By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Drop Inn Center, the 22-year-old homeless shelter for men in Over-the-Rhine, has become the latest combatant in the city's war against panhandling.

Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken is insisting that the homeless shelter denounce panhandling by its residents and refuse services to people who commit crimes - such as improper solicitation - in downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

His demand comes as City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee is considering further restrictions on panhandling. Mr. Luken encourages those efforts, but said the city should also concentrate on other ways to alter the behavior of street beggars.

And in what Drop Inn Center's management sees as a not-so-thinly veiled threat, Mr. Luken has suggested that the homeless shelter's city support could hang in the balance.

"I don't want to threaten anybody, but I do think the city should support agencies that promote the policy goals the city is trying to accomplish," he said. "It doesn't make sense to spend $100,000 to fight panhandling, and then give money to an agency that supports it."

The shelter houses 350 residents - mostly men - each night, and provides food and counseling. It gets less than 10 percent of its $1.8 million annual budget from the city, but "it's the part of the budget that helps us keep the lights and the heat on," said general coordinator Pat Clifford.

Mr. Clifford said he doesn't know what to make of the mayor's demands.

He said he doesn't have any control over what residents do once they leave the shelter. Barring people accused of minor crimes could make them more desperate for money, leading to more illegal behavior. And the mayor is wrong to suggest that all panhandlers - or even a majority of them - are residents at the shelter.

"There are people who are panhandlers who are not homeless, and there are homeless people who are not panhandlers," he said.

In a two-week exchange of letters through Thursday, Mr. Clifford refused to repudiate legal forms of panhandling, and said he has no control over one of the mayor's biggest peeves, a weekly newspaper called Street Vibes, published by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

The coalition promotes the $1 newspaper, hawked by registered vendors, as an alternative to panhandling that has helped some homeless people back into the job market.

The mayor says giving to panhandlers - even ones selling newspapers, candy or pencils - often contributes to the drug and alcohol problems of the homeless. More importantly, he says, it makes downtown an inhospitable place for visitors.

Mr. Clifford isn't so sure.

"What I tell people is, you should at least acknowledge them. If you want to know what they need the money for, ask. If you don't believe them, don't give to them. If you do believe them, you should give to them," he said.

"I do believe that homeless people have the same rights in this country as anyone else. If that's wrong, then I guess I'm wrong. But I think they have the same right to free speech, the right to make money, and the right to travel on city sidewalks," Mr. Clifford said.

It's not the first time city officials have been critical of Over-the-Rhine housing and social service groups. Councilman James R. Tarbell in particular has gone after agencies closely related to the Drop Inn Center, accusing them of preventing development and perpetuating poverty.

But the Drop Inn Center, founded by activist Stanley B. "Buddy" Gray in 1978, had been largely outside the fray until a meeting between the mayor and management this month.

On Nov. 15, the mayor wrote, "I find your response to our meeting unsatisfactory." He said Cincinnati Police have expressed a frustration that shelter workers "often prevent them from police work designed to catch persons engaged in crimes," and demanded that the shelter commit to a policy of discouraging all forms of panhandling.

In a response Thursday, Mr. Clifford agreed the shelter will discourage "aggressive" panhandling and cooperate with police, but will not attempt to control its residents' legal behavior.

"We encourage our residents to obtain employment through any healthy and legal means. For this reason, we support the right of homeless people to write for and sell the Street Vibes newspaper," he wrote the mayor.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com