In what some downtown business owners likely consider the “good old days,” loitering on Durango streets for the purpose of panhandling was illegal. That is no longer the case.
Things changed in 2014 when the American Civil Liberties Union informed the city that its law violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, an opinion that has been upheld in courts in Colorado and at the national level.
The root of the issue is “content discrimination,” which stems from a U.S. Supreme Court decision against the town of Gilbert, Arizona. The community did not have a right to limit the size of signs directing worshipers to church services, the court held, because there were no similar limits set for real estate or political signs. By extension, said the ACLU, a community cannot bar people from panhandling because such laws single out a certain kind of speech – asking for money – for special treatment without a compelling reason.
As a result, something else has changed in two years: The number of people panhandling in Durango has grown. They are now a familiar sight as the weather warms, and many locals, including members of the Durango Business Improvement District and the Durango Chamber of Commerce, are not happy with the trend.
The Make it Count campaign, a summer-long effort to discourage panhandling while encouraging donations to local charities that help people in need, is a worthy response, and residents and visitors alike should support it.
The campaign encourages charitable donations but seeks to direct those funds into one of the many donation boxes available at downtown businesses and away from a panhandler’s palm. If transient panhandlers do not receive any money for their efforts, they will move on. The donations, meanwhile, will go directly to Manna Soup Kitchen and the Durango Community Shelter to help people seeking employment and housing, people hoping to stay in Durango as a part of the community.
But while worthy, the campaign may not prove to be a realistic solution, as there are no easy solutions to the problems of addiction and homelessness that are embedded in Durango’s panhandling dilemma. Despite its iconic steam train and Victorian charm, Durango is not a theme park where the unruly, or destitute, visitor can simply be escorted to the nearest exit. Those in the business community seeking to present a pristine version of what used to be a rough-and-tumble “Old West” mining and milling town should bear that in mind.
A quick tour downtown this week revealed another problem with the plan. To a large extent, it depends on the panhandlers having some sense of economic logic. “Summertime, and the living is easy,” sang one man with a donation sign, lounging in the shade near the Main Mall with his dog. He politely declined to give his name but was happy to say he was not interested in a meal at the Soup Kitchen or a room at the shelter with its promise of employment and a new start in Durango.
No, he was content to sing and take his chances on Main Avenue. “The lord will provide,” he said with a wink, confident that despite local efforts to keep him and his dog moving toward the next town down the line, he was at the moment quite welcome here.
