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Anti-panhandling measure delayed

By Sheldon S. Shafer
Louisville Courier-Journal

Louisville's bid to stop aggressive panhandlers has stalled, in part because of pressure from advocates for the homeless, who say the proposal will "criminalize poor people."

Just three weeks after Metro Council members held a news conference to announce that they expected the proposed ordinance to pass easily, it has bogged down in committee.

Some council members are troubled by the measure's punitive provisions, and others question whether an ordinance is needed. The city already prohibits begging at homes, businesses or in public places, punishable by a maximum $50 fine and 30 days in jail.

"I don't want to be a party to helping to criminalize poor people," said Councilwoman Judy Green, D-1st District.

Councilmen David Tandy, D-4th, and George Unseld, D-6th, sponsored the proposal at the request of downtown businesses that complained about aggressive panhandling scaring away customers and out-of-town visitors. The proposal would ban people from asking for money within 20 feet of an automated-teller machine, public restroom, school, bus stop or parking garage. It also would prohibit contact with another person by a panhandler, interfering with someone's movement or using obscene language in soliciting.

Violators could be fined up to $250 and sentenced to up to 90 days in jail.

The proposal has the support of downtown and tourism agencies, including the Downtown Development Corp., the Louisville Downtown Management District and the Greater Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson says the proposal is "a good first step," spokesman Chad Carlton said.

But opponents have lost little time in voicing their objections. They include organizations that work with the homeless and some council members who question the need for the ordinance since a state law already prohibits "menacing."

Councilwoman Madonna Flood, D-24th, said she believes the ordinance would make it a crime to ask someone for bus fare at a bus stop, even a person who left his or her wallet at home.

"The language needs to be cleaned up. As drafted, I'm not for it," Flood said.

The Rev. Cindy Weber of Jeff Street Baptist Community at Liberty, which operates a day shelter east of downtown, said the ordinance "is very punitive, and I fear it could be used to clear downtown of homeless people."

Tandy said, however, that the ordinance strives to strike a balance between the truly needy who ask for help and aggressive panhandlers who won't take no for an answer.

Police acknowledge that they have arrested few panhandlers and that an officer probably couldn't apprehend one without witnessing the activity.

The Metro Council's seven-member public safety panel is expected to revisit the ordinance when it meets next week. It could send the ordinance to the full council to consider with a negative recommendation.

Only two of the seven committee members, Kelly Downard, R-16th, and James Peden, R-23rd, said they support the draft version. Downard said that he believes that the existing city regulation is so broad that it "makes every type of request for money illegal, anywhere."

Three committee members, including Green and Flood, oppose the measure outright. Barbara Shanklin, D-2nd, said she also wouldn't vote for the ordinance unless unspecified changes are made, adding that she thinks the proposal may duplicate the state anti-menacing law.

Mary Woolridge, D-3rd, said she is "on the fence" but worries that poor people might be locked up unfairly, adding to problems at the already crowded jail. She also said existing regulations might be sufficient to deal with any panhandling problem.

Councilman Kevin Kramer, R-11th, the public safety committee's chairman, has asked the Jefferson County attorney's office to review all the legal questions surrounding the ordinance, especially some of the language, he said.

"The way it's written, you probably can't panhandle civilly within 20 feet of an ATM," he said, adding that he believes that it's also unclear whether simply touching someone's elbow could be defined as aggressive.

Kramer said an unknown number of council members tend "to be uncomfortable voting on the ordinance as it stands. With some modifications, I could probably" vote yes, although he didn't elaborate.

Jim King, D-10th, the Democratic caucus leader, said that although the measure's outlook is unclear, some version "ultimately might pass. More education has to be done."

Many of the 15 council Democrats "are still formulating opinions," he said.

Steve Haag, spokesman for the minority Republican caucus, said most of the 11 GOP members "want to do something." But, he said, amendments to the draft are probably essential. "The goal is to find something that everybody can agree on," Haag said.

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