St. Petersburg ordinance would make it illegal for panhandlers to lie about being a Veteran

St. Petersburg ordinance would make it illegal for panhandlers to lie on their cardboard signs

By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, September 2, 2011

ST. PETERSBURG — The city is proposing a new ordinance aimed at truth in advertising — on those cardboard signs people hold up on the side of the road.

The new ordinance would ban "fraudulent panhandling," making it illegal for panhandlers to claim that they're homeless or disabled or a veteran or stranded if they're not.

"Most of the people who fly the cards say they're homeless or veterans, but most aren't veterans or homeless," said Robert Marbut, the city's consultant on homelessness. "But they are making a lot of tax-free money."

But the proposal raises many questions: How would the police check the accuracy of those claims? Can the city really regulate what people write on signs? And after the city's successful crackdown on the homeless and panhandling population, who's left to break the new law?
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