Panhandlers

[TheTravellers]

Deception or marketing?

Sometimes the line between the two is blurry.

[Jersey Boss]

Deception or marketing?

From the above linked article:

On October 9, Salyer announced the ordinance had been put on hold.

Salyer told The Oklahoman newspaper that she was interested in gathering more statistical information about traffic safety and panhandling.“There’s a need to refine the definition of ‘median’ in the proposed ordinance,” she said.

Final action on the ordinance was delayed until December 8, 2015.

However, records indicate that Salyer, city staff and others were already working to put together a deal that would allow fire fighters – and the MDA – to seek donations in the parking lots of Wal-Mart stores and the company’s smaller, Neighborhood Markets.

I would call this facet, deceptive.

[jerrywall]

Sometimes the line between the two is blurry.

that was sort of my point. I was being tongue in cheek.

[jerrywall]

From the above linked article:

On October 9, Salyer announced the ordinance had been put on hold.

Salyer told The Oklahoman newspaper that she was interested in gathering more statistical information about traffic safety and panhandling.“There’s a need to refine the definition of ‘median’ in the proposed ordinance,” she said.

Final action on the ordinance was delayed until December 8, 2015.

However, records indicate that Salyer, city staff and others were already working to put together a deal that would allow fire fighters – and the MDA – to seek donations in the parking lots of Wal-Mart stores and the company’s smaller, Neighborhood Markets.

I would call this facet, deceptive.

I guess I'm missing it. The fact that they were working on alternative arrangements for the firefighters in tandem with delaying the action?

[mkjeeves]

Deception or marketing?

Or was it to circumvent the constitutional free speech issue? Note to self: Send the ACLU some money.

[Jersey Boss]

I guess I'm missing it. The fact that they were working on alternative arrangements for the firefighters in tandem with delaying the action?

The fact that they were telling the public that the delay was due gathering statistical information about pan handling and traffic safety when it was neither of these things but in fact finding a work around for the firefighters to collect funds.

[mkjeeves]

OKLAHOMA CITY — The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Oklahoma City over a controversial ordinance that prevents people from standing in street medians.

The ACLU plans to hand-deliver the lawsuit to City Hall Wednesday morning.

“It’s very important that this thing starts where it should, which is right back to the city council,” said ACLU Oklahoma Legal Director Brady Henderson. “They’re the source of the problem that caused us to file this lawsuit.”

The lawsuit is in response to the so-called “Median Safety Ordinance,” which the city council passed in December.

ACLU suing Oklahoma City over panhandling ordinance | KFOR.com

[warreng88]

Panhandling pushback: ACLU sues city over median ordinance

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record April 12, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The ACLU is filing a lawsuit against Oklahoma City Hall and Police Chief Bill Citty, alleging that the city’s new anti-panhandling ordinance is unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma Foundation, in conjunction with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma and Norman attorney Joseph Thai, electronically submitted the complaint late Tuesday for formal filing with the U.S. District Court on Wednesday. The organizations prepared the document on behalf of several metro area residents, including a formerly homeless vendor of the Curbside Chronicle magazine, as well as the Oklahoma Libertarian Party and the Red Dirt Report newspaper.

The heart of the matter is whether Oklahoma City’s efforts to keep people from soliciting near busy intersections will truly help avoid accidents or infringe on their constitutional freedom of speech, ACLU legal director Brady Henderson said. The original intent behind the ordinance must also be considered, he said, and evidence suggests that city leaders were motivated first by protecting business and property values.

The lawsuit cites numerous emails through City Hall accounts that show the issue began more than a year ago as a quality-of-life proposal by Councilwoman Meg Salyer in response to constituents – merchants and the Neighborhood Alliance in particular – complaining about panhandlers in intersections. It was not until much later that Citty’s staff was asked to produce data on pedestrian accidents, the lawsuit says. The ACLU recently reported on the emails, which it discovered through an open records request.

The lawsuit cites Municipal Counselor Kenneth Jordan’s warning to other city officials at the time: “The downside of adopting additional panhandling/soliciting regulations that could be unconstitutional would be a federal-court lawsuit.”

But by late 2015, the ACLU lawsuit says, a public information campaign had changed the face of the ordinance.

“All references to solicitation in the existing ordinance were to be stricken. Instead, the ordinance would sweepingly provide that ‘no person shall stand, sit, or stay on … any median for any purpose,” the lawsuit says.

The ordinance passed with minor adjustments, even though several residents spoke at City Council meetings in opposition, including the founders of the Curbside Chronicle. The magazine’s vendors receive donations in exchange for a free, locally produced magazine. Those people have since moved out of medians to other avenues.

“This is predominantly a First Amendment complaint, although it does address issues of due process as well,” Henderson said Tuesday. “It is very questionable that there’s an end result that enhances public safety. There’s actually a significant argument to be had to the contrary.”

“What the city (officials) did by rebranding this was that they already knew what they wanted to do and then they tried to figure out a justification that sounded better,” he said.

The conflict over public rights of way in Oklahoma City is not unusual. Interest in homeless newspaper and magazine publishers has grown nationwide as more nonprofit organizations seek ways to provide job training while bolstering clients’ confidence. But those movements have been opposed by municipal governments trying to provide boundaries between residents as they pass each other on the street. In the case of The Contributor in Nashville, for example, the city compromised by allowing transactions on sidewalks, while vendors are required by the magazine’s publisher to sign a contract promising to stay out of medians.

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Homeless Voice newspaper sued the city of Pembroke Pines after ordinances banned vendors from roadway solicitations. Newspaper founder Sean Cononie alleged city officials were disingenuous about traffic safety concerns, but a federal judge upheld the ban.

Cononie urged supporters of Oklahoma City street vendors and free speech to push back strongly – “to be as intrusive as possible” – to make a point.

“As the city takes away its most public forum, vendors are going to be forced to other spaces,” he said. “They’ll end up going door to door or sitting in front of City Hall. You’ll start to get more complaints. … They’ll seem minor in comparison with street vendors.”

Henderson said that City Hall may have already triggered unintended consequences. Curbside Chronicle vendors who are still working at intersections must deal with drivers from the passenger side of the vehicle, which requires a longer reach and distracts from traffic conditions.

He also found it ironic that city officials are intent on building a street car route downtown that brings pedestrians into potentially dangerous contact with vehicles. Henderson said many public bus stops are likewise too close to the curb for comfort.

City Hall officials said Tuesday they were aware of the ACLU lawsuit but declined to comment further. The ACLU, Legal Aid Services and Thai announced plans Tuesday to personally deliver a copy of the lawsuit to City Hall on Wednesday morning.