As of this morning, Council Member Jennifer Kim has withdrawn her controversial Solicitation Ban, aka the Panhandling Amendment. Noting that it was “perceived as going too far, limiting free speech and was unnecessarily punitive,” she said her original intent was to cut down on panhandling near schools and limit fatalities at intersections. But passage has seemed near-impossible: originally scheduled to be heard by council in early September, a vote kept being pushed back, and now Kim seems to have accepted the inevitable.
This does not mean it’s off the table completely. Quoting the 211 citations for panhandling near schools so far this year, she said she still hopes to introduce a “fair, comprehensive approach” to the problem, including working closer with the Project Recovery and Reentry Roundtable, which aims to get the homeless and jobless back into work and housing. She also talked about “more effective” (i.e. tougher) enforcement of the existing laws.
This article appears in October 19 • 2007.
