A panhandler, left, is escorted across the street by Pima County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Sharp Jr., and Sgt. Erin Gibson, after talking about the potential new signs that may prohibit individuals from standing in medians in unincorporated areas of Pima County. Credit: J.D. Fitzgerald

In a room full of concerned citizens looking to combat panhandling and vagrancy in Northwest Tucson, local homeless and veterans’ advocate Cliff Wade didn’t say too much during last Monday’s impromptu neighborhood meeting at Marion Donaldson Elementary School, though when he spoke, he commanded the attention of more than 200 people.

“These homeless folks,” he said, “many of them don’t have a place to go, and I ask in this room—especially of those folks that are low income—how many of you are less than a paycheck away from being homeless? Please, please think about what you’re doing.”

In the light of a suggested ordinance to make standing on traffic medians in Pima County an action worthy of trespassing charges, Wade asked his fellow community members to put themselves in the shoes of a homeless individual and imagine the struggles they constantly go through. Instead of punitive actions, Wade said he would love to help people with services and housing.

Sitting alongside Wade in the elementary school auditorium were dozens and dozens of local homeowners, business partners, real estate agents and regular citizens, all of whom brought with them a concern for an increasingly visible panhandling problem in the community.

“We’re all here to learn about pressing issues of panhandling, homelessness, homeless encampments and the escalating violence and resultant trash and debris that’s resultant from these issues,” said Nicole Brule-Fisher, a resident of the Northwest side for more than a decade.

Though panhandling, homelessness and other related issues are not by any means new topics of conversation, Brule-Fisher had done her part in bringing together a concerned and collective voice asking for an ordinance to be passed for unincorporated Pima County to combat panhandling. Solicitation was the primary target, but Brule-Fisher said concern spanned health and safety, escalating violence, trash in desert spaces and the presence of drug paraphernalia near an elementary school.

“The concern is for health and safety for all of us,” she said, “the individuals panhandling, as well as those of us taxpaying residents that have been watching this problem proliferate over the past several years.”

The concern of the collected group did not fall on deaf ears; Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and chief deputy attorney Emilia Cramer were on-hand to field a wide range of questions. Pima County District 1 Supervisor Ally Miller, who had previously tried twice to bring a similar ordinance before the Pima County Board of Supervisors, was also in attendance.

According to Nanos, his deputies have spent the last two years collecting information on incidents related to homelessness after an interest in the information was first brought up by Miller. With that information in hand, Nanos said the department was able to identify 14 different intersections in Northwest Tucson affected by panhandling

Though the problem is well known to the law enforcement community, there is little to be done in terms of addressing residents’ concerns and removing panhandlers. While panhandling is prohibited in most of the Tucson area, unincorporated Pima County is without a prohibitory ordinance.

Hoping that the third time is the charm, Miller said she plans to bring a drafted ordinance before the board of supervisors for a third time at the May 17 meeting. The ordinance would prohibit individuals from being present on traffic medians in Pima County, with the purpose of preventing panhandling.

The morning after, Tuesday, April 26, sheriff’s deputies alerted panhandlers, newspaper salespeople, sign twirlers and any other individuals standing in medians that “no trespassing” signs could soon be posted.

Though the drafted ordinance is set to go before the board, the sheriff’s department will only issue warnings, and will not remove individuals from medians until an ordinance is passed, according to Courtney Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the department.

This article appears in May 5-11, 2016.

9 replies on “Median Alert”

  1. “only a paycheck away” is right for many people. Sweeping these unfortunates under the carpet is no solution. My wife and I tried to help a couple of people recently when the male of the couple was carrying his unconscious partner across the road back to where they were living rough. We asked if we could take them somewhere as the woman obviously needed medical attention, but he said there was nowhere they could go. When I later reached out to several shelters and welfare concerns to ask what could be done in such cases, I received not a single reply. When a supposed civilized society cannot even look after the unfortunates at the bottom of the pile, we are no longer civilized. There are many wonderful people who give their all to help these people, let’s help them instead of pretending this problem does not exist.

  2. Someone needing medical attention should have been taken to a hospital emergency room. They would have to wait in line behind illegals but hopefully they would be seen.

  3. rockerc: If there were only a paycheck away, where are the families and friends of the Homeless? Or should we believe every Out of Luck story we hear from the homeless as 100% accurate?

  5. It’s a real problem because there are the homeless who are really in need of help and then there are the scammers who stand on the same corner every weekend reading from their Kindle. Sabino Canyon intersections beginning at Tanque Verde are a regular route. It’s not true that there is no place to go. Gospel Mission is only one example. Salvation Army is another. If they need food and the shelters are full, they can get food assistance at Community Food Bank. If they are mentally ill, and a vet, they need to be taken to the VA. I’m not without sympathy and I think half of America or more is one paycheck away from being homeless, but we need to address the reason they are there, not just randomly patch the problem. We happen to live in a climate that attracts people in winter. When they were allowed to live in tents downtown they became belligerent and threatening and left an unholy mess that became a health threat to everyone. It’s not a balanced problem vs balanced solution and I don’t have the answers but when I gave money to a man who “just needed bus fare to get him to the welfare office,” I watched as he pulled the same scam up and down the street and never got on that bus. According to a law passed by Reagan, emergency rooms must treat everyone who comes through the doors, legal or illegal. If you don’t like the law, write to congress. If they are vets, the VA must treat them. If they are looking for money for alcohol or drugs, no one can help them unless they are willing to help themselves.

  6. Its not a question of pan handling-its the desire to get these people out of sight. Then they don’t have to think about them. And Julie Heston-what an awful thing to say.

  7. I have seen the emergency room and she is correct. You will wait 4-6 hours for help.

  8. How do the panhandlers pay taxes and give back to the community that supports them? I’ve also seen some holding stolen commercial signs backwards if you happen to get a glance of the backside of the sign they’re holding which means they’re stealing from local small businesses to a certain degree.

  9. Living on the northwest side of town as a single young female, it’s overwhelming when the panhandlers are literally on every block and they stare at you expecting help. Granted I’m not a paycheck away from being homeless, but the struggle is real, we are all struggling making ends meet, barely providing food on the table. I work hard for my paycheck and I’m still living pay check by pay check. It does bring a concern when there is a recent murder that just happened on oracle and rudasil, not saying they are all bad but again they are in my neighborhood and its worrisome because you don’t know their health issues or whether they have psychological issues. It’s upsetting that these folks don’t have a place to live, arizona needs a better plan and more funds to resolve this, who has additional money to provide? I don’t unfortunately. What about our school district? The future of Tucson? We need a better education system so these student don’t drop out and begin living on the street? The panhandlers ARE destroying our dessert by polluting it with their trash. When you want to provide food and water some get upset because they want money, this has happened to me, and I refuse to give into their bad habits. You don’t know who is really struggling and who is going to buy alcohol and drugs with the money you provide. Arizona needs a program to provide shelter and jobs these men and women can work for, we all have to work to become successful it’s only fair for us who work hard and get an inch ahead. Why doesn’t Arizona fund a program where these people can help clean our land, rebuild old apartments or buildings for homeless shelters, assist in recycling and composting, assist in setting up solar panels around town, Painting/clearing graffiti, or help fix our roads? I rather pay an extra 10 cents on state taxes for some sort of program that can help ALL panhandlers and not the ones who are sitting on an ice chest asking for money and food.

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