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Uploaded: Thursday, June 7, 2007, 10:32 AM
Anti-panhandling effort set for Saturday
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by Don Kazak
Palo Alto Online Staff
| Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto and other city officials will be part of an effort Saturday afternoon and evening to convince people to not give money to downtown panhandlers.
Kishimoto and others will be on downtown street corners and in Lytton Plaza from 4 to 8 p.m. asking passersby not to give to homeless people asking for money. The effort is called, "Don't Give Outside, Give Inside," referring to collection boxes inside retailers, which will fund social-service and other agencies that help homeless people.
The Palo Alto effort, modeled after one in San Rafael, will also involve police officers identifying aggressive panhandlers and trying to connect them to mental-health and drug-and-alcohol programs. The method is called restorative policing because it attempts to restore people to full participation in the community.
The Downtown Streets Team, a 1.5-year-old nonprofit program that employs formerly homeless people to keep downtown streets clean, is one of the sponsors of the effort Saturday. Its director, Eileen Richardson, is convinced that giving money to homeless panhandlers doesn't help them and instead hurts them if they use the money to buy alcohol.
"Giving to homeless people is killing them," she said earlier this spring, noting that three homeless people died over the Christmas holidays to alcohol-related complications.
Council members Bern Beecham, LaDoris Cordell and Peter Drekmeier will be part of Saturday's effort, along with former Mayor Vic Ojakian and others.
They will be on street corners along University Avenue, in Lytton Plaza, and at Whole Foods Market on Homer Avenue.
The Downtown Boutiques Association will also hold a fashion show from 4 to 9 p.m. on Bryant Street as a part of a street festival to benefit the Downtown Streets Team. An $8 donation is suggested for the fashion show.
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| Comments
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Posted by GSB, a resident of Mountain View, on Jun 7, 2007 at 10:51 am Really? I'm curious to see how this turns out.
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Posted by suzie, a resident of another community, on Jun 7, 2007 at 1:25 pm Last ime I checked Restoration Hardware is on University Avenue. Has it moved?
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Posted by suzie, a resident of another community, on Jun 7, 2007 at 1:27 pm OOPPS I meant...."Last time"
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Posted by mike, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Jun 8, 2007 at 5:14 pm I have a sneaking admiration for our council members who will take part in this effort. But only from 4 to 8 in the evening? A lot of the action takes place during the day. I agree that care, not cash, is more effective in the long run.
Maybe the Downtown Street Team can be enlisted to help. They seemed to have been willing to help the police catch the flasher.
PS What has Restoration Hardware, 281 University Ave., got to do with the story? Or was this a bit of levity referring to "restorative policing" in the article?
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Posted by try to read, a resident of Woodside, on Jun 9, 2007 at 10:47 am please read the story it's short and your questions will be answered.
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Posted by Curious, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jun 9, 2007 at 9:11 pm Anyone go to this event and was it the reason Hamilton was being blocked off to traffic today?
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Posted by Social Critic, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Jun 10, 2007 at 8:52 am What a nifty idea.
How long will it last, I wonder.
Until the next commercial break?
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Posted by Social Critic, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 10, 2007 at 8:54 am First we outlaw their ability to dwell in a public setting.
And now we try to stop anybody from giving them money.
Sounds like Operation Removal is moving steadily along.
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Posted by Howdy, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Jun 10, 2007 at 9:00 am Sounds a little like: Don't Feed the Bears. "It's killing them," are mayor says. Really? Keep paying your taxes though, and make sure that we keep spending more on military defense than every other nation in the world combined. How did the fashion show turnout?
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Posted by Norm, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 11, 2007 at 4:27 pm Just some feedback on the Saturday event -
Some people were struck by the dichotomy of the “haves” showing off their best to benefit the “have-nots” they would rather not see.
One unhoused person actually used the word ”obscene” to describe the clash between the event and it’s intent – using new clothes to raise money for people expected to wear used clothes.
Two questions I was asked by “normal” people:
“Wouldn’t it have been better to donate the money spent on this to the homeless?”
“Do any of these restaurants donate food to the homeless?”
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