Sounds Like Dallas Already Knows Its Proposal to Put Panhandlers to Work Is a Waste of Our Money

Monday afternoon a few members of the Dallas City Council got a sneak peek at a pilot program intended to put panhandlers to work doing something other than standing in busy intersections trolling for spare change. Long story short, because it's not really a complicated solution: City Hall wants to get some vans to pick up panhandlers and put them to work as day-laborers for around $10 an hour for about four to six hours a day and ... well, no, that's about it.Some council members really like the proposal, because that's what they do in Albuquerque, N.M., and God knows it's better than doing nothing, which Dallas City Hall is usually really good at when it comes to trying to do something about the homeless. And some council members really don't like the proposal because it's coming out of $100,000 in the general fund set aside to help with homeless solutions, and there's really no proof that this will make even the teensiest of tiniest of itty-bitsiest of dents in helping the homeless since many panhandlers aren't, you know, homeless.In case you were wondering why this won't work.  Continue reading...