Panhandler ordinance goes too far

Iowa City Council members should pay attention to citizen concerns before they cast their third and final vote to amend the city's Aggressive Solicitations Ordinance.

Further restricting panhandling downtown is nothing short of taking a bad idea and making it worse.

We don't buy the argument that peaceable people soliciting donations are scaring many customers away from downtown businesses, or that panhandlers' forfeit their right to free speech if they do make shoppers uncomfortable.

The existing ordinance already makes it illegal for panhandlers to use obscene or abusive language, to touch a person or block their passage when asking for money, to follow a person or continue to solicit money from them after they refuse. That's reasonable.

The ordinance also prohibits soliciting money within 10 feet of sidewalk cafes, building entrances and mobile vendors or within 20 feet of an automated teller machine.

Now some downtown business owners say even that's not enough. They've asked council members to expand those prohibited areas to ban solicitations within 10 feet of any downtown building and within 15 feet of crosswalks downtown.

The change would hit the city's Pedestrian Mall especially hard - forcing anyone asking for money into a narrow strip down the center of the mall.

Enough is enough.

It's one thing for the city to prohibit aggressive panhandling. It's another thing entirely to limit a person's right to peaceably ask for money.

And while the proposed ordinance change was written with panhandlers in mind, it also will negatively affect street performers, charities and anyone else asking for an immediate cash donation.

Several concerned residents addressed council members before they cast their second of three votes on the issue earlier this week.

Darcy Bennett, Executive Business Director for Dance Marathon, told councilors she estimates the restrictions would cost that University of Iowa Children's Hospital fundraiser about $30,000 in donations each year.

But when she and a half dozen residents spoke against the ordinance change, Mayor Matt Hayek said the restrictions were “reasonable.” Council member Regenia Bailey cast her yes vote, she said, “in support of our wonderful, locally-owned businesses downtown in this difficult economic climate.”

Only Council member Mike Wright has voted against the stronger rules, calling them “anti-poor”.

“I think the unfortunate thing is that often panhandlers aren't well dressed, they need haircuts, their coats are dirty,” Wright said before Monday's vote. “I think that's what we're really talking about here.”

Other council members should listen to him, and to residents' concerns. It's not too late to stand on the side of all citizens.