Tim Harris, the executive director of Real Change, writes about Tim Burgess's plan to pursue aggressive panhandlers:

Councilmember Tim Burgess will soon introduce legislation to the Seattle City Council to restrict panhandling in Seattle. He says his proposal simply sets a few minimal standards of behavior in the interest of public safety. Not true. Tim Burgess is sucking up to money, pandering to fear, and punishing the poor.

I moved to Belltown just as that neighborhood began to wrestle with aggressive panhandling. Million-dollar condos abound, but so do social-service organizations for the poor. If one thing is true about pandhandling, it is that your perspective will likely decide your opinion on the issue. Hassled by a panhandler outside your car? You're probably not very sympathetic. This quote from Harris is indicative of that:

Recently on KUOW, Tim Burgess described a frightening encounter with a freeway on-ramp panhandler who banged on his car window that very morning in pursuit of a handout. Despite my ample experience with on-ramp panhandling, I’ve never had this happen, and wonder how many of us have.

We can all agree that people on the street who strong-arm tourists for spare change are criminals. What can be harder to face is the fact that panhandling just flat makes people uncomfortable, including Harris:

Even I, sitting in my car awaiting the on-ramp timing light, will sometimes avoid the gaze of the sign-holding needy. To be made fidgety, however, is different than being threatened. The only threat here is to the well-padded comfort zone of affluent Seattle.

Being confronted by poverty on the street is unpleasant, but it is nothing compared to the underlying reality faced by those on the street. Are laws further penalizing aggressive panhandling a reasonable response to a legitimate concern? Or are we avoiding the bigger issue?

I used to walk a lot through my old neighborhood, past the crack dealers on 2nd Avenue and Bell Street, past the offices of Real Change and DSHS. I would see people begging for change, some with a sign and a cup, some who were a bit pushy. But only once or twice in five years did I ever feel threatened. Instead of passing laws grouping the benign beggars in with the real thugs, maybe city hall should be honest. Let's admit that we're not doing much for the folks on the street. Maybe then we can start having a real conversation about the things that make us uncomfortable.