[MissoulaGov] panhandling ordinance

[Shaun]

I agree, Jim.  Sleeping is not aggressive.  Christopher Alexander (A Pattern 
Language) writes that in a civilized society there are places to sleep 
safely in public.  It occurs to me that in times of (perceived or real) 
dearth, people build cities and homes that curtail this basic human 
need--sleeping without fear.  Of course, we can't make shelters or comfy 
benches for everyone to move into on the streets of Missoula, but if we want 
to take a nap downtown under a tree after shopping or spend a night in a 
sleeping bag by the river, we should be able to do that without fear of 
someone spitting on us, of thieves taking our things, and of police yelling 
at us to move on.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Lang" <missoulagov at guscreek.com>
To: <missoulagov at cmslists.com>
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:47 AM
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] panhandling ordinance



>I prefer to lurk, but as someone who did spend several years homeless,

> there was one part of the Pedestrian Interference Ordinance that really

> needs comment.

>

> "It is unlawful for any person to lay or sleep upon any street, sidewalk

> or other public right-of-way

> within the city limits."

>

> This seems overly broad.  According to Section 1:

>

> "The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety and

> welfare of the citizens

> of and visitors to the city by prohibiting acts of aggression or

> interference towards pedestrians. This

> includes prohibiting pedestrian interference involving actions that

> intentionally obstruct pedestrian

> passage on public bridges, streets, sidewalks, parks and other publicly

> held or owned lands."

>

> Simply laying on a sidewalk is certainly not an act of aggression, and

> while it may (or may not) be obstructive, it is unlikely to be

> intentionally obstructive.

>

> And the sleeping ban...  again, if a sleeping person is not obstructing

> the right of way, are pedestrians being interfered with?  This seems

> more like it is protecting pedestrians from seeing the plight of a

> homeless person than it is protecting pedestrians from some sort of

> interference.

>

> Jim Lang

>

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