LAKEPORT >> The Lakeport City Council will take up the final reading of an ordinance regulating “panhandling” at its regular meeting today and may face outcry from residents who feel it is a discriminatory measure.
So far, most of the push back against what the city has called an “anti-panhandling ordinance” has been from volunteers already involved in programs aiding the homeless, including Rev. Shannon Kimbell-Auth. She has been an advocate for Lake County’s homeless population in recent years — most notably being involved in the establishment of Lakeport’s now-closed warming center at the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
She argues that the law would only discriminate the poorest in the city and do nothing to help the problem.
“Passing an ordinance against panhandling will be likewise ineffective in solving the homeless crisis in our community because it is not the cause,” she wrote in a letter to the editor to the Record-Bee on May 17, echoing the comment she made at the first public hearing the previous day. “It is however demeaning and will be used solely to harass homeless people into moving out of sight when the property owners have not even asked for it.”
Her rhetoric has struck a chord on social media.
In a post on the “Lake County Community Awareness” Facebook page, a user named Aylene Front asked for residents to attend today’s meeting and or contact city officials.
Most commenters expressed concern with the potential fine for not complying with the ordinance and the free permit application process they will have to go through.
“How you gonna charge someone who doesn’t have $4 for lunch $1,000 [the statutory maximum fine for a misdemeanor], “ one user said.
But according to City Manager Margaret Silveira, the city hasn’t received any formal complaints since the meeting in Mid-May, nor was she aware of the post’s existence.
Regardless, the city feels like dissenters are missing the point.
“They’re calling this anti-homeless ordinance, but it’s not,” Silveria said.
She explained that the city has no intention of preventing homeless people from asking for money in public areas or high-traffic business, an act that the U.S. Supreme Court has continually defined as protected free speech.
The City Attorney, David Ruderman, further countered the infringement claim at the last meeting, explaining that requiring all solicitors — The Girl Scouts included — acquire the permit and ID card while following the rules that prohibit persistent, violent, and annoying solicitation, The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Lakeport City Hall.
