Opposition wins delay of council vote to ban panhandling
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

In the face of ardent opposition from several members of the community, the Simi Valley City Council decided this week to delay voting on a proposed anti-panhandling ordinance until after the matter could be reviewed by the city's four neighborhood councils.

The ordinance would make it against the law in the city for panhandlers to solicit money from people in cars. The law as written would only apply to those who solicit along the public right of way and at the driveways of private, commercial parking lots where anti-panhandling signs are posted.

After listening to comments from more than 15 members of the public, all of whom spoke against the proposed ordinance, Mayor Paul Miller made the suggestion that the council make use of the 18 new neighborhood council members it had appointed earlier in the evening.

"We just appointed 18 bright folks, and I think the more minds we have working on this, the better," Miller said. "Let's refer it to the neighborhood councils and have them review it and come back to this council with a recommendation."

Miller said he didn't see any reason why the council should rush to vote on the matter without at least trying to come up to a solution that would cause less opposition.

"There's no emergency," Miller said. "We do have an aggressive panhandling ordinance in place, and there's no reason to take action on this tonight."

Council members, who voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance at its first reading Feb. 12, sided with Miller, agreeing with the mayor that additional time and input on the issue couldn't hurt.

"You can't help but be moved and touched by the statements we heard tonight," Becerra said. "I think we can put a little more time into this, but it's something we need to deal with."

After the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sojka was asked whether or not any of the criticism the council had gotten related to its recently adopted street vending ordinance had any affect on Monday's decision.

"We just want to make sure we have enough public input to make a sound decision," Sojka said. "We are taking some heat that we are bullies, so let's get the public's input. . . . I wouldn't say we are bowing to the pressure; I see it more as just wanting to get the pulse of the community."

The ordinance, drafted by City Attorney David Hirsch, was modeled after a similar ordinance that Camarillo implemented in 2005, when current Simi Police Chief Mike Lewis was that city's police chief.