Council ball
carriers stay silent: More non-news makes the front page…
Following on
from an earlier blog on the subject the PNCC have decided to relook at creating
a by-law to remove beggars from its streets…which is a bit weird really when
one considers that there are only eight of them.
I noticed
that according to the report, none of those with balls spoke on the issue
[other than the Mayor who I think has balls]; go to http://wheelerscornernz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/03/whats-difference-between-beggar-and.html
to see my earlier comments.
This from
Manawatu Standard:
Palmerston
North reverts to bylaw proposal to tackle a handful of beggars.
A
ban on beggars in Palmerston North is still on the cards, despite the idea's
previous rejection.
Palmerston
North councillors have decided not to continue with the softly-softly
social-work approach to ensuring the city's beggars are looked after.
Instead,
elected representatives have again decided to explore a bylaw that bans the
practice – despite binning the idea last year.
This
comes after mayor Grant Smith
last week described some beggars as "holding the city to ransom".
The
council's trial with the MASH Trust comes to an end on March 24.
Community
services manager Ian Littleworth
said the contract had helped some beggars to get off the streets.
"It
had been successful in supporting those prepared to be helped.
"But
there is a hard core left, who are there for the money."
Smith
said just a handful of people continued to cause problems.
He
said making sure people's social needs were met was good, but it was time to do
more.
"I'm
up for another go at it."
Among
the reasons the council earlier rejected a bylaw were concerns about the costs
of prosecuting, whether stopping people from sitting in a public place was a
breach of the Bill of Rights, and whether punitive action was appropriate for
people with health and disability problems.
Policy
analyst Peter Ridge said council staff had considered last year whether
declaring beggars nuisances under a bylaw was the best way of dealing with the
problem, and advised that it was not.
"It
does not achieve much for council in terms of power. It only gives powers of
prosecution for a breach, to gather evidence and file a prosecution with the
court, and it does not give powers to arrest."
The
Summary Offences Act covered situations where beggars were intimidating people
and the police had power to arrest.
Cr Lorna Johnson said she was wary of a bylaw and voted
against developing one.
It
was a high-risk approach and no silver bullet, she said.
It
was a disproportionate response to problems caused by about eight people.
"It's
a significant investment of time and money and has no guarantee of
success."
The
committee recommended against developing a public education programme to
discourage people from giving money to beggars.
Cr Gabrielle Bundy-Cooke said she was keen to make progress with a
bylaw.
"We
know these people, we know how many there are, and we need to be seen as doing
something."
Poor old Bruce
Watt Photography owner/manager Dave
Edmonds must have been deeply disappointed that only two women
Councillors had the balls to speak…one made sense [Johnson] while the other
[Bundy-Cooke] was more interested in her Hair Salon takings.
It’s
going to be fun to see what the Councillors come up with. Will the Beggars be
forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing, or paint their faces
green and white, will a rugby club be authorised to transport beggars to the
edge of the city limits and dump them on the side of the road.
The
council may of course decide to make each beggar an honouree City Councillor
and allow them to use the Councillors bar, now that might keep them off the
street.
I’m
sure Cr. Bundy-Cooke would be only too willing to give up say 50% of her salary
and share it amongst the beggars, that could mean that in a couple of weeks
they could get off benefits and be
reclassified as entrepreneurs and receive free grants and maybe even run as Act
Party Candidates in the upcoming general elections.
Dave
Edmonds may even welcome them into his shop as customers and charge them double
the normal price for a print or two.
PS;
It
would seem that at long last, someone at the Manawatu Standard has seen the
light and has decided to shed some light on this non news item and tell it as
it really is. Making mountains out of mole hills is a very idiotic pathway to
truth and simply turns readers off. Truth may, just may in the end improve the
lot of our sensationalist main stream media.
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