Police arrest a panhandler. (photo via DPDbeat.com)
The City of Dallas has grappled with how to handle its homeless residents all year, and now it’s seeking the community’s help. A meeting hosted by Preston Hollow representatives Lee Kleinman and Jennifer Staubach Gates along with Lake Highlands Councilman Adam McGough seeks to open a public discussion on the issue on Monday, Aug. 1, from 6:30-8 p.m. at Churchill Recreation Center, 6906 Churchill Way.
The council members will be joined by Britton Banowsky, chair of the Dallas Homeless Commission; Catrina Cain, president of Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance; and Daniel Roby, executive director of the Austin Street Shelter.
Here in Preston Hollow, neighbors have complained about the uptick in panhandlers, which in March caused police to increase enforcement of the city’s laws that forbids people from standing on street corners asking for money.
“While the term can be subjective, we recognize the acts of walking into the streets and highways to approach vehicle occupants and demand money as aggressive,” Dallas police said in a statement in March. “Additionally, blocking or impeding sidewalks in an effort to coerce money from fellow pedestrians is seen as aggressive, as is standing at or in front of a business demanding money as patrons enter and exit, and then shouting obscenities when money is not given.”
On a city-wide level, the Dallas City Council has been working with homeless advocates and police to address the situation, which in May led the city to shut down the makeshift “tent city” where dozens lived downtown under Interstate 45.
