WHEELING – The city of Wheeling adopted an ordinance seeking to crackdown on pedestrians soliciting donations from motorists, or panhandling, by a vote of 5 to 1. Councilor Connie Cain was the lone dissenting voice.
The ordinance, entitled “Article 375 – Pedestrian and Vehicle Safety,” went into immediate effect after it was approved overwhelmingly by the city’s legislative body.
Proposed by Council Ben Seidler during an Aug. 20 Rules Committee meeting, the legislation was inspired largely by anecdotes of alleged “near misses” of vehicle collisions due to people who solicit donations on the east Exit 2A of Interstate 70.
While no data has been released showing any collisions that have occurred due to panhandling activities, Seidler said it was the council’s job to address potential safety hazards “head on.”
“It would be incredibly irresponsible for us to wait until somebody dies,” Seidler said at the Wednesday meeting. “We’ve seen enough near misses. We’ve seen enough accidents at these intersections.”
During a public hearing on the matter, seven citizens delivered remarks to the council–six in opposition and one in favor.
Kellie White, a South Wheeling resident, said she was “struck” by the level of friendliness and openness in the city when she moved here from Washington, D.C. She said this ordinance went against the city’s “Friendly City” motto.
“Once again, it appears that the city council of Wheeling has no qualms about punching down,” White said. She encouraged the council to work on solving issues in the city rather than “criminalizing our most needy.”
John Russell, an East Wheeling resident, asked the body whose public safety the ordinance sought to protect. “Is panhandling the threat that we think it is? What about living outside? Is that more unsafe than panhandling?,” Russell said. “And if it is, and we are so concerned about public safety, then why did this body choose to force people to live out in the woods further away from the services that they rely on to survive?”
Logan Schmitt, a Center Wheeling resident, urged the council to release data on incidents caused by panhandling. “It seems to be a lot of ‘I heard this, I heard that,’” Schmitt said. “Before you pass this, maybe you can share with us some of the real, hard data to show that this should be made a priority.” He described the ordinance as infringing on people’s rights.
Thomas Haluscak, a paramedic with the Wheeling Fire Department, was the only citizen voice during the public hearing in favor of the ordinance. He claimed that “accidents almost happen, or actually do happen, because of vehicles abruptly stopping to give money to a citizen on the side of the road.”
Speaking about his department’s annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which has seen firefighters on the side of the road collecting donations, Haluscak said the Wheeling Fire Department would seek alternative ways to hold the event.
After the public hearing, Councilors spoke about the legislation.
Mayor Denny Magruder, Vice Mayor Jerry Sklavounakis, and Seidler, each spoke in favor of the legislation saying that they have witnessed “near” accidents caused by panhandling. Sklavounakis said one accident may have occurred last week, but no information was provided to substantiate the claim.
Cain, who ultimately voted to reject the ordinance, said that the city should release more data on accidents caused by panhandling, receiving applause from the audience.
Cain agreed with Seidler that public safety should be a priority, but argued that the people who panhandle–estimated to be less than a dozen by the local non-profit StreetMOMs–have “been out there forever” and that they have not caused problems.
Cain says she has given financial support to people before, and that she believes this ordinance would unduly “infringe on people’s right to give” donations.
In a Facebook post the day after the vote, Cain said she believed the city council were trying to prevent harm. “I respect their vote just as they respect mine,” Cain wrote.
Councilor Dave Palmer, who supported the legislation, used his discussion time on the ordinance to lambast audience members who clapped for speakers opposing its passage.
“When did we become a clapping show,” Palmer said. “This is for people to have formal discussions, and I think the clapping needs to cease and it’s just not necessary.”
There are no rules against clapping during a city council meeting. In fact, prior to the discussion on the ordinance, members of council and the audience clapped for a newly appointed member of the Human Rights Commission.
The chair of the meeting, the mayor, may decide that clapping is against the rules of decorum and ask that it be halted. No such request was made by Mayor Magruder.
City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth said that she believes the legislation would overcome any legal action that may seek to overturn its adoption. “ The legal Department has extensively researched the ordinance,” Humway-Warmuth said. “[We} believe it upholds the purposes of pedestrian and vehicle safety.”
Humway-Warmuth also stated that her office was in communication with other city legal departments throughout the state. She said many of those municipalities were “looking at the same issue,” and watching the city of Wheeling with a plan to “enact ordinances quite similar to the one that is before the council this evening.”
While the legislation may withstand legal challenges, several concerns have already been voiced about the enforcement of the ordinance.
Under Section IV of the ordinance, the impacted areas are described as “roads, roadways, or highways with speed limits of at least 25 miles an hour; roads or highways during inclement weather conditions that limit the visibility of both pedestrians and occupants of vehicles; roads or highways with poor or no lighting at night.”
This language could be interpreted to cover virtually every road in the city.
In Section IX of the ordinance, the governing body, i.e. the city council, is given the authority to publish a list of “Areas of Concern” that will see enforcement occur; however, the city has not released this map, nor did the council say when a map could be published.
A round of applause for councilman Palmer everyone! 👏