October 18, 2007
Proposed Panhandling Ordinance
City Councilperson Bruce Tyler (1st District) has an ordinance before council next Monday that addresses the panhandling problem at city intersections.
This ordinance makes it illegal to solicit funds from city intersections without a permit. The permit will cost $25 and must be obtained from the police department. Anyone interested in acquiring one of these permits should call 646-6566 and ask for Detective Caldwell once/if the ordinance is passed.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. I want to see the more obnoxious panhandling stopped, but I also do not want to curtail freedom of speech.
I will defend panhandling for food (but not beer). I will defend Food Not Bombs’ right to serve food to the homeless.
I think Tyler’s permitting idea is an honest attempt at a compromised solution, but I am not sure about all the ramifications. I am undecided right now about the specific resolution.
I would be interested in hearing neighbors’ views.
By the way if this permitting thing does pass, I call the corner of Idlewood and Cherry. That intersection will be mine!
It seems somewhat doomed to failure. It seems a stretch to get the homeless to go through the paperwork for permits; most of them need help applying for social services.
And I doubt the lack of a permit will stop them from pan-handling. The unlicensed pan-handlers will then be arrested. The end result will be more homeless people in the already overcrowded jail.
I think the point is that they are not going to go get a permit and will be arrested. But I also dont think that they like to go to jail and in fact will stop the flagrant street corner/sign style business that is going on now, probably if they are hanging around in front of your house or in front of the market they will ask you for some change, to buy them a beer, or to make them a sandwich at which point it will be up to you to call the law and file a complaint unless they can provide the proper documentation allowing them to do so, most of us probably wont. But the belvidere intersection stuff just looks bad for the neighborhood and the city. I am all for feeding, sheltering, and helping with addictions but i dont see that those activities have a whole lot to do with the pan-handling. now the verbal harrassment, public drunkness, public urination/defication, public sex ??? ( i havent seen that, sounds crazy, not that i dont believe it happens ) those are other issues dealing with the homeless in oregon hill that may require some further looking into.