Only time will tell whether the Durango Business Improvement District will be successful in limiting panhandling. What it should soon accomplish, however, is to direct more resources to those truly in need. And that is worthwhile in itself.
The BID’s plan is to encourage people to donate to local nonprofits rather than give money to panhandlers. The thinking is twofold: The impulse to help those less fortunate or temporarily in need is healthy, both for individuals and the community, and as such should be encouraged. At the same time, though, local businesses do not need panhandlers hanging around outside their doors asking their customers for cash.
As befits an organization with “business” in its name, the BID aims to accomplish this redirection of cash through what amounts to an advertising campaign. Members are being encouraged to add handbills to shopping bags or to include them with diners’ checks. Posters are also available for storefront windows.
Durango has seen a marked increase in panhandling this year, in part because the American Civil Liberties Union notified the city that prohibiting begging was an unconstitutional violation of freedom of speech. And the ACLU is right. Asking for spare change or holding a sign to that effect is as much protected speech as advertizing a sale or displaying a political lawn sign.
As with protesters or demostrators, there is, of course, a line. Aggressive or threatening actions constitute unacceptable behavior, not protected speech.
The problem is, too much begging is just not conducive to the atmosphere businesses – and their customers – want to foster in Durango’s downtown. The answer, or at least the theory, is simply not to encourage it by giving panhandlers money. At the same time, Durangoans honestly feel for those in need and genuinely want to help.
They can accommodate both of those impulses by following the BID’s advice and giving to local nonprofits that support those in need. Besides not encouraging panhandling, that has the added benefit of better directing resources to those most in need.
Part of the problem is terminology. Words such panhandlers, homeless, indigent or hungry are sometimes used as if they are synonymous. They are not.
Homelessness is a societal issue with many causes, facets and effects. (More on that to come later.) And most homeless people are not panhandlers.
Panhandling is not a status or condition, but a specific form of behavior. And while it is safe to say most panhandlers are not Wall Street brokers, it is wrong to think they are necessarily downtrodden or starving. As the saying goes, not all who wander are lost.
Promoting the idea of giving to local nonprofits instead of to panhandlers may be motivated by the desire to discourage panhandlers, which is also a form of protected speech, but it could also benefit the most needy. Local nonprofits have standards, criteria and rules to ensure both that donations are used wisely and that their recipients are well treated. Whether or not BID succeeds in reducing panhandling, it deserves support.
