Because we can't fix racism, declining retail sales, the Bengals' offense, middle class flight or littering, let's go after vagrants who hustle for change on the downtown streets.

        Cincinnati's new council, just aching to do something, is fixing to do just that with a crackdown on panhandlers. Forget all these other issues. Judging from the crowd at Monday's Law Committee meeting, the highest priority in Cincinnati is to banish the beggars. Well, that's not quite fair. The public really wants the Bengals to win, but most people understand that's a county problem.

        At Monday's hearing, a lot of people representing hotels, restaurants and other downtown businesses came forward with stories of how customers have been scared out of the region by panhandlers.

        David Ginsburg of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) said aggressive panhandling is the most common complaint his organization receives. Janet Taylor, vice president of the Cincinnati Arts Association, said her organization has to deal with six or seven panhandling problems per night in front of every theater and arts venue in town.

        Others complained that vagrants have taken over Piatt Park on Garfield Place after dark and that patrons of downtown restaurants can't move the four steps from valet parking to the door without getting hustled.

        The city has ordinances designed to control panhandling. Banning the practice outright was tried in the 1990s, but was declared unconstitutional. The courts noted that people have an inalienable right to walk up to you on the street and ask a question, no matter how they are dressed.

        What the courts did allow was an ordinance that prohibits “aggressive” panhandling, or panhandling around ATMs, at bus stops or on public transportation. Aggressive panhandling is defined as that which would frighten or harass a “reasonable” person, said Assistant City Solicitor Bob Johnstone.

        One lady testified Monday that she considers it frightening harassment when she spots a potential panhandler on the next block. Her complaint wouldn't pass the court's test.

        But there are more aggressive sorts out there, the most offensive apparently being those who sell Street Vibes, a monthly newspaper put out by the Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. The coalition sells papers to its clients for a quarter and these vendors then retail them for $1 per issue.

        Alicia Beck, director of the Coalition for the Homeless, tried to point out to the committee that the vendors of Street Vibes are no longer begging, they're selling, which is the whole point of the program. That distinction seemed to be lost of the members of the committee, as well as Mayor Charlie Luken, who attended the meeting.

        “You are arming people with newspapers,” the mayor told Ms. Beck. And so armed, these vendors are more aggressive than the empty-handed beggars, he said.

        So with such a surge of complaints — with people unable to walk down the street without being accosted by some dirty down- and-outer — are the police inundated with panhandling complaints? Are the jails bursting with beggars?

        Actually, no. In the past 18 months, there have been only six citations issued for violations of the panhandling ordinance, according to the Safety Department.

        That's right, six. In this city-tarnishing, change-hustling crime wave, the police have found cause to issue only six citations in a year and a half.

        There must be flaws in the law — like the fact that it requires a cop to issue a warning before a citation for panhandling in a restricted area. Or it could be that most people accosted by these hustlers would rather just walk away than call the police. Or, as Assistant Police Chief Richard Janke told the committee, maybe policing can't be the only response to panhandling.

        Whatever the case, council will spend more time on the issue. Law Committee Chairman Pat DeWine asked the solicitor's office to report back in January on ways the law can be toughened up.

        As for those of us who hoped the new council might start out on some meatier issues, well, I guess beggars can't be choosers.

        Contact David Wells at 768-8310; fax: 768-8610; e-mail: dwells@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Wells.

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