17-26 Resolution in Support of Putting Panhandlers to Work

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PrintFriendly.com: Print & PDF Page 1 of 9 To Portland panhandlers, program may offer welcome change: Jobs P www.pressheraid.com/2017/03/05/to-panhandlers-program-may-offer-welcome-change-jobs/ By Randy Billings Dana Burnell said he'd rather be working. But that's difficult when you're homeless and struggling with substance abuse issues, he said, standing at the intersection of Somerset and Franklin streets in Portland holding a cardboard sign that asks for money so he can buy something to eat. "I've always been a working man," he said on a recent weekday morning, shortly before a driver handed him $2. "1 write `work' on my sign and get few offers." Soon, panhandlers such as Burnell may not have to look far to find work. City officials are working on a 36-week pilot program to offer day jobs to panhandlers. A city social worker would drive a van around to busy intersections and offer panhandlers a chance to earn $10.68 an hour cleaning up parks and other light labor jobs. They would be paid at the end of each day. Panhandling has been a growing concern in U.S. cities such as Portland, where business owners worry the practice puts a damper on tourism and some residents and visitors complain about panhandlers asking for money on sidewalks and at stoplights. In recent years, panhandlers have spread into smaller communities and staked out street corners in places such as Biddeford, Scarborough, South Portland, Wells, Augusta and Bangor. Journalism you can trust. We need it now more than ever. Get a digital subscription to the Portland Press Herald Communities' responses have ranged from passing ordinances that restrict begging to discouraging people from giving directly to panhandlers. Two years ago, Augusta's police chief grew so frustrated with panhandlers that he took a day off to stand at an intersection with a cardboard sign telling people to donate to charities, rather than panhandlers. In 2015, Bangor police sent out a similar message on Facebook about donating to charities, prompting a dozen people to panhandle in front of the police station in protest. Portland, like Bangor, has an ordinance against aggressive panhandling. In 2013, Portland banned loitering and panhandling on street medians, citing public safety concerns. The law for street medians was challenged by several residents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, and ultimately was deemed an unconstitutional infringement on free speech by the courts. littps://www.printfriendly.com/print?url_s=uGGC_%7E_PdN_%7E_PcS_%7E_Pc SJJJmCE... 6/6/2017