PORT ANGELES — The city-sponsored PA Forward Committee, chaired by Mayor Patrick Downie, has recommended that the City Council pass further restrictions on panhandling.
Council members will discuss the panel’s recommendation at their regular meeting tonight.
The council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
In a separate report by interim Police Chief Brian Smith, council members also will hear an update on the police department’s 9-year-old downtown resource officer program.
Staffing challenges include dealing with “aggressive panhandling, trespassing and unlawful camping and property crime,” Smith said in a memo to the council.
Under city ordinance, people cannot “aggressively beg . . . with the intent to intimidate another person into giving money or goods.”
It is a Class 2 misdemeanor under which police can issue citations but not make arrests.
Council members also will hear an update on issues surrounding two problem areas where panhandling occurs: a vacant building near the busy East Front Street-Lincoln Street intersection and an adjacent, privately owned 208 E. Front St. parcel that was fenced off June 8 to prevent panhandlers from congregating there.
Letter to council
PA Forward, which includes Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd, issued its plea for stiffer enforcement against panhandlers in a June 10 letter to council members signed by Downie.
“We, the members of the PA Forward Committee, have followed with growing concern the increase in panhandling and aggressive solicitation in downtown Port Angeles and the negative effect this has on our already struggling downtown businesses,” it said.
“We request the Port Angeles City Council to pass an ordinance prohibiting coercive solicitation and limit panhandling as to time and place so that it does not result in intimidation or public safety issues,” it continues.
“Most panhandlers conduct this activity out of choice as a full-time occupation that can produce a considerable tax-free income.
“There are many opportunities for the truly needy to obtain shelter and food.
“Most panhandlers choose not to utilize these opportunities.”
Smith took a wait-and-see attitude on the tighter law.
“It’s all in the language, all in the details,” he said.
Free speech
Smith said panhandling is considered free speech in the state of Washington and has been vigorously defended by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Regulating something that’s free speech is a challenge,” he added.
“We are comfortable working within the parameters of what we have.”
Smith said a program for entrepreneurs who post warning signs on their property has successfully driven away panhandlers from individual businesses.
PA Forward suggests using an ordinance in Chehalis as a template for stiffer restrictions.
The Lewis County city of 7,300 prohibits aggressive panhandling, as does Port Angeles’ law.
But Chehalis City Council members took an extra step when they approved the ordinance in August.
They went beyond regulating the activity and banned it in certain areas: on a main city thoroughfare, within 25 feet of any business entrance, within 300 feet of three main intersections and from sunset to sunrise on public property anywhere within the city limit.
Fines
In Chehalis, panhandlers can be fined $250 to $1,000 and spend up to 90 days in jail for a second offense.
But none have been fined or incarcerated, instead moving on when warned by police, Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer said Monday.
“It was a huge problem before it was put into effect,” Schaffer said.
“I know the businesses are happy.”
Downie said Monday that shopkeepers and customers have expressed their concern about aggressive panhandlers.
“They feel threatened, they feel uncomfortable,” Downie said.
“The panhandling issue is out of control.
“I understand this is a controversial topic, but there are a number of people from PA Forward and the community who are anxious about this.
“This is a public safety issue.
“We need to take care of it.”
Smith and his family, including his child, recently were confronted downtown by a panhandler who yelled an obscenity at them.
He said people aggressively confronted by panhandlers should call the police.
“People have to call us when that happens,” he said.
Kim Leach, a homeless services provider, said Monday that most panhandlers have residences even though most people see panhandlers as homeless.
She was worried that a more restrictive panhandling ordinance would criminalize the homeless.
Leach said PA Forward’s statement was “misleading” that people panhandle by choice as a full-time occupation and that they can derive “considerable tax-free income” from public begging.
“That statement to me is a little misleading,” she said.
“It makes it sound like people are making a lot of money and people are getting rich out of this, that they are average citizens out there.
“These are people who have multiple reasons why they may be panhandling.”
Leach added that people restricted from panhandling downtown will move elsewhere to beg from others.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
