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Atlanta Mayor Will Veto Panhandling Measure, Says New Plan Forthcoming

September 18th, 2012

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says he will veto the recently approved City Council measure aimed at cracking down on aggressive panhandling.

The new measure lays out a specific definition for aggressive panhandling, and increases the maximum sentence for offenders from 30 days to six months.

Mayor Reed, however, says the measure won’t be implemented.

“I’m not going to be rushed by what other people are doing. We’ve been working on aggressive panhandling for quite some time. We need to do more and we have a plan that we’re going to offer shortly.”

He says his plan will address homelessness and panhandling comprehensively. A spokesman for the mayor says the plan will tackle the issue in a “humane and less punitive way” than the council’s measure.

“We created a team that’s been focused on street homelessness. It is part of a $3.1 million Bloomberg grant so we’ve been developing policies that we’re getting ready to come out with,” said Reed.

Reed declined to elaborate further or give a date when the plan would be released.

Several city council members have questioned the constitutionality of the new panhandling measure.

A high-ranking official in the mayor’s office says it remains a question.

But City Councilman Michael Julian Bond, who sponsored the panhandling measure, says the city’s own legal department helped draft the legislation.

“What we passed was very specific. It addressed sentencing and empowering the police to make an arrest so I felt and continue to believe that it would meet constitutional muster.”

Bond says he has not discussed the measure with the mayor. Bond added he’s eager to see the mayor’s plan.