[MissoulaGov] panhandling ordinance

[Jeremy Hood]

I strongly disfavor ordinances like this for many reasons. 



Making it illegal to be homeless is much like harassing the homeless at
3am in the morning. I have seen it done. I think whoever does it is
pathetic as a human as well. What is the homeless person suppose to do,
go down to Job Service at 3am? There is a song somewhere that was on
the internet talking about a homeless person getting a job with a line
something like, "the man was wearing his underwear on the outside of
his pants, somehow I doubt all his credentials were in line." 



The mentality of sweep them under the rug is ugly. My friends, the city, the country, the world, is up to its eyeballs in band-aid patch work problem solving and this is just another example. It only protects a few people, and in this case only those too prude with their "I worked hard" ideas that validate their choices to acknowledge someone else could have misfortune. 

Then there is the aspect of being free. If you do not want to contribute into a society the way everyone else tells you, but harmlessly (in an interpersonal way) survive in it do you not have the right to? If you only have things given by those generous enough to give, that want to, is there any big problem? In a similar respect if I am free I would like the ability to sit, lay, do whatever I want on public property. If it is public it is for everyone. I may never exercise that right but if something is public it should be an option. 

I see no reason why some people that have to hide from the public should have any right to ideas of what public affairs should be. In fact I despise people that are so up all over themselves they refuse to look down on things they deem unsightly. This does not mean I have had only good interactions with the homeless however. The thing is I have had almost every action with another human being I did not desire, or have been witness too, with people that are not homeless and not unemployed. This is the general case for most people in most circumstances. If people are to target them because of their misfortune, so that any future conflict involving them can be prevented, I want an ordinance for those people to be removed from the public right away for obscenity towards the human race. 



From: ectbo at hotmail.com
To: raustin at missouladowntownbid.org; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 12:53:06 -0600
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] panhandling ordinance









 


I agree that Missoula is a generous town and we do care about people from all walks of life, but I also feel that the proposed panhandling ordinances will do little to address the underlying issues people have. Creating laws that fine or jail those who are without financial resource seems off the mark. I also worry about an us vs. them mentality being fostered. It does little to build community.
I think Bob almost got it right. It is a vocal minority of individuals led by BID who don't want to see the effects of poverty lying or sitting on the sidewalks downtown. 
This process started on September 10, 2007 when a group of downtown business owners lobbied city council to enact an anti panhandling ordinance. On October 17, 2007 at the Public Safety and Health Committee meeting, council members volunteered to meet with the Pov and the Police to form a working group to address the business owners concerns. That group became the Panhandling Working Group. The group has met behind closed doors and it is not open to the public. There were no published agendas or minutes, so it is unclear who participated in the group or what was discussed, but the proposed ordinance is the one of the results of their work. 
Some believe we already have tools to deal with bad behavior downtown--the existing (city)  ped-interference ordinance and the (state) disorderly conduct statute. I know we have a fantastic group of law enforcement people in Missoula. If someone is being disorderly or threatening someone downtown, I think the Missoula Police will respond and take appropriate action, if they are called. I wonder if the people who are complaining to city council about panhandling, are they willing to call the Police and file a report, then go to court and testify against the street person? Or will they not need to because someone else will deal with it for them? That seems to be the question at hand.
Why are more efforts to address poverty issues downtown not part of the Downtown Master Plan-vision for Missoula 25 yrs out? Inclusionary zoning for low-income housing and rehabilitative services for the homeless could be part of a long-range plan.
 
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