Hope is shown when the citizens and merchants of Evanston work together to solve the problem of panhandlers roaming the business district. In reference to Jon Hilkevitch’s article (Oct. 24) about the changes that have occurred in Evanston in the last few months, I agree that constantly passing new ordinances may not be the way to solve persistent problems like panhandling.
The controversial ordinance brought up last April to prohibit so-called “aggressive panhandling” would cost the taxpayers money since police and court services would be required. Also, the ordinance would not keep every panhandler off the streets of downtown Evanston.
The methods used by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and Evmark, the local business association, have cut the number of beggars down by 50 percent. Since the program is generally funded privately, public funds are saved. The program has an “intervener” on the streets to convince shoppers that they have better ways to solve poverty and hunger than to give money to beggars.
This is a “win” situation for businesses and the community since the program saves Evanston money, the shoppers have fewer beggars to deal with and the businesses don’t have panhandlers standing around their stores.
