Couple of things
- I wouldn't say I defended Joe Lieberman during the last election cycle, but I wanted to keep things in perspective regarding his longtime service to the Democratic Party. However, the fact that he has reversed on a campaign promise to hold oversight hearings on the response to Hurricane Katrina infuriates me. Not because I want to see any particular leader from any particular party get humiliated, but rather because it would be invaluable to see how we screwed up so royally and try to find ways to ensure it doesn't happen again.
- Let me tell you what's wrong with Tony Arnold's letter ... that he calls for a 'proactive' approach to panhandling. OK, fine. However, by that he apparently means not necessarily showing concern to their Constitutional rights by accosting them prior to any complaint and/or offense has occurred. Is aggressive panhandling a bad thing? Of course. Any sort of aggressive behavior toward another individual is bad. However, I don't know why we think that because we happen to have a little extra change in our pocket and happen to be, say, downtown that we should be enclosed in a protective bubble. If something merely asks you for some extra change ... give it to 'em or don't give it to 'em. It's not a big deal. If they harass you, that's a whole different story.
- Kudos to our local legislators for picking up some leadership slots. Two observations ... is there anyone other than Charles Bullock who can be academic source for these types of things? And is anyone else not surprised that Ralph Hudgens is on the insurance committee and very troubled by the fact that he holds a 'high-ranking' slot on the environmental committee?
- Coinciding with the governor's speech, UGA President Michael Adams wants to improve our biomedical research, education and facilities. It's a good call. If done properly, it can be a boon for our local economy.
- This whole thing gets odder and odder, but Georgia Unfiltered Politics has gone on a hiatus ... just days after becoming the first blogger with press credentials for the Georgia General Assembly and hours after Andre withdrew his endorsement of Mike Berlon.
- Because this could be kinda funny, the Athens Banner-Herald is starting a podcast series where readers can submit questions - any questions - for Jason Winders to answer. I'm leaning toward 'Which Darren did you prefer in Bewitched?' but I'm not sure yet.
- Y'all aren't off the hook that easy.
- Let me tell you what's wrong with Tony Arnold's letter ... that he calls for a 'proactive' approach to panhandling. OK, fine. However, by that he apparently means not necessarily showing concern to their Constitutional rights by accosting them prior to any complaint and/or offense has occurred. Is aggressive panhandling a bad thing? Of course. Any sort of aggressive behavior toward another individual is bad. However, I don't know why we think that because we happen to have a little extra change in our pocket and happen to be, say, downtown that we should be enclosed in a protective bubble. If something merely asks you for some extra change ... give it to 'em or don't give it to 'em. It's not a big deal. If they harass you, that's a whole different story.
- Kudos to our local legislators for picking up some leadership slots. Two observations ... is there anyone other than Charles Bullock who can be academic source for these types of things? And is anyone else not surprised that Ralph Hudgens is on the insurance committee and very troubled by the fact that he holds a 'high-ranking' slot on the environmental committee?
- Coinciding with the governor's speech, UGA President Michael Adams wants to improve our biomedical research, education and facilities. It's a good call. If done properly, it can be a boon for our local economy.
- This whole thing gets odder and odder, but Georgia Unfiltered Politics has gone on a hiatus ... just days after becoming the first blogger with press credentials for the Georgia General Assembly and hours after Andre withdrew his endorsement of Mike Berlon.
- Because this could be kinda funny, the Athens Banner-Herald is starting a podcast series where readers can submit questions - any questions - for Jason Winders to answer. I'm leaning toward 'Which Darren did you prefer in Bewitched?' but I'm not sure yet.
- Y'all aren't off the hook that easy.
posted by Jmac at 7:21 AM
7 Comments:
Re: Joe Lieberman
It kind of annoys me Demos were so against him during the last election cycle. Considering how they layed down in front of Pres Bush for the past few years, they are in no position to criticize his positions. And the party could use a hawk or two, no matter how wrong they are about Iraq.
The panhandler issue
Most downtown business owners do not want to be involved in the process of addressing panhandlers. By that I mean they expect the police to arrest whomever they direct them to. That's heavily implied in the letter writer's comments.
Their attitude is a little Barbara Bush "Why should I worry my beautiful mind on such things? They're little people!" Not all DT business owners but many. I'm sure running a small business is hard work. But I don't believe they don't have enough time to get involved. If buddy got arrested for standing on the sidewalk, you'd better believe he'd be screaming about his rights blah blah blah etc.
re: panhandling:
I worked downtown for years. I have had pandhandlers banned from a local business and I have also given to the odd panhandler over the years. As a woman, I find panhandlers threatening regardless of whether they are "aggressive" because they are invading my personal space, which I don't allow strangers to do because I really don't like being mugged.
And you're welcome to contribute the opinion that I need to loosen up, but my preference not to feel unsafe or harassed while trying to meet my needs means that I don't patronize certain downtown businesses. I have avoided the Grill, Barnett's, and China Express for about 10 years now, for example, because that segment of College Square tends to have people sleeping on benches and they're not shy about asking for the things they believe they need.
So, I want to see the poor treated with fairness and compassion. But I don't want to see the aggressive poor destroy the viability of downtown Athens.
Regardless of your political leanings, it's good to see that Bill Cowsert and Doug McKillip are doing well in Atlanta - even as freshmen.
RE: Lieberman. As someone who absolutely did defend him during the election, words fail to describe how angry I am with that decision of his.
RE: Georgia Politics Unfiltered: yeah, I saw that, too, and it makes no sense to me. Three successive posts where Andre disentangles himself from his own successful political blog. That is so very strange.
RE Panhandlers: ACC has been trying to do something about those guys for years and years. So long as people keep giving these cats change, they will continue to congregate on those sidewalks and be aggressive towards passerby. You can make it illegal, but it has to be enforced, which is a problem to some folks.
Regardless of your political leanings, it's good to see that Bill Cowsert and Doug McKillip are doing well in Atlanta - even as freshmen.
Agreed. I've got some ideological disagreements with Cowsert, but he appears to be good people. Again, we'll disagree on some things, but I think he'll do a good job.
I'm definitely more in step with McKillip politically, so I'm glad to see him assume a party leadership slot.
Regarding Lieberman, I wasn't like I liked his positions on Iraq or the fact that he ran as an independent after losing the primary, but on most domestic issues he had been in-step with my views. The Katrina thing, however, is close to inexcusable.
He ran as an independent claiming to support redeployment in Iraq and hearings on Katrina management. Now he backs a surge of troops and wants no hearings ... it's insulting to those folks who voted for him in Connecticut and the people who gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Regarding panhandling, I don't necessarily dispute what you folks are saying here, but you have to be careful about not being aggressive with folks who are merely asking for change. Tell 'em yes or no, but I don't think those people should be penalized for asking a question.
Again, harassing someone is entirely different. Asking, however, is not.
But there isn't an objective criterion for when something becomes "aggressive panhandling", and usually when most people feel "Yes, this is definitely aggressive panhandling," some other crime has already been committed. It seems to me that the push is to criminalize the appearance of poverty, otherwise what is the complaint against a "wait-for-a-complaint mentality" and the desire for a "more aggressive" approach?
If someone is going to extort money through the threat of force, that person does not wear a sign on the forehead saying as much. The only way to prevent that from occurring is to either increase officer presence and visibility, or forcefully remove people from the area. The former is exactly a wait-for-a-complaint mentality, since the officers only have to patrol through the area to be visible. The latter is exactly the kind of violation of civil rights people are going to be suspicious of, as collecting a group of people based upon their appearance—not on their (criminal) behavior—and removing them from some place the better-appearing peoples are free to travel is, or should be, suspect.
We have a public interest in limiting aggressive panhandling. Furthermore, we have an interest in limiting panhandling when it threatens our businesses. Which it does, even when it's not aggressive in action if it's of a certain variety. I don't go to downtown Atlanta near the Hard Rock Cafe because the mere presence of half a dozen panhandlers with no police or witnesses in an area where there also is no escape is fundamentally threatening. I was accosted by some guy in the alley between the Georgia Bar and The Roadhouse and that was fundamentally threatening. I have been attacked. I never want to be attacked again. And I'm not going to put myself in situations which appear to be dangerous, even if they are not. Which means that I do not patronize places which appear unsafe.
The problem with the current regulations is that some portion of panhandlers know the system, know the laws, and know how to either break them without getting caught or stay this side of legal. As an example, I ued to work at sidewalk cafe and people we had banned would return to solicit our customers on the sidewalk. That is threatening because the customers are captives. And the panhandler moves off when someone authorititative appears. Rarely do they get busted because they're hard to catch unless the police are already in close proximity. So, they're not being punished, but my customers have had an unpleasant experience and they're going to think twice before patronizing my business again. Furthermore, since the homeless aren't roving the mall, they're probably going to think twice about patronizing downtown at all any more.
I also don't think panhandling is good for the panhandler. You know, in comparison to, say, addressing whatever the person's real issues are.
I don't know what the solution would be. I dislike the banning of panhandling entirely for the reasons noted, but what we have now isn't working for Athens. How about a law that specifies how one can legally panhandle?
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