Editorial: Panhandling bill makes Seattle streets safer

Seattle City Council will vote on a measure that would make aggressive panhandling illegal April 19. The Spectator supports this ordinance as a means of making Seattle streets safer.


"Aggressive soliciting" is defined in the bill as a person soliciting money while another individual is making an ATM transaction and directly after the transaction, anyone using "intimidating conduct" to solicit money, or repeatedly soliciting a person who has already declined to give the solicitor money. Aggressive solicitors could be faced with a $50 fine or criminal prosecution.


Critics of the bill say it unnecessarily targets the poor, who would be unable to pay any fine for their actions. However, it includes the option that would allow anyone unable to pay the fine to instead perform several hours of community service.


The bill does not state how many hours solicitors could face, but given that $50 is a relatively low fine, it is not likely that an unrealistic number of hours would be required. (Consider that Washington state minimum wage is $8.55.)

Additionally, this ordinance is not exclusively targeted at the homeless or the poor. These rules of aggressive solicitation can also apply to canvassers and petitioners, who perhaps repeatedly and more adamantly solicit pedestrians more often than the homeless—not to mention the canvassers could very likely afford to pay the $50 fine.


Aggressive solicitors have no place on Seattle streets. It is these interactions that people remember more often than more civil interactions with the homeless.

In the absence of aggressive panhandlers, citizens will no longer be able to generalize and stigmatize all panhandlers as aggressive or free-loaders. With fewer aggressive panhandlers, perhaps we can turn our focus to other homeless individuals, non-aggressive panhandlers, and begin to write legislation for aid rather than punishment.


This ordinance is a first step in the right direction. Similar legislation worked to help clean up the streets of Tacoma, but what is needed for the future is more funding for Seattle police on foot and homeless aid.


Reach the editorial board at opinion@su-spectator.com