PORT ANGELES — Residents will see an immediate increase in foot patrols downtown as a result of recent City Council action on panhandling, Port Angeles Police Sgt. Jason Viada said Wednesday.
The City Council decided Tuesday to delay considering tougher panhandling laws for 60 days while police step up their monitoring of begging downtown and let businesses know they can post enforceable signs that prohibit loitering and trespassing.
Business owners can sign authorization forms available at the police department that authorize police to enforce no-trespassing laws that could result in the trespasser’s arrest, according to a presentation by city police officials at Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
A sample notice prohibiting “loitering, trespassing, skateboarding and unauthorized vehicles” and warning of “prosecution through the city of Port Angeles Police Department” was included in a PowerPoint presentation by interim Police Chief Brian Smith and Viada.
“The goal of those signs is to gain voluntary compliance,” Viada said Wednesday.
He said an Operation Stonegarden grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, targeted for increased overall enforcement around international ports, will help fund overtime for the patrols.
The push for more enforcement was spearheaded by Mayor Patrick Downie, Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd and the city-sponsored PA Forward Committee on which they sit and that Downie chairs.
As of Wednesday, 96 people had signed an online petition calling for tougher measures, said Jennifer Linde, the Clallam County Economic Development Corp. representative on PA Forward.
Kidd, repeatedly describing panhandlers as entrepreneurs at Tuesday’s meeting, said more than 200 people had complained about aggressive begging, which is a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable with a citation but not arrest.
In a letter signed by Downie, PA Forward recommended the council approve an ordinance prohibiting “coercive solicitation” and limit panhandling to certain public areas and times, such as allowing it only from sunrise to sunset, as is done in Chehalis.
At the council meeting, Kidd picked up a small plastic bag of trash from beside her chair, saying it contained “the alcoholic stuff they leave behind” in areas where panhandlers congregate.
“We are talking about people who are entrepreneurs and stand there with a sign and make cash,” she said.
“It is not the homeless who are doing it,” she said.
“It is people who are choosing this for their lifestyle and to make money.
“These are people who want to live a lifestyle by standing on corners and getting tax-free money.”
Councilwoman Sissi Bruch disputed that characterization.
She said she did not know anyone “who would say, ‘Gosh, I would love to grow up to be panhandler.’ ”
People who panhandle would take a job, she added, “rather than just stand out there begging for money.”
Tougher panhandling rules also were opposed by Kim Leach, executive director of the homeless services agency Serenity House of Clallam County.
“This ordinance will only move the problems to a different area of the city, of the community, of the neighboring town or somewhere else,” she said at the meeting.
“It’s not going to address the underlying causes of why people panhandle and the needs that are out there.
“Who knows how much money they are making.
“Do you really think they are making that much money?”
Councilman Dan Gase said there are real concerns among people downtown that need to be addressed.
“I am hearing our citizens are afraid to walk downtown and shop in downtown stores,” Gase said.
He asked Smith if there were “sufficient tools” for his department to address aggressive panhandling.
“The most effective tool we have is our presence, getting voluntary compliance,” Smith responded.
Viada, who frequently patrols on foot downtown, said he has had numerous conversations with panhandlers.
“They perceive that they have a very limited number of choices, and they have chosen from that very limited list what they are going to do,” he said Wednesday.
Viada said he sometimes asks panhandlers how they survive.
“One described it this way exactly: ‘I live outside,’ ” Viada recalled.
Others have said they sleep under bridges, while another segment lives in recreational vehicles.
“I don’t remember having a conversation with someone who told me they had a permanent home and they were down there panhandling so they could pay their rent or their mortgage,” Viada said.
Viada said no one has ever described panhandling as a job or as a way to deliberately not pay taxes.
Kidd responded Wednesday that one panhandler told her he makes $200 a day.
“They get tax-free money,” she said.
“They don’t want food; they want money for beer. They harass tourists and merchants. They are living a free lifestyle.
“They panhandle because it pays off.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
