Mayor Karl Dean "would rather see current laws enforced than the creation of new ones."

I was very pleased to read that Karl Dean felt we ought to be utilizing the current laws on the books to combat aggressive panhandling rather than Walter Hunt's proposed ordinance. While he took no official stance yet, if this is any indication it doesn't look like he'll throw much support at all behind even a watered down version of Hunt's ordinance. Mayor Dean just earned a healthy dose of my respect. One thing I do hope he asks for, regardless of the stance he ultimately ends up taking, is for the city to begin gathering some actual data on the damned problem. I'm growing tired of debating something that I can't quantify in terms of true scope and intensity. On another note, I noticed that the City Paper seems to think that the Nashville Homeless Power Project leads many of us in the decisions we arrive at regarding issues related to homelessness. Let me be clear here; while the Homeless Power Project is certainly a much needed mover and shaker as an advocate voice in Nashville, they are not the only voice and many of us who work and advocate for the Homeless aren't always aligned with the Power Project's agenda. Many of us do not take our cues solely from the NHPP, preferring instead to think and do for ourselves. If we happen to be aligned with the NHPP, it is usually because we've thought carefully about an issue and happen to support or oppose it along with the NHPP, not because of them. I think you will find a good number of the Homeless would agree with this as well, and I suspect my NHPP friend and colleague Matt Leber would be the first to tell you that he'd love it if he could get everyone who advocates for - or who are themselves - homeless together under his tent, but unfortunately, we're all kind of like herding cats. We have a tendency to wander obstinately about, living and working as loners even while we must interact with hundreds of people daily. It's one of the reasons caring for the Homeless can be so damned difficult; they go in their own direction - the rest of ya be damned - and if you want to tag along, you often have to step where you might not want to in order to keep up..... What's important about this is that even though some of us may disagree with others on how to best achieve results, it doesn't mean we don't "like" one another or won't work with one another when situations arise that demand our collaboration. This is critically important when one is dealing in the realm of public administration and it is something that is occasionally forgotten at times by some of us when we feel that the actions of groups not necessarily supportive of our causes come to the table with opposing ideas. Sometimes we take personally what is simply a business or agency decision and we then lose our ability to negotiate effectively with our "opponent." Working in the public sphere means having to hear and understand all points of view, even when you don't like what you're hearing. If we cannot occasionally disagree with others without forever damaging the ability to collaborate at future discussions, we are in the wrong business....

Dean takes no stance on panhandling bill

Uncommitted to Council’s proposal, mayor asks to enforce current laws downtown first

BY JARED ALLEN jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said Thursday that he has yet to take an official position on a Metro Council bill to ban “aggressive” panhandling and place limitations on general panhandling. He said, however, that he would rather see current laws enforced than the creation of new ones. “Panhandling and quality-of-life issues are separate,” Dean said Thursday. “And these quality-of-life issues are of real concern and are important to keeping the city safe for everyone. Whether or not the anti-aggressive panhandling measure is something that accomplishes that, I just don’t know yet. “I think it’s important that we enforce the existing laws downtown,” he added. Dean’s comments on the issue come at a critical time, as the bill — which is stirring up tension between downtown merchants, their allies on the Council and the homeless and their advocates — is being temporarily sidelined in the Council in an attempt to settle some of that tension, and when Metro Police are cracking down on the enforcement of quality-of-life laws such as public intoxication and loitering, especially downtown. Metro Councilman Walter Hunt is shepherding the panhandling legislation, which would impose civil fines on all aggressive panhandling — defined as persistent solicitation or solicitation that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her safety. It also would place the same fines on all panhandling after dark, at bus stops, sidewalk cafes, within 25 feet of an ATM or bank entrance, school or day care center, and within 10 feet “from any building open to the public, including commercial establishments.” While the punishments for violations of the ordinance have not yet been spelled out, the bill has passed the second of three required readings by the entire Council. The Council passed the bill on second reading at its Tuesday meeting. Hunt said he would defer the third reading until the second week in January. Last week he said that he was deferring the bill in an effort to continue dialogue with those who are opposed to the bill. Homeless advocates, being led primarily by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, are fighting the bill, saying it essentially criminalizes being homeless and being poor. Many homeless Nashvillians affiliated with the NHPP have said that even if the bill becomes a law it won’t stop them from panhandling whenever they can, as they say it is their only source of income. Hunt has said the bill is not anti-poor or antihomeless, but only anti-crime. In addition to a budget outline of funds necessary to maintain operations as planned, the district has in past years also given Metro a list of “unfunded priorities” to be financed as Metro is able. Henson — as well as Board of Education member David Fox, who is chair of the board’s finance committee — said it is too early to anticipate items that might make the priority list. Another major factor in the budget process will be funds made available by the state of Tennessee, which won’t be finalized until this spring. Individual board members are due today to submit initial budget priorities, which the finance committee will later compile and submit to the district. The board is scheduled to vote in February on a final budget to present to Metro. “We take seriously the likely fiscal tightness coming up, and we’ll keep that tightness in mind as we work on an appropriate budget for the school system,” Fox said. While the process has only barely begun, an issue that may come up is a sticking point left over by the district’s discarding of the initial school-rezoning plan proposed in October. That plan included closure of a small number of schools operating below capacity — consolidation of some of these schools could save the district millions. Fox said school consolidation came up in last year’s budget session, and likely will again. “To retain credibility with the other [branches] of government that are empowered with funding our schools, we need to make sure that our system is structured efficiently,” Fox said. “If that means closing some underutilized schools and saving several million dollars a year doing it, then I hope that’s something that the board will consider seriously in its budget season.”