Will the homeless be towed and impounded if we don't feed coins in the meter?
Posted on 10/19/2010 5:13:47 AM PDT by inflorida
Orlando commissioners OK'd a plan Monday to install old parking meters repurposed to accept donations for the homeless around downtown, near spots where panhandlers beg passersby for spare change.
City leaders say the 15 meters will give downtown workers and visitors an alternative to giving money to panhandlers. The money will be donated to a homeless charity.
The city calls them "donation meters," but they've been dubbed "homeless meters" in some other cities. Either way, Mayor Buddy Dyer said they're a good idea.
--SNIP--
Orlando has drawn criticism for its treatment of the homeless in the past, including its defense of an ordinance that restricts charities' ability to feed people in public parks. The city has also outlawed panhandling downtown after dark. During the day, panhandling is allowed only in 27 specific spots in blue boxes painted on the sidewalk.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
The only way to end “homelessness” is to stop giving them money. Just like pigeons, the more you give to them the more there will be.
Very clever and true what you say. But what is the city thinking? The bum is supposed to say, “Oh, I’ll stop begging because somebody put up a parking meter. Cool.” I don’t see this happening.
You know why you never see any baby pigeons? Their parents eat them.
They have no homeless problem in Orlando. They have a “drunken bum” problem, and a “drug addicted bum” problem, and a “crazy people aren’t allowed to be incarcerated” problem.
A perfect example of thinking with the heart and not the head.
When you something for nothing to someone, anyone, they will always be back for more, and no one wil be helped.
I hate homelessness; yet some of these folks want to be out there.
They need to learn how to fish, and not accept fish.
Great, now the bums in Parramore have something else to steal! Great move Orlando. What a hell hole!
I believe the homeless belong to two major categories: the insane, and the drug abusers.
The insane should be in hospitals. They cannot take care of themselves, they shouldn’t be thrown out on the streets.
The drug addicts—well, it’s hard to find sympathy for them. Maybe they should be put into the mental hospitals, as well.
Well, when homeless shelters start giving out free cigarettes, booze and drugs - I guess the “homeless” will stop begging for money.
Another stupid idea by people that are stupid.
Exactly. As long as being a bum pays well, people will choose to be bums. If the pay decreases, they will seek other means to "earn" a living.
I hate articles that use made up words like “repurpose”.
There is a lack of money to run mental hospitals and jails where most of these people belong. In many instances the government helps create this problem and then refuses to fund the solution. In the old days you sometimes saw a blind person begging on the street, but most bums and derelicts were run out of town. Somehow we all got by.
This is not a good idea for a multitude of reasons.
For one, it further institutionalizes the concept of homelessness and solidifies their status as a constituency that must be served.
Helping the homeless is already well on its way to becoming an industry with dedicated bureaucracies to serve the constituency.
We already have government bureucracies being built up to serve the homeless. It doesn’t take long for any bureucracy to alter its primary focus to include the survival and growth of the breaucracy itself. Once a bureaucracy becomes established, people have a vested interest in maintaining the effort. The last thing they want is to eliminate the group they serve.
Just look at the growth of various poverty industries that have sprung up as a part of “The War On Poverty” or the various agencies established to eliminate of correct other societal or cultural problems. The bureaucracies always get larger and the problem always gets larger too.
Will the homeless be towed and impounded if we don't feed coins in the meter?
Homeless steal pipe cutter from pick-up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.