Anyone who drives is increasingly familiar with this city scene: the burgeoning numbers of panhandlers on Tampa streets.
The economy is part of it. Bad luck is part of it. Self-induced bad luck is part of it. And a ban on street vending in St. Petersburg is a big part of it. According to police, the Tampa panhandler count is now up by a third. No area has been more impacted by the St. Pete action than Tampa.
“The situation has gotten out of control on our streets,” bluntly assesses Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, not one given to alarmist rhetoric. But the urgency of the public-safety issue is why Iorio, who favors a street-solicitor ban, will be lobbying City Council. As for said Council, it had a chance to enact a ban last month — but declined to do so. The Council has done nothing but furrow its collective brow about tough times since mandating those cheesy Home Depot vests. Now those times are increasingly dangerous as well as tough.
The rising Tampa numbers have even caused a new panhandling dynamic: accounts of squatters’ rights issues and turf scrums at especially prime intersections. It’s merely a matter of time before incidents become accidents. Think queuing panhandlers, distracted motorists and traffic lights that routinely turn from red to green.
And then how quickly will public safety trump recession-related rationales and faux first amendment rights.
But until then, apparently, the issue will have to be studied some more. City Council Chairman Tom Scott indicated that he will wait to see what a Hillsborough County Commission study committee would recommend.
Here’s hoping the Commission committee recommends the use of common sense and a regional ban on roadside solicitation.