Solicitors in Memorial Thicket - A Timeline and Actions Taken
Yesterday sometime after 1:00 p.m. one of our fellow neighbors on Windbreak called the guard on duty about two solicitors for Kindred Pest Control in Memorial Thicket. Our guard went to talk to them and explain that there is a No Soliciting Sign at the front of the neighborhood and our residents sign No Solicitation forms that are kept at the guardhouse. He also contacted Reese Brito who is MT’s VP of Security. Reese contacted me and I was able to join them after they had already been talking to the solicitors for over 10 minutes. The solicitors were just getting off the phone with Cody King, the “CEO of Kindred Pest Control”. As they were still unwilling to leave, I asked to speak to the CEO and for the next 15 minutes he and I talked. It was clear he didn’t understand (or want to understand) our legal basis. At one point he mentioned his lawyer and I encouraged the CEO to talk to him. At the end he said he would make a call and decide whether his solicitors would leave. We would only be apprised if the solicitors continued to solicit. Reese and I asked our guard to follow the solicitors and keep track of their actions. At one point later we had reason to believe they had left. If they had, however, they were now back. At that point our guard did call HPD and continued to follow them. When HPD arrived on Last Arrow, Reese and I met the officer. The officer was very nice, helpful and understood our position. He was on the phone with an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County and relayed a couple of questions that we answered to explain Memorial Thicket’s position. At the end of the conversation, the ADA was not willing to enforce the law, so HPD’s hands were tied. They continued to solicit in the neighborhood and our guard continued to follow them. Reese and I decided to place No Solicitation signs on some of the mailboxes to give the solicitors actual notice of no trespassing. Around 6:15 p.m., they got in their car on Plainwood and left Memorial Thicket. Around 7:30 p.m. they were dropped off by the CEO and proceeded to start soliciting again. We once again had our guard follow them. They work from Noon to 9:00 p.m. solely on a commission basis we found out. I know that one of the solicitors left the neighborhood around 8:15 p.m.; I am unsure when the other one left. Brenda Holden, MT’s President, was also involved by, among other things, placing notices on Facebook and NextDoor. Our lead guard, Richard Alvarado, and Rudy, the president of our guard company, proactively called us. Rudy sent out a supervisor who then walked with the solicitor who was still active in our neighborhood so our on-duty guard was able to return to his regular duty. If a solicitor does come to your door, you can consider saying just this, “You are trespassing. Leave now.” This is the first time that any of us recall a solicitor not leaving after being informed of our policies. I only hope that no one has or did sign up for their service and, if you did, would hope you would cancel your service. Feel free to call Cody King at Kindred Pest Services (979.436.8023) and express your concerns to him in a thoughtful and polite manner. Now for my political statement: As you may be aware, crime is up in our City (e.g. just last weekend Houston had 10 homicides reported bringing the total to almost 190 for 2021. This is a 21% increase over 2020.) My view and others is that a primary cause for this increase is a combination of the refusal of our Harris County District Attorney to accept charges or, if accepted, downgrade them severely, and our criminal court judges releasing criminals (including violent ones) back onto the streets with little or no bail and lenient sentences if any. The District Attorney and all of our judges are elected. Elections have consequences and this is a result. I also believe that the Ferguson effect continues to be real, but HPD is doing a good job under the circumstances. The bottom line is we have a law, but if the district attorney refuses to enforce the law, then that law is not worth the paper it is written on.
Greg Sergesketter Director 815 Elk Run Circle 713.234.0604
June 5, 2021