Thursday, January 7, 2010
News Mayor Reed plans to get tougher with panhandlers
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 12:32 AM
He doesn't want to call it a "crackdown," but that's what it sounds like — and it'll come as welcome news to most folks who live or work downtown.
At Kasim Reed's first press conference as mayor yesterday, he announced — after introducing interim Police Chief George Turner and the new APD structure — that he plans to vigorously enforce the city's existing panhandling laws. The ATL's many panhandlers, he says, are the number two complaint among visitors and a serious drag on downtown's convention-based economy. (What's the No. 1 complaint, you ask? That would be our city's sucky nightlife.)
As you may recall, Mayor Franklin spearheaded the creation of a downtown "no-panhandling zone," but the city has proved gun-shy about enforcement, possibly because of vocal criticism from homeless advocates.
Reed is quick to defend his approach as compassionate — not to professional beggars, but to actual homeless people and low-income workers. If rampant panhandling causes downtown hotels and restaurants to lose business, it'll be the line cooks and hotel maids and maintenance men who suffer when their jobs are cut, he said Tuesday.
"I separate homelessness and panhandling," he explained, pointing out that Atlanta offers homeless treatment services through its Gateway Center.
Then he delivered a tough sound bite: "Walking up and asking people for money in the city of Atlanta is not OK."
We'll see how this plays out.
In related news, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has apparently gotten a foreclosure reprieve on its mammoth shelter at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets in Midtown. I'd reported back in November that the building was about to be sold on the courthouse steps to satisfy delinquent debts to two charitable lenders.
I'm now told the Task Force has been given another three months to come up with the money owed. Meanwhile, its quixotic lawsuit against City Hall for conspiring to separate the shelter from its HUD-grant teat has been transferred to federal court, where the first hearing is still months away.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Comments (15)
Showing 1-15 of 15
Get it over with, Kasim. This could be your PATCO moment. Close that blight of a shelter and get its clients located - compassionately - well away from the center of town. And if some idiot judge decides he knows better, make him understand that you'll campaign for his opponent next time he's up.
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If this was an easy problem it would have been fixed a long time ago. Good luck Mayor Reed.
Party pooper. Now who's going to entertain us during long downtown red light stops with bizarre, psychotic behaviors?
hmmmm...I didn't vote for Mayor Reed, but like what I'm hearing so far. Good luck Mayor!
How about dealing with the issue throughout the city and for its residents as well, not just for the visitors downtown though maybe that should take priority? I'd certainly like to walk a few blocks from my home w/o being harassed and not have to worry about panhandlers walking out into traffic at the intersections of North/Boulevard and Ponce/Boulevard.
I agree with PonceRes. I rarely walk out my front door to walk the dog without problems. I never buy gas at the Chevron without at least one guy sizing me up. Some know me, but most ask for money. On the other hand, I am okay with the APD starting with the Tourist Triangle and then expanding outward.
Gotta start somewhere Dale. Plus we find it to be a minor annoyance as where virtually harmless, drug addled people with no strength to actually hurt someone scare the crap out of some yokel outside the aquarium.
I applaud Mayor Reed for taking a tough stance on panhandlers and agree it's better to start with the tourist areas. Now, if he can rid the corner Freedom Parkway and Boulevard from the aggressive panhandlers he will have earned his vote. I keep waiting to hear of some crackhead being accidentally hit while begging in the middle of Freedom Parkway.
I was homeless for 18 months, so I am speaking from experience and first-hand knowledge. To begin, I never panhandled - instead, I sold my plasma and did odd jobs at businesses, such as cleaning up bottles after bars closed, for money. Most cities of any size have free service facilities that the homeless can use where they get free food, counseling, medical care assistance, a place to sleep, shelter from the elements and free clothes. There is absolutely no reason why a person in need should have to resort to begging - ruining the reputation and economy of a community - in order to survive. I even went so far as to spend a bit of the money I was paid for my plasma to buy a cane fishing pole. I fished and I foraged for roots and herbs - and I ate like a king under the bridge where I slept. I came to learn, first-hand, that the majority of those who panhandle do so because they "are" lazy, they want a free ride through life, they know that they don't have to pay taxes on what they get from begging (and it is often quite a lot) so they are getting one over on the IRS, and they are either drug and-or alcohol addicts. As for the people that give to the beggars - they may think that they are doing a good deed, but they are actually feeding the destructive habits of these beggars, enabling them to remain destitute, and encouraging even more destructive habits to come. I thank God that I never stooped so low as to beg, and that I never once took a single cent that I did not earn by way of honest work or trade. Today, because I adhered to my morales and beliefs, I am no longer on the streets. Instead, I own three very nice businesses, and I am able to travel and enjoy life the way it was meant to be lived.
Were you homeless in Mayberry? Im calling bullshit. This sounds like the sort of email forwards my Dad sends me.
u also had a hard believing that i lived in reynoldstown for no particular reason, so we're gonna have to call bullsh*t on your bullsh*t detector. it's a new year, try a new approach. douchbag doesn't seem to be working anymore.
So you believe this guy? Have you ever seen the episode of the Office (American) where Michael Scott turns into Prison Mike. Thats what this sounds like. And the word Douchebag is so lame. Its the go to insult for anyone on a blog. Its gotten to the point where it has no meaning. Every single time somebody has a different opionion they cant all be "douchebags". That said, have a nice day, dildobreath!(its got to start somewhere).
Actually, Edgewood, I was homeless a lot of places, from Mobile, Alabama to Colorado Springs, Colorado. You can call BS on whatever you choose - but I know where I have been and what I have done and experienced in life. If it is so hard for you to believe that a man can make it through the hard times in life without sacrificing his dignity, then you must have very little dignity to defend for yourself.
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