-Caveat Lector- Will there be a new era of Bonnie & Clyde, etc... --- Bill
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Newsom wants to widen ban on S.F. begging Plan would cover median strips, ramps, movie lines, parking lots Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, December 29, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- San Francisco -- A decade ago, San Francisco voters outlawed aggressive panhandling in the city. A couple years later, they went after soliciting money near ATMs. Now, there's a plan at City Hall to broaden the ban -- targeting begging everywhere from movie lines to parking lots. Supervisor Gavin Newsom outlined this week his proposed legislation that would prohibit panhandling along median strips and freeway ramps, around parking meters, in front of banks and check-cashing businesses, in parking lots, around transit stations and places where people are lined up to go into a building. Violating the ban would be a misdemeanor that could carry a $500 fine and six-month jail term. The last supervisor to go after panhandlers was Amos Brown, when he unsuccessfully tried to prohibit begging on median strips along busy streets. Newsom's bill would go much further than what was proposed by Brown, who was voted out of office last fall. "This is not legislation I'm particularly proud of," Newsom said. "But the problem is so dominant and disproportionate in a city our size that something needs to be done." Newsom said he has received numerous complaints from constituents fed up with not being able to walk down the street or wait for a movie or park their car without being hit up for money. Mara Raider of the Coalition for Homelessness said begging is a fact of life where there are poor people. "This is yet another political attempt to legislate poverty out of sight," she said. "It's not the answer, and he knows better." Newsom said that by allowing panhandling, "we are subsidizing failure, we're subsidizing addictions, and we're subsidizing people's fears." Ask the panhandlers, and they say the donations they receive from passing strangers help them get by. Char Gunning, a mother of two school-age boys, stood on the corner of Fifth and Harrison streets in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood one day this week begging for cash from drivers coming off the freeway. She lives with her kids and sister in a small studio apartment, and the only money she brings in comes from panhandling. She makes $5 to $25 an hour, and stands on the corner an hour or two a day. She would panhandle there more, but the folks who beg at the popular spot rotate, setting up shifts. JOB IS OUT OF THE QUESTION Gunning, 40, said she's not addicted to drugs or booze. Her demon is depression and low self-esteem. Holding down a regular job is out of the question right now. She said of Newsom's plan: "It's a shame. For those of us who haven't been able to pick ourselves up, to dress right to get a job, this (panhandling) is a nice legal way to get money. This is our survival, really. We don't need to be harassed. We need to be helped." Chris Sears, another beggar at the intersection, called Newsom's plan "mean- hearted." Sears said he's not harassing people when he panhandles. He simply holds up a sign asking people for help. "I can see the point of view that panhandling is an eyesore," he said. "But I'm not hurting anybody." Sears, 40, said he lost his job of 13 years as an auto detailer a few years ago after a disagreement with a new manager. He is homeless and addicted to drugs. "I'm not proud of what I'm doing, and I'd like to change my situation," he said. "But for now, this is what I've got." In the first five minutes during his "shift," one driver handed him a small bottle of apple juice, another gave him a loaf of sliced bread. Around Christmas, someone handed him a wool coat. OUTREACH PART OF CRACKDOWN Newsom, who is considering a campaign for mayor, said he isn't trying to be mean-spirited. He wants to link a police crackdown on panhandling with outreach and education to get people the services they need. He has additional legislation to expand the homeless shelter program in San Francisco and to cut back the bureaucratic barriers keeping people out of the shelters. He's also championed more drug treatment for the addicted. "People shouldn't be out on the streets begging for money," Newsom said. "That just feeds their dysfunction, feeds their addictions. . . . I'm not suggesting this is the answer to the homeless problem in San Francisco, but it certainly doesn't do a disservice to these people, and it may actually get them the help they need." Raider, from the homeless coalition, noted that efforts to couple outreach with enforcement in the past have not worked because there aren't enough services to handle the demand. Current budget problems may make matters worse. Newsom said he is using parts of anti-panhandling laws on the books throughout the country -- from New York to Seattle and closer to home in such cities as Berkeley, Mountain View and Palo Alto -- to craft his measure. He said it will be tailored narrowly enough to withstand an expected constitutional challenge. Critics argue that begging is a First Amendment protection. Courts have generally upheld laws that restrict -- but not outright ban -- panhandling. Newsom will formally introduce his proposed ordinance at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 7. With a majority of supervisors left-of-center politically, Newsom will have a difficult time getting the votes to pass his proposal. Newsom said if the board doesn't support his plan, he'll try to put it before voters. Former Mayor Frank Jordan, who was often thwarted by a more liberal board, did just that when he went to the ballot to win voter approval in 1992 to ban aggressive panhandling and in 1994 to ban begging around ATMs. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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