Begging is now legal in Sequim? (Seattle, Port Angeles: rent, house, purchase)

[CalWorth]

On Friday afternoon, I was in my car & waiting at a red light at an intersection of Sequim's main street. The intersection is busy as there is commerce on all 4 corners. There was a group of 5 or 6 people on the sidewalk. One was waving a huge sign, which said they were a family & needed food, rent money. When people stopped at the light, he walked up & down the sidewalk waving the sign, along with 4 or 5 possibly real but more likely fake flowers, yelling at cars waiting for the light to change. The side street is narrow, so he got with 6" of cars & got my dogs going.

Then, a woman in a late model SUV parked in one of the customer parking lot & walked toward them. I thought she might be giving them a donation, but she was apparently one of them as she sat in a lawn chair & joined them.

I remember signs posted along the street, particularly one outside Home Depot & another outside Costco, that stated that begging was prohibited. Yes, the word begging was on the signs.Yet, when I spoke to a Sequim police, they told me that as long as the beggars do not obstruct pedestrians on the sidewalk, or enter the street, they are legal & it was no different than people on the sidewalk with protest signs & that if I don't like it, I should vote.

I'm used to beggars in Port Angeles, in Seattle & in my state of origin, but this is a new thing for me in Sequim. Oh, I got hit up while pumping gas in Sequim today. Time to pull my street smarts out of mothballs, I guess.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by CalWorth

On Friday afternoon, I was in my car & waiting at a red light at an intersection of Sequim's main street. The intersection is busy as there is commerce on all 4 corners. There was a group of 5 or 6 people on the sidewalk. One was waving a huge sign, which said they were a family & needed food, rent money. When people stopped at the light, he walked up & down the sidewalk waving the sign, along with 4 or 5 possibly real but more likely fake flowers, yelling at cars waiting for the light to change. The side street is narrow, so he got with 6" of cars & got my dogs going.

Then, a woman in a late model SUV parked in one of the customer parking lot & walked toward them. I thought she might be giving them a donation, but she was apparently one of them as she sat in a lawn chair & joined them.

I remember signs posted along the street, particularly one outside Home Depot & another outside Costco, that stated that begging was prohibited. Yes, the word begging was on the signs.Yet, when I spoke to a Sequim police, they told me that as long as the beggars do not obstruct pedestrians on the sidewalk, or enter the street, they are legal & it was no different than people on the sidewalk with protest signs & that if I don't like it, I should vote.

I'm used to beggars in Port Angeles, in Seattle & in my state of origin, but this is a new thing for me in Sequim. Oh, I got hit up while pumping gas in Sequim today. Time to pull my street smarts out of mothballs, I guess.

Businesses like Home Depot and Costco are private property and they can ban any kind of activity they want on their property including panhandling.

Streets and sidewalks are public spaces and people generally have a constitutional right to assemble and beg providing they aren't breaking other laws like obstructing traffic.

If you don't want to see panhandlers on your street corner, don't give them any money. That is positive reinforcement.

In any event, I find that I simply rarely carry any cash anymore. Everything I pay for is with plastic including parking these days. I have no use for cash and find it annoying. That also means I generally never have any on me and couldn't give to a panhandler even if I wanted to. At some point I would think that begging on the streets is going to dry up as a "profession" when fewer and fewer people are carrying any sort of cash to hand out.

[CalWorth]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

If you don't want to see panhandlers on your street corner, don't give them any money. That is positive reinforcement.

In any event, I find that I simply rarely carry any cash anymore. Everything I pay for is with plastic including parking these days. I have no use for cash and find it annoying. That also means I generally never have any on me and couldn't give to a panhandler even if I wanted to. At some point I would think that begging on the streets is going to dry up as a "profession" when fewer and fewer people are carrying any sort of cash to hand out.

Kind of tangential to my post. The beggar does not know if I have cash, yet approaches me anyway. Also, I do not give to street beggars.

I am pointing out that street begging has become a more frequent & accepted occurrence in Sequim. At one time it was not frequently seen in Port Angeles, either. Homeless tent camps were also not seen in PA, yet now they are.

Also, individual preference of plastic or currency is not relevant to the topic of my post.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Businesses like Home Depot and Costco are private property and they can ban any kind of activity they want on their property including panhandling.

Streets and sidewalks are public spaces and people generally have a constitutional right to assemble and beg providing they aren't breaking other laws like obstructing traffic.

If you don't want to see panhandlers on your street corner, don't give them any money. That is positive reinforcement.

In any event, I find that I simply rarely carry any cash anymore. Everything I pay for is with plastic including parking these days. I have no use for cash and find it annoying. That also means I generally never have any on me and couldn't give to a panhandler even if I wanted to. At some point I would think that begging on the streets is going to dry up as a "profession" when fewer and fewer people are carrying any sort of cash to hand out.

True about the cash thing. Here in Tricities there has been a major uptick in those in need. (I refuse to call them beggars.). The problem has many angles and complications but two really stand out. Mental illness and Covid. These two didn’t create homelessness but certainly exacerbated the problem.

[Hemlock140]

I don't know of any cities where panhandling has been made illegal on public property. Even aggressive panhandling that could be considered harassment is not likely to be stopped by the police in the current political environment. With relatives in Sequim, I have seen a few of them there for many years, just not as visibly as now. I also don't carry cash, but even if I did I would never give any to them. You don't have any way to tell if they are truly needy and hungry or are just taking advantage of the opportunity to have tax-free income with little effort.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

There was a supreme court ruling that begging is protected as free speech.


A very large percentage of those street corner beggars are not homeless people. It is often reported by observers that they often have nice cars and a house that they live in. So people that give them money are just encouraging them and taking away charity money that could have given to organizations that actually work with the homeless.


If you want to help the homeless, donate to the charities that work with them instad of handing out cash to random beggars.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I don't know of any cities where panhandling has been made illegal on public property. Even aggressive panhandling that could be considered harassment is not likely to be stopped by the police in the current political environment. With relatives in Sequim, I have seen a few of them there for many years, just not as visibly as now. I also don't carry cash, but even if I did I would never give any to them. You don't have any way to tell if they are truly needy and hungry or are just taking advantage of the opportunity to have tax-free income with little effort.

This does seem to hold everywhere. It is up to individuals to consistently say NO to the beggars. Police really can’t stop them unless they become violent or do some other thing that threatens public safety.

We saw a LOT of bums begging in Port Townsend in the few years we lived there. Each year it noticeably worsened; too many people felt sorry for them and gave them cash or sleeping bags and were “nice” to them. You can be not-nice without being mean—just say NO and mean it.

Even in the city of the rural CO county here (think conservative, rightwing, redneck, or just plain “red”), bums try to get something from people going shopping. One supermarket, which has the misfortune to sit near two liquor stores, can be like a gauntlet to get through the beggars trying to catch my eye or even approaching. Twice I have been putting groceries in the vehicle when one popped up right behind me, saying repeatedly, “Excuse me...” ANYBODY who comes that close to me from behind is cause for alarm unless I recognize the voice.

One of these days some lowlife doing that to the wrong person will receive something much more forceful than me just whirling around and yelling NO at them while in a fighting stance.

This city has programs to help those who want to and commit to living like a normal person does. Beggars don’t fall into that category. They must laugh at all the Help Wanted signs.

[TowBar]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I don't know of any cities where panhandling has been made illegal on public property. Even aggressive panhandling that could be considered harassment is not likely to be stopped by the police in the current political environment. With relatives in Sequim, I have seen a few of them there for many years, just not as visibly as now. I also don't carry cash, but even if I did I would never give any to them. You don't have any way to tell if they are truly needy and hungry or are just taking advantage of the opportunity to have tax-free income with little effort.

While I am not from Washington, in the city where I live there is an ordinance against aggressive panhandling:

"The current panhandling ordinance states that it is illegal to solicit “in an aggressive manner in a public area,” or within 50 feet of areas such as ATMs, banks, a parking meter or pay station, marked crosswalks, bus stops or bus stations, and more."

There was a proposed ordinance that would make it illegal to give money to panhandlers. But as you can imagine, that ordinance never went anywhere, with the Chief of Police saying it would be nearly impossible to enforce.

[CalWorth]

No matter what word is assigned to sound more socially acceptable, begging is begging.

I don't appreciate having to be on high alert with my head on a 360° swivel when I purchase groceries or gas; when I go to the pharmacy; when I have a medical appointment. I lived that way before & it was a relief to be able to relax from that for awhile.

When this behavior is accepted or even just tolerated, the next level of behavior is not far behind.

[pnwguy2]

I understand your point. Society has changed and you simply have to roll with it. If you feel strongly about it the best way to reply is at the voter box. Unfortunaty a majority of WA residents don’t. Democracies depend on full voting. Why so many don’t care is troubling.