Item C: Downtown Public Safety Issues

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City in no rush to changepanhandling lawPage 3of 3 are now gone," he said. But the homeless still need help, said Tim Harris, executive director of Real Change, a nonprofit activist publication whose vendors have been limited by Tacoma's ordinance. Ordinances restricting panhandling don't address the lack of resources that drive such actions, he said. "There is a condo boom and a downtown development boom much like there is in Seattle, and I believe that is the impetus for the anti-panhandling legislation," he said. "There is a fear by neighboring communities that they see an increase as people are forced out. ... I think that (ordinance) trend is going to continue." Tacoma isn't the first city to pass an ordinance banning panhandling after dark and near ATMs. In 1999, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to block an Indianapolis ordinance prohibiting panhandlers from asking for money from people in their cars, at bus stops or from people standing in line, among other restrictions. In a 21-page ruling, a U.S. District judge said the ordinance was not a blanket ban that unduly infringes on people's First Amendment rights, according to The Associated Press. Homeless advocates claim many people who panhandle don't live on the streets and say Seattle and King County officials need to focus on a bigger problem. The annual One Night Count of the homeless in Seattle and other parts of King County last month found 2,631 homeless people -- a number 15 percent higher from a year ago. "What we've seen across the county is that laws against panhandling don't address the real problems," said Alison Eisinger, director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. "What people could use is additional support." P-I reporter Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com. © 1998-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.co...2/8/2008