> Pizza chain refuses delivery to Stuart school
>
> By Matthew Doig, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
> Wednesday, June 7, 2000
>
> STUART -- High school Principal Ray Parrish thought a
> pizza would be a good reward for a group of students who
> had just completed an anger management class.
>
> But when pizza chain Papa John's said it would not deliver
> to his school because it was near Martin Luther King Jr.
> Boulevard, it was Parrish who needed his anger managed.
>
> "I felt I had somebody telling me my school is unsafe, and
> that's obviously not the case," said Parrish, principal of
> Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School. "This is a public school.
> They can't drive here in the middle of the day?"
>
> The school for at-risk students is in East Stuart, a
> predominantly black area plagued by drug activity.
>
> Parrish said he even offered to wait out by the school's front
> gate for the pizza but was again refused.
>
> "Then I called Pizza Hut, and they had no problem
> delivering here," Parrish said. "The driver came in, got his
> tip and left. As far as I know, he's still in good shape."
>
> Though Pizza Hut delivered to Parrish's school, a manager
> of a Pizza Hut on U.S. 1 said it was only because of a
> mistake. The manager said a new employee was working
> the phone and accidentally agreed to the delivery. Since
> the customer was a school, the manager said, "It was OK,
> this time."
>
> A manager at the Papa John's said he was "told by a general manager not to
> deliver over there," and that drivers have complained of problems in the
> neighborhood. He said his store gives East Stuart residents a 50 percent
> discount because they have to pick up pizza.
>
> And a manager at the Domino's Pizza in Palm City also said it would not
> deliver to the East Stuart area because of "problems in the area." He said
> the policy has been in effect for at least the six years he's worked there.
>
> Denying delivery service to supposed high-crime areas, known as
> "redlining," is not unique to Stuart. Cases from Jacksonville to Kansas
> City, where customers were refused delivery because of where they live,
> have made national news during the past few years.
>
> More recently, pizza chains in Riviera Beach and Boynton Beach succumbed to
> boycotts and demonstrations and agreed to deliver to areas that had been
> redlined.
>
> Former Stuart mayor and city commissioner James Christie, who lives in East
> Stuart, called Papa John's decision not to deliver to a school in the area
> "absurd."
>
> "People say they're threatened, or that this is a high-crime area, but it's
> not a high-crime area," Christie said. "There's some areas I wouldn't go to
> in East Stuart at night, but there's other areas in town I wouldn't go to
> at night. It's unfair."
>
> City Manager Dave Collier agreed with Christie that Papa John's drivers had
> nothing to fear from the afternoon delivery to Spectrum, or from the East
> Stuart community as a whole.
>
> "I've never read anything in a police report about people from home
> delivery operations being robbed or attacked," Collier said. "I don't know
> how they came to that conclusion."
>
> Officials from Pizza Hut and Papa John's say the safety of their drivers is
> their main concern. But Pizza Hut's marketing director said the chain is
> under new ownership and is looking to reestablish delivery areas that have
> been ignored, including East Stuart.
>
> Papa John's marketing director said he will talk with Collier and try to
> avoid situations like Tuesday's delivery refusal.
>
> "Oftentimes on the surface, these things look racially motivated," Craig
> Waldman said. "But that is 100 percent not the case. We want everybody to
> have our pizza delivered to them, but not at the expense of the safety of
> our drivers."
>
> Christie, who says Papa John's and Domino's have delivered to his home,
> just wants equal service in his community.
>
> "I hope this is something that can be resolved with sensitivity, to make
> sure all citizens in the city of Stuart receive equity in services," he
> said. "Don't deny East Stuart that service."
>
> matthew_doig at pbpost.com