Item C: Downtown Public Safety Issues

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City in no rush to changepanhandling lawPage 2of 3 change the law. Instead, they're taking a wait-and-see approach, wondering if new panhandling ordinances in nearby cities will be effective. City Council President Richard Conlin said although the council watches for ways to make panhandling less of a problem, it's important to direct people who need help into the human services network. He and a spokesman for Mayor Greg Nickels said they aren't aware of any plans to take measures similar to Tacoma or Issaquah. Noting the opposition that came when Seattle's current panhandling ordinance was strengthened in 1993, Councilwoman Jan Drago -- who counts Seattle among the nation's best for human service programs -- said the current council, is "probably not going to go in that direction again." Seattle was among the first of about 100 cities in the country to pass an aggressive panhandling ordinance in 1987. Six years later, then-City Attorney Mark Sidran proposed a series of civility laws that can lead to prosecution of those who urinate, defecate, drink or camp out on city streets. He also wanted to redefine aggressive panhandling to allow prosecution without testimony by the victim. Housing advocates and civil libertarians scorned him. Protesters made posters with nasty slogans written around pictures of his face, and at one demonstration they made a life-side effigy of Sidran and squashed it underneath a portable toilet. "No question it raised my visibility and was viewed by my political opponents as something that was outrageous," said Sidran, who lost a close 2001 mayoral race to Nickels. "Frankly, I was always quite comfortable taking the position I took because I thought it was the right thing to do." After a legal battle, a federal judge upheld the ordinances in March 1994, allowing the city to enforce the current limits to aggressive panhandling. Seattle Municipal Code states it's illegal for a panhandler to "make a reasonable person fearful or feel compelled." Public safety was a reason Issaquah leaders passed their panhandling ordinance, Mayor Ava Frisinger said. They had received several complaints from downtown business owners saying aggressive panhandlers made people feel unsafe. "Hopefully it's an ordinance that will provide the tools the Police Department needs to correct those situations," Issaquah Deputy Council President Fred Butler said. The panhandling ordinance in Tacoma -- where a 2007 one-night count found 1,596 homeless people -- made it a misdemeanor to panhandle near ATMs, bus stops, building entrances and some other public areas. The city also outlawed panhandling before sunrise and after sunset. That's made things easier for people downtown, said John Trueman, who until Tuesday was president of the Cross District Association in Tacoma. "There are still people that panhandle, but we used to have panhandlers on our freeway exits and they http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.co...2/8/2008