Just when everybody thought it was going to be safe to venture out onto the streets of Tampa without the fear of being confronted by a mass of people in day-glo vests soliciting funds to make ends meet -that mass of people being the growing number of homeless people flooding into Tampa where it is still legal to do that – WHAM!…another issue is raised which forces the larger issue back to the drawing board.
And that was back in late July as the City Council and mayor Bob Buckhorn were gearing up for what the Mayor thought would be the decisive move -what he calls his ‘nuclear option – of clearing the streets of Tampa once and for all of the vexing panhandling issue, an issue he is adamant must be solved before the Republican National Convention convenes in Tampa in August of 2012.
It was the threat of litigation from lawyers, citing constituional issues and who arerepresenting several labor unions which argues they would be prevented from protesting or handing out informational limits under both proposed panhandling bans. One of those bans being – Mayor Buckhorn’s dream ban- seven days, and the other, supported by newspaper hawkers and charities and the above mentioned labor unions, a six day ban which would allow the newspaper hawkers, the charities, and yes, the panhandlers one day a week, on Sunday, to take to the streets with their vests in search of funds.
Now, all eyes are on September 8, when City Council members will again revisit this contentious issue which the City Council and previous mayor Pam Iorio wrestled with for two years.
But, a recent survey this reporter has been conducting on the street, with panhandlers and newspaper hawkers reveals something rotten in Denmark when it comes to all of those signs the panhandlers -both Tampa residents and all of those carpet baggers who have flocked here to fly those signs after they were shut down by municipal and county governments around the state.
Well, if not rotten in Denmark, then certainly rotten in the city of Tampa Bay.
Granted, there are people who are desperate to make ends meet to support themselves and/ or their families due to loss of jobs, unexpected expenses and homelessness which has exploded in the past year in this city.
However, a close look at the signs, and knowledge of the people who are ‘flying’ those signs reveals that most of those signs are pure fiction.
Pleas for support for families are common legends on the mostly cardboard signs, when in fact the person flying the sign is usually a single male seeking funds to support a lifestyle which contains few if any real responsibilities.
Homelessness is often cited on those signs as the great need for fast cash when in fact, many of the people flying the signs are actually, well, not living in a palace, but has someplace to call home.
Many of the panhandlers -especially those who have come to Tampa solely for the purpose of panhandling -freely admit to the practice of assigning a false reason to their written cardboard legend. The excuse being in the words of one seasoned panhandler, “It doesn’t matter what you put on the sign, they see the vest, they know why you’re there.”
And lurking over all of this is the deep suspicion that much of the money gained by panhandling goes straight to the support or an alcohol and/or drug habit, a circumstance one does not have to look too deeply into to realize that is very often, sadly the case.
Somehow, it’s going to be in the hands of the City Council of Tampa to figure out, when they convene again on September 8, what to do when greed seems to have trumped true need.
Mayor Buckhorn who favors the seven day ban, says he understands that the issue is complicated, and he is ready to negotiate a settlement, “Eighty percent of something, is better than nothing,” he says.
Stay tuned. Let’s see where and/or when the buck stops in Tampa.