Jackson Free Press

John Gomez, associate director of business improvement of Downtown Jackson Partners, vowed that the recent vandalism at Tye's Restaurant & Bar would not significantly upset the organization's attempts to sell the area's assets.

"I don't think it's going to complicate things overmuch," said Gomez. "There will always be little incidents like this, but as more people move into downtown to live, this area is becoming more than a business district. It's becoming a true neighborhood now, so some things we thought could slide 10 years ago we have to address now, because it's not like people are gone by 5:30 now."

Jackson police arrested Jackson homeless man Donald Kazart for allegedly smashing multiple windows at Tye's Saturday night. Restaurant employee John Poore said there was no evidence of anything taken from the property, and that restaurant owners had largely dismissed the crime solely as an act of vandalism. He added that he did not know what had fueled the vandalism.

"This goes to show that we can try as hard as we possibly can to build a reputation to make downtown a place where you can come and feel safe and have dinner and drinks or whatever you want to do, day or night, and have things work against you," Poore said. "When things like this happen, they threaten not only our business but the responsibility that we're trying to take to present this area as a place in the heart of the city where people want to be."

Gomez said Jackson police have already begun focusing on the area in a partnership with Downtown Jackson Partners to discourage crime, though the area, Gomez says, is known as an area with some of the lowest crime figures in all of Jackson.

"We don't have much of a problem with crime here," Gomez said. "The worst we normally have to contend with is loitering. From what I understand, this was a homeless person who was mad that he'd missed a breakfast provided by a social-service provider and took it out on the local business."

Gomez said DJP was working with local businesses to keep it from inflating into an even bigger pain in the neck. He said the DJP had to stay on top of the problem to avoid stifling the fledgling effort of turning the downtown area into a vicinity containing residences as well as businesses.

"You see the windows boarded up at Tye's and think, 'Did Tye's get broken into last night?' We're at constant battle with public perception, and this did not help in the battle," he said.

Poore said the restaurant was open today and he could not address any possible effects on insurance rate hikes this early.

ACLU worker Brent Cox, who works with Jackson's homeless population, said he feared the vandalism would be used as another excuse to mistreat homeless people.

"It will likely be used as a tool for people who already may have not wanted homeless people around," Cox said. "It's not the homeless in general that are committing problems. It's a handful of individuals. Even the homeless people are acutely aware of that. They don't like it when this kind of thing happens either, because they fear that it will incite a blanket mistreatment for everybody who falls into the category of homeless. That could be said about any one of us, black people and gay people."

Previous Comments

ID

151649

Comment

another media source said over the weekend the homeless man in question was allegedly angry because he was turned away by a local church having services in smith park. he showed up for breakfast and was told he was too late. someone please tell me this isn't the case. not so much that he was angry over being turned away (i would be, too) but that a Church...a CHURCH did not turn him away because he was late??

Author

2599

Date

2009-09-08T14:18:36-06:00

ID

151659

Comment

According to the article, the smashing of windows occured Saturday night. Both media sources state the man was angry due to being turned away for breakfast. Breakfast, whether by a social-service agency or church (not to mention church services), usually occurs on Sunday morning. Something is wrong with this time line!

Author

Bob Lowery

Date

2009-09-08T15:41:48-06:00

ID

151669

Comment

let me go ahead and get it straight before this all gets out of whack. the homeless man broke the windows (7 of them) at 9:15 Sunday morning. whether or not (still up in the air) the guy came from the sunday service, we are not sure. he is a frequent flyer down here and his motive is still unclear. yes, we are still open, after many many many hours of sweeping, washing, and headaches. the residents of the plaza building lent a huge hand (including my next door business neighbor debbie rankin, owner of basil's downtown) in "re-constructing" the restaurant so it could be functional today. many thanks still to them, as it was labor day weekend and they could have been elsewhere spending time with their families. also, my thanks to mayor harvey johnson for stopping by this afternoon, unexpected, to check on us and assuring us of the steps which will now be taken to help control other businesses property.

Author

tye d.

Date

2009-09-08T17:28:08-06:00

ID

151670

Comment

At least he's getting 3 square meals in jail...

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2009-09-08T17:29:46-06:00

ID

151720

Comment

I just hope that this incident doesn't give the anti-Jackson crowd ammunition to to spread the lie that downtown Jackson isn't safe. Downtown Jackson might be the safest area in all of the urbanized portions of the metro area.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-09-09T20:10:19-06:00