Some speak out against Seattle council plan to crack down on panhandling

Kate Marrone said her husband was on his way to work when a panhandler in Belltown punched him in the face.

Despite that, Marrone testified Wednesday against a proposed new Seattle city ordinance to crack down on aggressive solicitation.

She told Seattle City Council members that a new ordinance making certain intimidating behavior a civil infraction fosters fear of poor people and wouldn't have helped her husband.

She joined nearly two hours of testimony on both sides of Councilmember Tim Burgess' proposal before the Public Safety and Education Committee.

The ordinance, which may come up for a council committee vote April 7, sparked debate about panhandlers' civil rights and whether downtown really has a problem with aggressive panhandling.

Downtown business-community members, who largely support Burgess' proposal, said tourists and locals avoid downtown because they are afraid of and intimidated by people asking for money.

Many people who testified against the ordinance said it's poverty that makes people uncomfortable and the city should spend more money helping the poor and homeless instead.

"Just stop and allow yourself to actually imagine if we could actually help homeless people instead of trying to fight homeless people," said Shy Wit, who is homeless and stays in Tent City IV.

Tim Harris, the executive director of the Real Change newspaper, said the proposed ordinance would erode free speech and attempts to hide its "real motive" to "clamp down on panhandling" through "squishy, open-to-interpretation terminology."

Burgess' ordinance would include panhandlers and people soliciting for signatures or selling things on the sidewalk.

The ordinance would make it a civil offense to solicit someone using a cash machine or parking pay station. It also bars intimidating behavior, such as following people or using abusive language.

"I deal with thousands of customers and people a year, and the fear and intimidation that is felt is real," said Alan Booth, who manages Tom Douglas' restaurants downtown.

Booth said the city should seek a solution that balances the "tolerance that we've always had in this city" for people who are struggling with the rights of people to enjoy Pike Place Market and other parts of downtown without feeling intimidated.

Burgess' proposal has the support of the Downtown Seattle Association, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, some advocates for the poor, and from the police. It is part of a package that includes putting more cops on the street and creating more housing.

Interim Police Chief John Diaz said Wednesday that dealing specifically with aggressive panhandling will give people a "greater sense of safety."

Council members at Wednesday's meeting expressed some skepticism about the proposal.

Councilmember Bruce Harrell said he's never been aggressively panhandled.

"I didn't know if there's a crisis around the ATM machines and I just didn't get the memo on that. I didn't experience that," he said.

"What may be intimidating to one person ... may not be intimidating to another person," said Councilmember Nick Licata. "Where do you draw the line?"

Seattle Times staff reporter Steve Miletich contributed to this report.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published March 18, 2010, was corrected April 2, 2010. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that aggressive solicitation is a criminal offense.