Florida ordinance targets people who give to beggars and peddlers

Dare to buy red roses or a newspaper from a street vendor, and soon you could be breaking the law.

At least in Oakland Park, Fla.

Citing traffic safety concerns, officials in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of 42,000 tentatively approved an ordinance targeting not only panhandlers and peddlers, but the people who give to them or buy something from them.

Under the ordinance initially passed last month, anyone who responds to a beggar with money or any "article of value" or buys flowers or a newspaper from someone on the street would face a fine of $50 to $100 and as many as 90 days in jail.

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And I am sure that many of those who supported and passed this ordinance consider themselves to be upstanding Christians. They seem to forget that Christ himself once said that whatever we do unto "the least of these" we have done unto him. In the 21st Century, the meaning of Christianity has been perverted beyond recognition.

"This is a Christian nation. Hallelujah. And all you unwashed bums get out of my sight. I don't want you polluting my beautiful and godly town." :roll:

The Bible says that, at the end of days, some will gain everlasting life, and others will gain everlasting shame. When I finally go to meet my maker, I don't want to be cast out because I called myself a Christian, while refusing to abide by Christ's words. In Christianity, that is the worst kind of hypocrisy imaginable, and Christ did say that there is a special place in Hell reserved for hypocrites.

Besides, giving a little money out to those who need it makes me feel good. Who knows, maybe if my life had turned out differently, I could have been the one standing under that bridge.

I don't want to hear "Those who live under bridges deserve it", or any other BS, and I don't want the damn government telling me what I can or cannot do with MY OWN DAMN MONEY. If I want to give of my own free will, then I will do it, and the government can go straight to hell. Give me the 90 days in jail, and I refuse to pay the fine.

Article is here.

Yup ! If someone wants to give their money way to people who live under bridges they have that right. That beats having the government hand out money to people who do not have a valid address.

Looking through the article, I can't understand why they wanna ban it outright, if they're so concerned about road safety, at worst they could ban it at traffic lights or whatever, otherwise this is an obvious ploy to get rid of the homeless and get them to move on to another town.

Shameful

Jetboogieman said:

Looking through the article, I can't understand why they wanna ban it outright, if they're so concerned about road safety, at worst they could ban it at traffic lights or whatever, otherwise this is an obvious ploy to get rid of the homeless and get them to move on to another town.

Shameful

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Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of politicians !!! The shadow do!!

F107HyperSabr said:

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of politicians !!! The shadow do!!

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I think Sauron is involved.

danarhea said:

And I am sure that many of those who supported and passed this ordinance consider themselves to be upstanding Christians. They seem to forget that Christ himself once said that whatever we do unto "the least of these" we have done unto him. In the 21st Century, the meaning of Christianity has been perverted beyond recognition.

"This is a Christian nation. Hallelujah. And all you unwashed bums get out of my sight. I don't want you polluting my beautiful and godly town." :roll:

The Bible says that, at the end of days, some will gain everlasting life, and others will gain everlasting shame. When I finally go to meet my maker, I don't want to be cast out because I called myself a Christian, while refusing to abide by Christ's words. In Christianity, that is the worst kind of hypocrisy imaginable, and Christ did say that there is a special place in Hell reserved for hypocrites.

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As far as I know the article says nothing about donating to the charities that help the homeless. So please save your christian bashing for something else. There is nothing hypocritical about saying do not donate to the panhandlers. There are plenty of reasons to ban donating to pan handlers or to limit where there can be services for the homeless. Most of those are public safety issues and because most of the time they do not need to pan handle.

Besides, giving a little money out to those who need it makes me feel good. Who knows, maybe if my life had turned out differently, I could have been the one standing under that bridge.

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So you feel good about furthering someone's alcohol and drug abuse?Good for you. I do not know about the town you live in, but in the town I live we have soup kitchens that feed the homeless, John 3:16 missions,Day centers, homeless shelters, Salvation army and other organizations that help the homeless. The only reason the homeless beg for money is to facilitate a drug or alcohol problem not because they can not get any food or any help.

jamesrage said:

So you feel good about furthering someone's alcohol and drug abuse?Good for you. I do not know about the town you live in, but in the town I live we have soup kitchens that feed the homeless, John 3:16 missions,Day centers, homeless shelters, Salvation army and other organizations that help the homeless. The only reason the homeless beg for money is to facilitate a drug or alcohol problem not because they can not get any food or any help.

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Well of course some of it facilitates drug and alcohol use. To think otherwise is naive, but just as naive is the assumption that they all do as well. I just think this is an obvious ploy to get rid of the homeless from their town. Oh and by the way, soup kitchens aren't always able to feed every homeless per on everyday. Especially when a lot of food distribution for the homeless relies on donations which have become a lot less during the ressesion.

Go live on the street for awhile and tell me how easy it is to get food.

1) Nice Christian bash....:roll:
2) My sister has a condo in Oakland Park, right on the ICW & she is sick of bums stinking up the joint, & I don't blame her....
I'm sick of looking at them here as well.....:2wave:

Jetboogieman said:

Well of course some of it facilitates drug and alcohol use. To think otherwise is naive, but just as naive is the assumption that they all do as well.

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Perhaps the line of thinking is if people quit giving money to panhandlers then the homeless will not hassle or sometimes threaten people for money and therefore will be have to rely on the soup kitchens and dozens of other organizations that help the homeless.

I just think this is an obvious ploy to get rid of the homeless from their town.

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I think this thread is a ploy to bash Christians. If they wanted to kick out the homeless then they can ban soup kitchens and other facilities that help the homeless as well as ban pan handling and giving to panhandlers.

Oh and by the way, soup kitchens aren't always able to feed every homeless per on everyday. Especially when a lot of food distribution for the homeless relies on donations which have become a lot less during the ressesion.

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The only time the ones around here run out of food is during the Holidays when they wish to give the homeless a thanks giving dinner or to donate turkeys to low income families.

Go live on the street for awhile and tell me how easy it is to get food.

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Why do I need to live on the street to know that if you are going to donate money to the homeless that it should be the organizations that help the homeless not the panhandlers on the street?

jamesrage said:

Perhaps the line of thinking is if people quit giving money to panhandlers then the homeless will not hassle or sometimes threaten people for money and therefore will be have to rely on the soup kitchens and dozens of other organizations that help the homeless.



I think this thread is a ploy to bash Christians. If they wanted to kick out the homeless then they can ban soup kitchens and other facilities that help the homeless as well as ban pan handling and giving to panhandlers.



The only time the ones around here run out of food is during the Holidays when they wish to give the homeless a thanks giving dinner or to donate turkeys to low income families.



Why do I need to live on the street to know that if you are going to donate money to the homeless that it should be the organizations that help the homeless not the panhandlers on the street?

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I didn't say anything about christains personally, i just don't agree with this policy. Once again some homeless people can get aggressive while the vast majority are not. And how do you know honestly that they only run out of food once a year? Do you go and ask them?

I agree there are lots of organizations that help the homeless, but in a lot of cities, especially the bigger ones, they just do not have the recourses to help everyone. Most homeless people tend to have have a mental condition so they can't get a job. They're just trying to survive, saying they're all one thing or another is just wrong.

Jetboogieman said:

I didn't say anything about christains personally,

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The OP did.

i just don't agree with this policy. Once again some homeless people can get aggressive while the vast majority are not. And how do you know honestly that they only run out of food once a year? Do you go and ask them?

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Actually there is news broadcast saying they are out or might run out of food.Which is usually around thanksgiving or Christmas when they want to provide low income people with a turkey and all the fixings.

I agree there are lots of organizations that help the homeless, but in a lot of cities, especially the bigger ones, they just do not have the recourses to help everyone. Most homeless people tend to have have a mental condition so they can't get a job. They're just trying to survive, saying they're all one thing or another is just wrong.

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I never said they all were a certain way.

jamesrage said:

The OP did.



Actually there is news broadcast saying they are out or might run out of food.Which is usually around thanksgiving or Christmas when they want to provide low income people with a turkey and all the fixings.




I never said they all were a certain way.

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I'm not the OP, and i was referring to the story itself, not the post.

Distribution centers outright running out of food, and being able to feed everyone everyday are two different things.

Well if you didn t say it outright it seemed implied. Sorry.

Just this once for a minute can we consider that this is really not about Jesus or free speech. I read nothing about either in the story.

I'm sure if were about free speech the ordinance would say it's now against the law to talk while on a street corner or some other nonsense.

Having seen this type of thing come up in Council meetings more than once I figure one of a few things may have happened.

1. There was a minor accident blamed on a homeless panhandler, or young person selling either flowers or news papers.

2, A Council member was approached by a panhandler and didn't have a dollar to spare and was embarrassed and so they started the campaign.

3. There really is a genuine concern for public safety because of the growing number of people needing to either sell or panhandle on street corners.

I would suggest that if people feel strongly about this and want to have and effect on the ip coming vote email the City Council in Oakland Park, Fla. telling them you were planning a Vacation their in July and have now put your plans on hold pending the outcome of the vote in June tell them how you feel and get others to do the same.
Mayor: allegram@oaklandparkfl.org
Vise Mayor: anthonyn@oaklandparkfl.org
Commissioner: suzanneboisvenue@yahoo.com
Commissioner: annes@oaklandparkfl.org
Commissioner: stevena@oaklandparkfl.org

Believe it or not they do listen when it involves money.

The measure prohibits "beggars, panhandlers or solicitors" from selling any item on a public street because it "distracts drivers from their primary duty to watch traffic and potential hazards in the road."

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I don't see anything about completely banning giving to beggers. However, it should NOT be done on a public street, which according to the article in the OP, is all this does. This is a completely reasonable restriction as this IS a traffic hazard.

Just a couple of years ago, I was in the left-turn lane on a road ready to make a left turn when a taxi driver suddenly stopped in front of me to buy a flower from a woman at the intersection. I nearly rear-ended the taxi and missed the light.

Completely reasonable rule.