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Escambia Passes Panhandling Ordinance
November 18, 2011
The Escambia County Commission Thursday night passed a new ordinance that prohibits panhandling or other activities in medians.
The “Roadway Safety Ordinance” forbids stopping or standing in a paved or unpaved median unless lawfully crossing the road. That makes panhandling, hawking newspapers, fundraising for non-profits and other means of conducting or soliciting illegal from a median.
The ordinance passed the commission on a 3-2 vote, with Kevin White, Wilson Robertson and Gene Valentino voting in favor, and Grover Robinson and Marie Young opposed. The ordinance will take effect in about 10 days.
Violators can face a fine of up to $500 or up to 60 days in the county jail.
Comments
25 Responses to “Escambia Passes Panhandling Ordinance”
Some of you state that you work too hard for your money to hand it over to panhandlers. I’m curious as to who is forcing you to do so. i don’t.
Unroll your homeless don’t judge the next person what they do.
Sorry, but I work hard for my money. I’m not handing it over to a “homeless” person that has newer shoes than I do(true story-saw one today with a fresh pair of white adidas on Davis Hwy). Most of these people are just lazy and can earn more money standing on the side of the road with their ‘” give a cracker a break ” sign, than making an honest living. I’d rather buy my child a new LEGO set for getting good grades in school. At least he earned it. If you give these crack heads money you’re only contributing the problem. I’m with these other people … donate to a cahrity if you feel the need to do good!
You’re absolutely right, Everett. I was on Nine Mile Road today and panhandlers were everywhere. One woman had her car pulled on the side of the road and was out begging with a fresh bleach job and makeup on. Hmmmm, glad to see hard working people’s money going to good use. Gas, peroxide and makeup.
Nine mile road was saturated today with panhandlers in the median. The sheriffs office has a substation less than a mile away and you could not find an leo in site anywhere.
Most of these people just have addictions they don’t want to kick and
are lazy. Some of them have homes right here in Pensacola and
are just scamming the tax free dollars. If you want to donate don’t
feel sorry for these creeps who laugh at you in the evening while
they get high. Go out and donate your money and time to the
Ronald Mcdonald House, Breast Cancer, Pensacola Children’s
home or something equally DESERVING, I can assure you they
won’t be laughing.
We were never the type of family to be in church every Sunday, but my sister said something many years ago to my mom as she made a joke about a homeless man innocently. We werent really the church going family so I was surprised to hear the reply from my sister. “Mom, its said that when Jesus comes back he can take any form, you never know that might be him you just laughed at” I’ve looked at homeless people in a different light ever since. Most people dont know that there are shelters sure….but they are drug infested places that set time limits of a few days of staying there.Then you have to leave for a few days and you can return. The homeless that are used to the system find it easier to stay in the “camps” There has been a huge homeless camp behind the Dennys on Davis for years that most dont know about. When China Town was open a homeless man asked for a cup of soup, not a free full meal, just soup and the owners were so rude and were trying to make him leave as he begged. I was maybe 19 eating with my aunt and grandma. We had just ordered our drinks and let the owners know that I would pay for his and that if they didnt let him in we were leaving to. Days right the look you get is truelly heartbreaking! I’ve left the beach with a cooler of beer, offered one to a homeless man on the Bayou exit after explaining I had no cash or anything else and he thanked me but kindly told me that he didnt drink. But I’ve also gave money to homeless folks out side the tom thumb in front of Sams and watched as they walked in a bought High Life. lol. We cant let our actions be dictated by what we think might happen, you do good to do good and act with humanity. All that matters is you did your part at lending a hand. Who cares what they turn your good deed into. None of us are above being on the streets. In a perfect world we would all have jobs, no drugs and alcohol to ruin our minds and no needs for the compassion God has instiled in most of us. In a perfect world they would help themselves, in somes perfect world all homeless people would be tucked in the forest and never seen. But for me I will use the compassion to help anyone when I can that I can tell is not damning their own lives right in front of me.
What about the people in front of the mall begging for money for whatever charity, will they be fined as well?
so do the news paper people loose their jobs now?
YAY! Let’s keep those poor and homeless people out of sight. If we can’t see them, they don’t exist. Keep cutting the programs that are designed to help them and surely they’ll just go away. After all, they’re just lazy and looking for a handout. That’s what Jesus would do.
It’s about time. I used to live in Michigan and had never seen the homeless begging for handouts before I moved to Florida. I think it looks bad and if I were a tourist I’d avoid the streets of pensacola because of how it looks.
John, LOL, your correct…I HATE when they get out in the streets hollering jesus this and that and we are going to hell!
Bitter/Sweet news… I will not miss the hobo’s asking for hand outs on every corner. Yet I will miss the Shriners and their large Tootsie Rolls they give out during donations.
I think a better plan would be for nonprofits to register with the city to work certain intersections during fund raisers, for X time frame. If they’re a legit nonprofit group.
Good job as usual Mr. White… You really stuck it to the non profits…. Have you ever supported anything that would make Escambia County better??
Unfortunetly there are to many scammers out there, that make up to $200 a day. What makes me mad are the ones who say they are war vets, sitting in a wheel chair with a leg missing. When actually they were not and lost there leg drunk driving. I’m glad they will be gone. It scares me when they are in the road, accident waiting to happen. Maybe that’s why they do it, so they can get insurance money from unsuspecting people.
For those that don’t like this change you need to get out of Escambia county and look at other areas. Standing in, on or next to the street selling and begging is not the norm for Florida or any other state. It has become an embarrassment for all of us to let this go on for so long.
If anyone need food or shelter there are organizations right here in Pensacola that will provide “Free of Charge”; just leave your drugs and booze somewhere else.
will this stop the people from standing on the side of the road at stop lights yelling at me telling me im going to hell
>>What does “hawking” mean
“to offer for sale by calling out in the street”
It seems like this is just to keep people out of the middle of the road which sounds good. People can still sell, beg, panhandle, ask for charitable donations from the sides so there really isn’t a big prohibition here.
So much for getting my newspaper in the morning….some jobs just got killed right there. What does “hawking” mean William? Selling?
God help us! We need to help the Sick and Poor.
The biggest impact this will have is more deputies wasting time and filling the jail with people who will be better off there. Free meals, medical and board. The sherifff has already complained about his budget and how much these things cost.
ITS ABOUT TIME! yeah the fundraising side of this might take a hit but all in all it will get the panhandlers out of our streets. this is a HUGE problem bewteen 9 mile road and I-10. Its getting rediculous. Hey lets offer a PERMIT to those organizations who are fund-raising! Im sure there is a way around this for the right reasons.
This is great news. Maybe the intersections of our local roadways (especially near the I-110 exits) will start to look respectable again and not overrun with people looking for handouts.
The important thing to remember about this is it affects the medians not sidewalks next to roadways. I am sure some people will have questions and concerns about what will be affected. I am curious myself how the ordinance reads about walking into the road to collect money Etc. I am curious how this will affect the firemen and the boot collection they do. even if standing along the side of the road they would need to enter the road to collect money.