City Council not ready to pass ordinance that would give MDA fundraiser the boot

The City Council Wednesday night said it is not about to pass an anti-panhandling ordinance if it means the city's firefighters can't continue their annual “Fill-the-Boot” campaign to raise money at city intersections for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The council tabled a proposed new ordinance, which it passed on a first of three required readings last month, and told city staff to find a way that would allow such worthy endeavors as the firefighters' fundraising campaign and at the same time keep aggressive solicitation and begging out of the city.

Council member Kris Gulick said some system of permits or special event applications could be tailored to the anti-panhandling idea.

“That's what we need to do,” Gulick said.

Several representatives of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, including a mother of a child with the disease, spoke to the council and asked it to find a way to keep the firefighter fundraising effort in place. The late-summer event raised about $35,000 this year, the most of any similar kind of event in the state, MDA representatives reported.

Kathy Potts, a candidate for the District 3 council seat, told the council she was “embarrassed” to sit by and watch representatives of the MDA have to come before the council and “beg” to keep such a worthy endeavor as Fill-the-Boot alive.

In agreeing to table the matter, council member Monica Vernon said exceptions accorded the firefighters and the MDA would also need to be open to other worthy groups. She said some guidelines on public safety still need to be part of the requirements even for those who qualify for a permit. Liability insurance, which the MDA provides for firefighters as part of the Fill-the-Boot event, likely will be another requirement.