As a resident in the greater Redmond area, I greatly resent commonly having panhandlers on our street corners, such as at the intersection of Redmond Way and 170th Avenue Northeast, or at the intersection of Redmond Way and Northeast 70th Street, or at the State Route-520 exit at Northeast 148th Avenue.
While most of these “beggers” or panhandlers are passive and I am sympathetic to anyone who is truly homeless or having financial issues, I feel that these folks should not be on the streets anywhere pan-handling. If they actually can demonstrate homelessness or no or low income, there are plenty of great services available to support them.
Easily found are food banks, homeless shelters, church groups, and other agencies like Hopelink, which are among the groups that help our citizens with food or housing. While I believe that some pan-handlers may actually have such needs, for many this is either a full time job, or a place to get ready cash to spend on items such as drugs and alcohol that they cannot get otherwise.
While feeling as we have done the right thing by offering these folks a dollar or a five or some change, all we may be doing is contributing to their use of drugs or alcohol.
It is common for some that do this full time, as a job, to earn large income that is never reported to our tax system, and works against their ability to find productive work.
Panhandling is not illegal in Redmond, and loitering or vagrancy requires different standards than are being demonstrated while these individuals are on a public street corner, according to the Redmond Police department.
When I grew up, it was against the law to panhandle or be a vagrant loitering in Seattle.
While our affluent community wishes to support those in tragic circumstances, I feel that by continuing to donate cash to these pan-handlers, is not doing them a favor and may be contributing to their drug or alcohol problem, taking away from the tax base, or keeping them from finding the work or services that would more benefit them, and that we with good intentions, would do better to contribute to reputable agencies.
I hope to open a public discussion as to how to best support the needy, while eliminating them from pan-handling on our local street corners.
Dave Haugen, Woodinville
