Fort Worth city council members gave the go-ahead Tuesday to pursue an updated panhandling ordinance that would make it illegal to give money to a beggar.
“By me giving that dollar I encourage them to come back. So I don’t address the panhandling problem and, worse, I may be helping the problem that individual has,” said councilman Cary Moon, who is pushing for the update in the ordinance.
Moon said his office has received several complaints from people who have been approached by panhandlers who become aggressive if the person says, “No.”
Fort Worth, like many cities, has already outlawed the act of panhandling.
Moon noted that he is sympathetic to the person who gives because they genuinely want to help someone, and that he does not personally like the idea of regulating an act of goodwill. But he said all signs indicate this is a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
“Obviously there is a lot of dialogue that needs to happen when you put that kind of restriction on someone that wants to give, that has a big heart,” Moon said. “But keep in mind that there is a separation between panhandling and homelessness. Panhandling is a business. And in a lot of intersections in the City of Fort Worth it is a pretty lucrative business.”
City staff members will spend the next few months updating the current panhandling ordinance and are expected to have a draft ordinance ready for review by March.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Council member Moon said some of the language used to criminalize giving money to a prostitute will be borrowed from Fort Worth’s “John ordinance,” the law that makes it illegal to solicit the services of a prostitute.
