In the last few weeks, the issues of vagrancy and aggressive panhandling have been on the lips of many in the Spa City. After a now infamous picture of a man appearing to defecate in front a local building circulated online, a petition was started urging city leaders to act.
The petition calls for more police downtown, making aggressive panhandling on private property a crime, and enforcing existing laws against activities like loitering and public urination.
Before Tuesday night’s scheduled discussion on the issue, some took to the mic to air their concerns, including Saratoga Springs resident Steve Allen. Allen says individuals congregate outside his building every morning.
“By 6 o’clock they’re screaming and yelling at each other and fighting. They use profanity. They urinate on the side of the buildings. They bring trash. They use shopping carts that are overloaded with personal belongings and they basically are disruptive to everyone who walks by,” said Allen.
Mayor Joanne Yepsen, who called for Tuesday’s discussion, prefaced her remarks by asking the public to understand who their complaints are directed toward.
“I want to be sure that we all agree that there is a difference between homeless and panhandling,” said Yepsen.
Yepsen, who wants to put together a list of action steps on the issue, believes many of the aggressive panhandlers seen on Broadway and other locations are from outside the city. Many of whom, she says, are not homeless.
After the 40-minute discussion, Michael Finocchi, Executive Director of Shelters of Saratoga, a 35-bed homeless shelter on the city’s West Side, said he’s often encountered scammers who do not seek homeless services.
Finocchi said a mutual understanding of the issue is the first step in solving the problem.
“People in this community, whether it be the stakeholders, local government, local officials, law enforcement, everybody needs to be on the same page. That’s the bottom line. Because what happens is, if everyone is not on the same page, we’re not going to make any progress,” said Finocchi.
Finocchi gave statistics from this winter’s Code Blue program, where the homeless are invited in for a warm bed on freezing nights no questions asked. He said on 93 days and nights, the shelter averaged 33 guests a night – a dropoff from last year. He said 10 individuals have “graduated” from Code Blue and have secured housing.
While city leaders are looking for ways to address aggressive panhandling, Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo warned that any new rules or policies must not infringe on individuals’ rights.
“You’ve got to use a very narrow, narrow brush to define the prescribed type of conduct. I don’t know whether it’s strictly impossible or not. I do know that governments are obliged to regulate the matter as narrowly as possible under the circumstances. We can look into that,” said Izzo.
Tuesday night’s discussion echoed last year’s talks on establishing rules and limits for outdoor musicians and performers, now a frequent sight in the city’s downtown during warmer months.
After a push from local business owners, the city adopted restrictions over where on the sidewalk and how loud buskers could perform. Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said the city had to make sure not impose on performers’ rights of self-expression.
Mathiesen said the issue of panhandlers downtown is not new and there is not a lot the city police can do for an activity that is not illegal.
“We have found in our attempts to deal with the problem, that there were a number of obstacles on the ability of our police department to do much about this issue,” said Matheisen.
Mathiesen is hoping to collect ideas and continue Tuesday night’s discussion at a public form on May 19th.
In the meantime, Finocchi hopes the public will line up to support a building to serve as a permanent adult drop-in center to help the homeless population find services and stay busy during the day.
“Do some capital campaigning, do some fundraising, and have some of the local builders perhaps chip in, and get a place built for us. Or buy a place and retro-fit a place so we can do what we need to do. I’m telling you, this can be fixed, this problem. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
This year, with the support of a grant from Bank of America, Shelters of Saratoga began operating a day-time drop-in center on Tuesdays.
Mayor Yepsen said the community will be able to donate money to the homeless through drop boxes that will be placed downtown in the coming weeks.
