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<br />City in no rush to changepanhandling lawPage 1of 3 <br />SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER <br />http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/350571_panhandle08.html <br />City in no rush to change panhandling law <br />Some wonder if restrictions on begging will lead to influx in crime <br />Friday, February 8, 2008 <br />Last updated 12:46 a.m. PT <br />By CASEY MCNERTHNEY <br />P-I REPORTER <br />Spending a few nights a week on Fifth Avenue and Pine Street, Stephen Raymond knows a Seattle <br />culture most walk past. <br />He sells Real Change newspapers now, but has put in time with a cardboard sign, hoping people would <br />have compassion for a homeless man trying to stay warm in a drenched winter coat. But things aren't <br />easy for the 49-year-old. He said panhandlers average about $10 a day holding a sign in Seattle's <br />downtown corridor, and he's not a top newspaper salesman. <br />Even more troublesome, Raymond believes he and friends who panhandle or sell papers for a living are <br />coming under attack in new laws that limit them in other parts of King County. In the end, he contends, <br />efforts to curb panhandling often create more crime problems. <br />"I've heard people in Issaquah are very generous, and it's easier holding a sign in the north and south <br />parts of Seattle," said Raymond, a recovering opiate addict who has a bad back and depends on <br />Supplemental Security Income. "I can see why people are passing these laws, and we don't want the <br />aggressive guys either. <br />"But if someone can't just stand there with a sign to get money, there's going to be an increase in low- <br />end crime. There are some guys who would take car stereos or break into a garage. And that may turn <br />into high-end violence." <br />This week, panhandlers in Issaquah got an unwelcome change when a new law prevented them from <br />begging near more than a dozen intersections or highway onramps and offramps there. <br />In Federal Way, Mayor Jack Dovey wants the City Council to pass an ordinance that allows police to <br />bust panhandlers who linger near bus stops or ATMs, citing safety concerns. Some City Council <br />members want less stringent regulations, and a final reading on a proposed ordinance is scheduled later <br />this month. <br />Those city leaders are hoping for results similar to Tacoma, where an ordinance passed in April put <br />tighter restrictions on panhandlers and where downtown business owners report a remarkable drop in <br />panhandling. Tacoma police say only one panhandler has been arrested during that period, in part <br />because some know the new law as well as officers who enforce it. <br />When convention planners and hospitality professionals flocked to Seattle in January, some raved about <br />our gorgeous, walkable downtown, but they also said something needed to be done about the beggars. <br />Seattle leaders have heard complaints from tourists and business owners, but they're not rushing to <br />http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.co...2/8/2008 <br /> <br />