Pandhandlers At Corners (Rant) (Tampa, Gandy: apartment complex, unemployment rate, to buy)

[SeaSpur]

Okay, as a newcomer...I just wanted to make sure this was a topic that was "out in the open" and that I wasn't the only one who saw it as a problem.

[tewas]

Well they are professional panhandlers. It's their day job since anything else is too hard to do. I guess it has to be few accidents where they get hit by the car for the city to re-think about allowing people play in the busy streets.

[NALEXAND]

I think its encourged as well. We give them fluorescent vests to use to stand out there with for heavens sake! I saw a sign the other day in Tampa that read "Why lie, need a beer"

Originally Posted by ferret111

How are we catering and encouraging panhandlers?

[chi_tino]

Just like stray animals, if you feed them they'll never leave. Tampa's city council is a little too liberal for its own good, and you are seeing the repercussions.

St Pete made a smart move knowing that if they banned the road scum, they would migrate east to Tampa and litter their roadways instead. This is exactly what has happened.

[Sunscape]

St Pete made a smart move knowing that if they banned the road scum, they would migrate east to Tampa and litter their roadways instead. This is exactly what has happened.
This is exactly what has happened.

[BucFan]

I don't care if they're out there or not. When I see them, I tell myself that I'm just fortunate that my life has allowed me to earn a decent living and that I made the decisions in my life that led me down the right path.

[The Anti CPA]

How about we just make poverty illegal!!

[BucFan]

Most of the posters on this thread believe that these panhandlers should direct their efforts to securing work and that they're not really poor (read scam).

[Dallas Kitty]

There sure are a lot of panhandlers here and I also think it is scams. The worst are those wearing fatigues so that people will think they are veterans and hand over the money. I moved here last year from Dallas, a city that has made it illegal in various places year after year but, of course, it still goes on. I browsed just now to see if anything new. There is: solicitation-free zones in the downtown area, 24 hrs a day instead of sunrise to sunset, $500 fine. A man comments his recent experience: "...a lady asking me for a $1 so she could eat, I attempted to hand her an extra burger I had in my lunch sack and she told me to "eat sh*t, I asked for money".

A few years ago (in Dallas), we kept seeing a man with a dog at one intersection and noticed that it would be a different man, same dog and yet another man, same dog. These men would not accept dog food for the "starving" dog. Many were concerned about them keeping a dog sitting on boiling hot pavement all day every day while the men switched out with each other. Someone investigated and found that there were four men living in a very nice home not far from the intersection. All four spent the entire day panhandling (in more than one place) and did very well.

As several have already stated, panhandling laws are needed. The unfortunate part is that city/county government often hesitates because courts have concluded that soliciting money is protected by the First Amendment, so the government must have a compelling reason to infringe on such a basic right.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by SeaSpur

I'm sure this isn't anything new to 99% of you, but seeing as I just moved here a few weeks ago...I have to ask. I've seen more panhandlers/bums on the street corners than ANY city I've ever been to.

I am really enjoying Tampa and glad I moved, but it is one thing that really puts a sore on the city when riding about.

I know all cities have their share of bums that approach you on the sidewalk, but this is just so blatant it almost seems encouraged. I ended up asking a local about the reflective vests and he said they were required to wear them if they are out there...isn't that a bit redundant and only feeding the problem?

Another issue I have is that a large percentage of them are YOUNG and should be willing and able to work. I know times are tough and people are doing anything they can to stay afloat in these economic times...but some of these guys look 25 to 30 years old. That should be illegal.

Out on the farms in the area, there are migrant workers that can barely speak a lick of English but they are working and earning a paycheck. You can't tell me some of these bums couldn't get a job working with them. Only problem I see is the work ethic wouldn't allow them to keep up!

Encouraging and catering to the panhandlers by making it "okay" and acceptable is making intersections more dangerous, it isn't getting them anywhere, and it makes the city look pitiful.

/rant

Great post!!! Over the weekend we were in Tampa and were just as annoyed as you by having them staring at you at every traffic light...many of them are sex offenders, drunks and/or drug addicts.

One young guy had on his sign..."need food, very hungry", he looked healthy and was in his late 20's or 30's...I guess Taco Bell, McDonalds, etc...will easily give him a job instead of trying to get a handout.

I thought Hillsborough had passed the same ordinance and then it is waiting for Pasco to do the same.

Stop giving, then they will leave! 4 pan handlers on 4 corners and there were 2 people with signs for advertising for companies...Ridiculous!...and that on almost every intersection.