Posted on 12/09/2005 8:12:15 AM PST by Millee
In an effort to encourage the evaporation of homeless people, the Denver City Council this week imposed tougher rules on street-corner and downtown panhandling, and it outlawed sitting or lying on a public sidewalk.
The council believes that the poor are a nuisance to taxpayers, an eyesore to tourists and an impediment to folks conducting business downtown. But getting rid of them is tricky, because they're not the only people exhibiting these behaviors.
If a homeless woman were asking for money outside Coors Field, she would be warned by the cops and then arrested if she continued. But what if she were begging outside the stadium at the same time that the Colorado Rockies wives were panhandling for charity? Would the cops arrest the homeless women but let the players' wives continue?
What if a homeless man were asking for cash to buy gifts for his children on the same day that the U.S. Marines were asking for contributions to their Toys For Tots program? Would the cops arrest the homeless man while letting the Marines continue?
Right now, the Salvation Army has several "panhandlers" set up on the 16th Street Mall ringing bells. Apparently that's OK, because businesses have given the workers permission to set up outside their doors.
How would the city respond if a downtown law firm gave a homeless panhandler permission to stand outside its office building, ringing a bell and asking for money?
The council cites safety as a concern in telling panhandlers that they can't walk into traffic lanes to receive money, but what happens if a homeless man steps into the road to accept a dollar on Labor Day when firefighters, just a block away, are walking into traffic lanes to collect funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association?
The City Council has disallowed sitting or lying on a sidewalk, which will be pretty easy to enforce against the homeless at this time of year, because they're the only people sitting outside in this frigid weather. But what will happen in the spring and summer when the 16th Street Mall is teeming with business people on their lunch breaks? Hundreds of them will be sitting on the ground, on steps or on ledges in the courtyards outside the Park Central building, Independence Plaza, Republic Plaza and the World Trade Center.
Will the cops wade through the throng and single out anyone who looks homeless? Or will the homeless be permitted to sit and enjoy the sun just like the businesspeople?
I understand that panhandling is a problem for downtown businesses, but instead of enacting unethical, immoral and probably unconstitutional laws that deliberately cherry-pick homeless people for enforcement, why not attack this as a business problem?
When we want corporations to relocate to Denver, we know that we have to overcome the inertia that keeps them in their current locations. We can't force them to move, so we have to put enough enticements in the pot to draw them in. We offer sales and/or property tax abatements, infrastructure development, free or discounted facilities, reimbursement for moving costs, and other inducements that will convince them that they'll be more profitable if they come here.
Panhandlers are entrepreneurs, and they choose downtown for the same reason that business managers do: that's where the money is. If we want homeless panhandlers to leave downtown, we should figure out where we'd like them to go and then create a set of incentives that will attract them to that location.
Creating incentives to draw them away would be more consistent with the strategies we've employed to reshape the economy of downtown. It would be more "legal" than the selective enforcement we've now set up, and it would be cheaper paying the police, court and jail costs required to drive them away.
Comparing them to clean, law-abiding citizens who are taking time out of their day to politely collect money for others is offensive.
"Homeless empowerment zones?" Good Lord.
on Labor Day when firefighters, just a block away, are walking into traffic lanes to collect funds for the Muscular Dystrophy AssociationThey are just as irritating. Even more so. There is an aspect of coercion to uniformed government enforcers "asking" for money.
Reggie . . . hey Reggie. You smell something. Oh, it's that red herring you're waving around.
Let me explain the difference to you. The Marines, Salvation Army, etc, are panhandling to benefit others, and the funds are used to purchase toys or needed clothing.
The "homeless" person is panhandling to benefit himself, and the funds are usually used to buy booze or drugs.
But in the eyes of those who embrace relativism, both these situations are equal, aren't they Reggie?
Best Regards
Sergio
Good God. Thank you for putting in words the thoughts that were just seething in my brain after I read this!
There used to be a man who would work the executive bathrooms in NYC. He would say that he had finally gotten an interview with a great company, but needed $40.00 for a great interview tie.
Cleared about $100K a year.
And the idiots at this newspaper agency wonder why their numbers are trending down?
They're may or may be homeless. But they're bums nonetheless.
Mr. Rivers:
You sir are too obtuse to be writing opinions in newspapers. If you can't tell that there is a difference between bums begging for drug money and the Salvation Army, without having someone hold your hand and explain it to you, then you aren't lacking information. You are lacking intelligence. What to do? Stop giving able bodied people money. They soon discover a quaint solution called employment. Or perhaps they can go and stay with you. Non-able bodied people already have a plethora of governmental and nongovernmental safety nets. Please stop your better-than-thou wining.
"In an effort to encourage the evaporation of homeless people"
Homeless people can evaporate?
...bout 3 weeks ago i was driving into town...came to an intersection and had to wait for the light...i turn to my left and i see a * beggar*...on his placard is said...and i quote " HALP, NED MONIE AND CLOSE, WILL WERC FOR FUDE...HALP MI AND MY FAMILIE"...
so i look at him, he's got a brand new Carharts on, brand new boots, but unshaven...
i pull down my window and say " Nice marketing ploy, bet it works " ...and just smiled at him...he just looked at me, smiled and nodded.
The Mayor of Denver gladly accomodates illegal aliens. Guess the poor on the streets aren't a rung on his ladder of importance.
Our mayor is building all the homeless apartments (no joke). A local radio personality calls them the "Stay Free Maxi Pads".
"Homelessness is generally not the problem - it is a symptom of usually serious problems with substance abuse and / or mental illness."
Not always. Some choose to live that way. When my husband was a cop, one of his frequent flyer bums showed him his bankbook. The bum had more money in the bank than my husband and I. He chose to live on the streets.
Maybe Reggie will open his front yard to the homeless. SF, from where he probably moved, has some spares that Reggie is welcome to.
I agree with that. In our town the police and fire departments have outbound telemarketing efforts aimed at asking people for contributions to causes such as widows-and-orphans support funds.
These causes may or may not be worthy, but it is kind of chilling to get a call from the police department asking for money. It feels like a shakedown, and you can't help at least wondering whether your name's absence on the donor lists somehow means slightly less favorable treatment from local law and order agencies.
I don't think that would happen, but it is uncomfortable and intimidating to be solicited by the local police department.
exactly
Like what?
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