The Virginian-Pilot
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City Council members on Tuesday sent a strong message to fundraisers looking to solicit money at busy city intersections: We don't want you in our city.
Saying the solicitors posed a safety hazard, the council voted 5-0 to make it illegal to stand in the middle of major thoroughfares, except in the case of an emergency.
The law will curb the practice of fundraisers standing in a median asking drivers for money.
In the first seven months of the year, Portsmouth police estimated a tenfold increase in the number of solicitors at some of the city's busiest intersections.
Resident Steve Carroll urged council members to pass the measure.
He said he had encountered a crew of solicitors earlier in the day at Victory Crossing Shopping Center. One, he said, was standing half in the road, disregarding passing traffic.
"There are plenty of conventional ways for people to raise money," Carroll said.
"Having people in the streets is a distraction we don't need."
Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas, who had championed the law, said the measure wouldn't entirely prohibit solicitation because fundraisers could still stand on the sidewalk.
It would, however, prevent people from standing on the driver's side, she said. She added that she hoped the prohibitions would make fundraising less successful, ultimately driving solicitors out of the city.
The law is the first step in the city's effort to curb street-side fundraising.
City officials are hoping to ask state legislators for permission to ban or limit solicitations.
Measures proposed by the city for the upcoming General Assembly session would either add Portsmouth to the list of localities allowed to regulate solicitation on their own, or would call for rewriting the law to make it a statewide option for all municipalities to do so.
Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com
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The football players that
were at the intersections were not even teams from this area, they were a AYF football team out of Chesapeake, our local football teams who need donations to travel to play in playoff games are getting a bad name because some greedy individual decided to bring his team over on Saturday's (when they should have been playing football) to beg in the intersections in Portsmouth. I think someone mentioned a scam they need to be looked at the Winston Bulldogs located out of Chesapeake, you can never get a straight answer when you call about anything.
lately in shopping centers
Saw 2 with buckets running up to people at Providence Sq SC putting groceries in their cars....do not know what 'organization' they were with as there was no sign on buckets (children's sand buckets) or any signs anywhere. Shopping Centers need to be more vigilant on this also.
familiar with that....
they're probably collecting for the 'me' foundation!
Where does that money go?
When you throw money into a bucket held by a person you've never seen before, how do you know where the money goes? They could head straight to the nearest 7-11 and buy beer with it, and no one would know. It is far better to give to established charities that have some form of oversight.
So much for --------
Mayor Holley's re-election fundraisers, or his next job!
Thank you, City Council!!
I too agree that those intersection peddlers need to go. It is a safey hazard. I was especially concerned about those teens in football uniforms that were carrying around helmets asking for money. It angered me that a school would even consider making their students do such a humiliating thing. Plus, putting 'children' at risk for harm in an intersection also borders on a criminal offense.
Thank you...thank you!!
Conert
I'm glad Portsmouth is finally doing something about these people. I wish they would go the extra step and ban them from begging on the sidewalks as well.
wow....
will this apply to the firefighters, too? And how about people who *aren't* fundraisers but are pretending they are??!!
You beat me to it.........
I was thinking the same thing. They all need to quit playing in traffic.
Some solicitors in area are from Tampa Florida
Here' a story for the Pilot.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4573/roadway-solicitors-mislead-some-say
Florida Pastor ordained through the mail tells the homeless that they can see every major city in America, if they solicit for his church.
As a form of stewardship, church members volunteer to raise money while the church provides their food and shelter. (using the homeless to get rich).
What a deal for the homeless.
Key question: Ask the solicitor where the church is located, most of the solicitors have never seen it, can't recall what city or state it's in.