Public Safety Committee Special Meeting Today Takes Up Proposal Addressing Aggressive Panhandling

The Pasadena City Council’s Public Safety Committee will hold a special meeting Tuesday to consider measures concerning the local homeless situation and its impact on the community’s peace and order.

A number of measures will be taken up to address homelessness, including a recommendation which could lead to a new city ordinance addressing nuisance activity and unruly behavior, and criminal conduct occurring in Pasadena’s commercial centers during business hours.

The City Manager’s office has also proposed legislation to address aggressive panhandling or begging, allowing for possible enforcement and prosecution if the conduct were threatening, coercive and menacing.

Two important pieces of recommended legislation are mentioned in the Agenda Report that will be presented to the City Council on Monday, February 22, 2016. One will prohibit camping in recognized business districts of the city, and the other will prohibit begging or soliciting arms in a threatening or coercive manner.

In the first measure, the city wants to cover gaps in the state law, particularly California Penal Code section 647(e) that prohibits “illegal lodging”  in a public or private structure or vehicle without permission. An explanation in the Agenda Report says most courts are unwilling to extend the law to cover encampments on public sidewalks, streets, alleys or other public places. A new ordinance would provide key definitions for notice and enforcement purposes, and would protect local businesses from the inconvenience of homeless persons blocking access to their establishments.

In the second, the city wants to address the difficulty of filing legal action against an aggressive panhandler. Under current laws, persons threatened or coerced by panhandlers could not easily file legal action since the court would hold that the state requirement of actually being accosted is met. The new legislation will provide legal recourse to anyone who experiences a threatening, coercive or menacing behavior with an aggressive panhandler.

Aside from the recommended legislation, the city also is recommending that the demolition of vacant buildings in the city be expedited, and that clear codes of conduct in the use of the city’s public facilities be adopted and posted conspicuously for everyone to see and observe.

The Public Safety Committee special meeting will also discuss new or enhanced homeless programs which the City Council could consider as part of the city’s annual budget process. Among these are a Landlord Reimbursement Fund that will help landlords recover from property damages or rent loss due to eviction, and in that way encourage more of them to participate in homeless rental assistance programs; an expansion of the current Homeless Prevention Fund that provides short-term or one-time assistance including back rent and past due utility payments; and an expansion of the Motel-to-Housing Voucher Engagement Program.

The motel voucher program enables homeless clients who are in the process of being permanently housed quickly get off the streets and move into a motel while they work with their caseworker to get into permanent housing.

Other programs to be discussed include assigning homeless caseworkers in the city’s public libraries where many homeless converge, and steps to enhance security at the city’s public parks.

The committee will also look at proposals for opening up new affordable housing sites in and out of Pasadena. The city is eyeing the Heritage Square South Site and the Kinneloa site in East Pasadena as possible sites for new housing developments, as well as a few other current or potential city-owned sites that could be developed for permanent supportive housing.

Public comment on items in the agenda will be allowed at the start of the special meeting around 6:30 p.m., at the Council Chamber S249 at City Hall.