What should city governments do about panhandling?
KVAL News gave you an in depth look at the business of begging in Eugene and Springfield, two weeks ago.
"People think he's just trying to get booze or something. No, I want a job," said Robert Aitken, a panhandler in Eugene.
KVAL News found out Springfield Police just arrested Aitken Tuesday morning for identity theft, but he was released that same day from the Lane County Jail. His case is just one of many in what some residents consider a growing problem.
Since our last stories, many of you sounded off on KVAL.com and voted in a our poll. We asked, 'should the city councils in Eugene and Springfield try to craft laws to crackdown on panhandling?' Out of 330 responses, 64% said "yes," 17% said "no" and 19% said "only if it doesn't violate the constitutional right to free speech."
"I believe there is a safety problem at the entry and exits of freeways with homeless people begging for money," said Janice Matthews, Eugene resident.
Others we met up with Wednesday afternoon, also had some pretty strong feelings on panhandling in their own backyards.
"They're not necessarily tidy people. And it's kind of interesting to look at a place where panhandlers have been and there's always a mess around," said Judy Long, Eugene resident.
"Clearly it's chronic. It's a chronic situation," said Leslie Oldenburg, Eugene resident.
We took your concerns to Springfield City Manager Gino Grimaldi and Eugene Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary.
Question: What would you say to the taxpayer who feels it is a problem and thinks the city should craft tougher laws against panhandling?
"I guess I would say the same thing to any taxpayer on any issue they feel strongly about and that would be that they need to talk to the city councilors and elected officials about the need to change policies," said Medary. "The panhandling is really a complicated issue in terms of right to free speech, their right to a public forum."
"If we take steps and they are not constitutional, we haven't accomplished anything in terms of safety and we'll create some problems for the taxpayers," said Grimaldi. "If we get caught up in a long drawn out court issue, it's very expensive."
Question: In 2007, Roseburg passed an ordinance that stops a person from being able to give others money or other goods from their cars on streets and highways. This ordinance has not been challenged. Why cant something like that be created here?
"It really doesn't stop panhandling. It stops people from being able to give," said Medary. "So, to the extent that you would have to enforce that, I don't know that it would stop the people on the corners. It would punish people like me if I wanted to give food to somebody."
Question: If an ordinance was created, where would the panhandlers go?
"You move the issue. Until you solve the social problem, you don't avoid moving the people from one area to another in terms of where the problem is," said Grimaldi.
