Mark said: "On the same topic, Barbara Lickness has stated that she thinks there should be a limitation on convenience stores in the city, basically because they draw crime around them."
I say: I never said they draw crime around them although I have seen that too. I said the crime is perpetrated by the store owners themselves. It may be in concert with other criminals but the majority of criminal activity is being done by the store owners themselves. Crimes like WIC and welfare fraud, selling cigarettes and alcohol to minors, selling drugs, selling fake green cards (immigration cards), selling stolen goods from behind the counter, running prostitutes, soliciting sex in exchange for goods in the store, keeping coolers at too high of temperatures (saves in electric bills and violates Mn. State Agriculture laws), selling products after the expiration dates (also a violation of Mn. State Agriculture laws) and violating city zoning codes in a variety of ways. Sometimes they get nailed, mostly they don't. The stores in my neighborhood are not owned just by white people. They are owned by Palestinians, Somalis, Liberians, Mexicans, Panamanians, Iraqis, take your pick. There are equal opportunity store owners. THEY ARE NOT ALL THUGS! Some of the people who have owned the corner store by my house and others in the neighborhood are very ethical honest people just trying to make a living. Some of the honest ones just couldn't make a profit through honest means so they just gave up and turned the store over to the next guy. (The store by me has had about a dozen owners in the last 10-12 years) A few of the store owners in this neighborhood have been great neighbors and contributed a lot to the community. They donate stuff for neighborhood functions, they have been on the neighborhood board, they attend the business association meetings. They are honest upstanding members of the community. Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
