Sioux Falls City Councilor Starr said it best yesterday at the city council informational meeting, if you want to help the homeless, give your donations to the organizations that help them with housing and food, there are several in Sioux Falls. But please, please, stop giving to the panhandlers.
I think if the city council wants to tackle this problem, they need to put an ordinance in place that fines people who give them money directly. Not sure what that fine should be, but something that makes them think about what they are doing.
As someone who only lives a couple of blocks away from 14th and Cliff, a real trouble area, I have watched them proceed into traffic and beat down people while they were highly intoxicated. Sometimes falling into the street and dancing in oncoming traffic. Will it take an innocent motorist mowing one of them down to seriously look at this problem? Think about it.
If the city council wants to fix and stop people from giving these folks booze money, they need to implement fines on those who enable it. As the Chief of Police said, citing the panhandlers isn’t working. He is right. Shut off the faucet, fine those who turn on the water. If you care, direct your giving to the fine charities in town that help these people crawl out of addiction and homelessness because what you are doing now isn’t working.