiting vagrancy or even loitering (which you describe as hanging-around) in Chattanooga's tourist district is misguided. With the exception of crime, few things will deter tourism and investment more than vagrancy and panhandling. We should be congratulating the local police  on the enforcement - not criticize them. This code has been on the books for years. 


In closing, the owners of the Read House parcel pay well over $150,000 in property tax. It is closer to $176,635 by my calculation (Assessed value/100 * 5.07). Your opinion appears to imply that vagrants have more rights than heavy taxpayers. This is an opinion of which I wholeheartedly disagree. The real estate in the center city has high valuations because it is desirable. Vagrancy will only lessen its desirability. 
 
Knox Campbell 

 

* * *

 

Mr. Wykoff,
 
I read your opinion that you submitted regarding the Sheraton Read House Hotel making an effort to curtail the panhandling that has been taking place around the hotel, and as you mentioned, right outside of Starbucks in particular.  I felt compelled to respond for a few reasons.  

 

I am a sales manager at the Sheraton Read House Hotel, and I have worked here for over five years.  I’m also a life-long resident of Chattanooga, and I currently live downtown.  It breaks my heart to see so many people without enough food, without homes, or often times even shelter.  

 

I, and the people I work with, do not consider these people trash.  In fact, if I heard someone calling one of these people trash, I would have words with them.  

 

As I mentioned, I have worked at the Sheraton Read House Hotel for five years, and the panhandling that has taken place around the hotel, and sometimes inside of the hotel, has been an issue for the length of my employment here.  We have had locals, and people from out of town, complain about being asked for money.  A number of guests have voiced concerns that they didn’t feel safe.  I think the people that were congregating outside of Starbucks were unlikely to ever pose a threat to anyone, but we have a duty to make sure that our guests feel safe and secure.

 

Further, employees of the hotel have for the better part of five years made every effort to allow these people to get together outside of Starbucks.  We are all very familiar with the people you mention, and many of us have talked to them at one point or another (or in some cases, on a daily basis) on a personal level.  We told them time and again that we had no issue with them purchasing something from Starbucks, and hanging out like any other paying customer, but they could not ask anyone for money, coffee, food, etc.  This is in accordance with local law which prohibits panhandling in a number of areas, including on café sidewalks or within 25 feet of ATMs.

 

We still observed, and constantly received complaints, that these people were panhandling right outside of the Starbucks.  At times things would spill over into the hotel, and we even had people bathing themselves in the lobby restrooms.  Again, this took place for about five years (at least, as I can only speak from my experience on the subject), and we truly made every effort to coexist with our less fortunate neighbors.  

 

It is important that people know that these people would not hold up their end of the deal by following the law, or the requests of the management at the hotel.  Many of us volunteer our free time to help those that are less fortunate, or are the type of people that will buy food for someone who asks us.  The reason that we no longer allow people who panhandle to hang out around the hotel is because it is against the law, and it was bothering our guests and customers.  

 

The hotel has not labeled, and does not think of, anyone as trash or any of the other terms you used.  To say or imply that we have is completely false and untrue.  If anyone would like to send letters to “the managers of the Sheraton Hotel” they are welcome to.  I would be happy to discuss this or any other issue with anyone that has questions.  Please understand that we are all residents of the city or surrounding areas, and we all want what is best for our hotel, our city, and our fellow man. 
 
Tyler Fordice

 

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