Around the end of May of 2018 the City of Colorado Springs put up signs around town that say: Handouts don't help. They discourage the public from giving money to Panhandlers. The idea is that the  money is best spent if it is given to our excellent care community.

I acknowledge that we have a serious problem, an epidemic of Panhandlers, but the City needs to discover how this came to be and deal with that problem.

The City has clumped all Panhandlers into one group and defamed their character. They have led the public to believe that all money given is misused. They have led the public to believe the every Panhandler is either lazy, or has an addiction problem.

I asked the City in an email on June 19th what percentage of the money being given to Panhandlers they estimate was being used for food. I was wondering about the data they used to decide that putting up those signs was a good idea. They refuse to answer. I was speaking before the City Council on June 26th on other issues, and at the end of my comments I asked the question again. No member of Council had anything to say.

Panhandlers have a constitutional right to beg for money and to receive money. The public has a right to give money. The City is confusing the public. If I feel called to give to a bum, I have a right to do so. But now I must feel that I would be betraying the City. What if a man is lazy, but Jesus wants me to give him $10 in order to touch his heart with undeserved mercy and the love of Christ. The City has told me not to do that.

Not all Panhandlers qualify for aid, surely not for all their needs. Some cannot work. Some have mental illness. A drug addict or alcoholic has a legal right to beg for money, the City may not conspire to cut off their money.

 I am a Catholic, I am required to give alms. They City may not instruct me not to give money as I please, or feel called to do.

The City has crossed the line, abusing their power. The signs say handouts don’t help. Is that true? No person has ever been helped by a handout? Are any Panhandlers epileptic and need medication? A handout will not help them? Is the City not flat out lying, or making false statements? The phrase Handouts don't help is deceptive.

Some forms of mental illness can make a person appear to be lazy. Sometimes a person may stop tying to find work as an avoidance if some problem prevents them from fitting in at the workplace or holding down a job.

Does the City claim that none of the Panhandlers suffer from malnutrition? Are some of those people now eating less because of the signs the City put up? Does the City care about the human rights and wellbeing of these people?

 Colorado Springs is special. We are a small town of about 400,000. We host the Air Force Academy, NORAD, NORTHCOM, Fort Carson Army Base and the Army Rangers, and Peterson and Schriever Air Force Bases. The epidemic of Panhandlers should not have been possible. We also have a problem with 700 homeless or hippies camping on the Westside of town now. The City must discover what went wrong that allowed these problems to arise, and approach the issue beginning from there.

I demand that the City take down the signs that say Handouts don't help.