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Curbing the sale of bottled water in Atlanta
The city of Atlanta approved a resolution to study the feasibility of launching a city-run business to employ teens who sell bottled water along busy roadways.
ATLANTA - City leaders are making another push to get the young men who sell bottled water off of Atlanta street corners.
During the last year, FOX 5 has reported on numerous examples of aggressive behavior and criminal activity during encounters with drivers.
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution asking the city to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of creating a new water bottling and distribution municipal enterprise.
The resolution said municipal enterprises "are businesses or services owned by local public authorities that provide services or generate revenue for local communities."
"We don’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of young people trying to be entrepreneurs," Councilman Michael Julian Bond said.
But that drive has been overshadowed in the last year.
There have been numerous incidents around metro Atlanta involving the young men.
"We've got to take responsibility - whether it's on the crime side of the issue or trying to manage our youth in a particular direction."
The resolution said it could create middle-wage jobs and generate revenue for low-income communities.
"What we would hope to do is set up this enterprise to sell Atlanta’s water and also to create a program to educate young people on how to be entrepreneurs. Provide mentorship for these young men and also to provide a structure and protected environment," Bond described.
Tomeka Pless's son, Jalanni, used to sell water.
A teenager shot and killed the 18-year-old last summer while he was doing it in Midtown.
"It's rough. It's been rough, real rough. I don't want what happened to Jalanni to happen to anybody else," Pless explained.
When asked about the resolution, she said, "Just because you are putting these kids in a building or making it feasible for them, who's to say they are still not going to do it?"
She started this petition to get the city to ban the selling of water on street corners.
The municipal enterprise is one of the alternatives city leaders are looking at to get the young men off of the streets.
Now, that council has approved the resolution, Councilman Bond said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has about a week to sign off on it. The study could take between 30 and 90 days.
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