Where beggars can't be sitters

If you're going to ask for cheeseburgers or spare change -- or sell cookies (and you know who you are) -- don't do it while resting on one of the public chairs or benches.

That goes for you, Mr. Greenpeace Advocate. And you too, little Miss Girl Scout.

Having restricted, to some degree, where homeless people can eat and sleep, Santa Monica is zeroing in on panhandlers.

The City Council voted unanimously last month to prohibit solicitation by anyone sitting on public chairs or benches on the Third Street Promenade and the so-called transit mall along two neighboring streets, Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevard. The ordinance, which must be approved on a second reading, expected next month, does not seek to ban panhandling or solicitation outright but rather to free up limited public seating.

"The key issue is that the city needs to be open to the public," said Kathleen Rawson, executive director of the Bayside District Corp., the public-private partnership that manages the downtown business district and urged the council to consider the restriction.

When the city installed the slatted metal and wooden chairs and benches, Rawson said, they were not intended for use by people trying to make a living.

The ordinance is aimed at opening resting spots that are often monopolized for hours at a time by panhandlers, many of whom are homeless. The city already prohibits the promenade's street performers from sitting on public chairs or benches. Thousands of visitors and residents compete daily for about 100 seats.

Panhandlers will be allowed to stand as they seek handouts and to use the public seating when they're not soliciting. (In theory, Santa Monica police will be watching for violations.) Applying the ordinance to all types of solicitation should shield the city from 1st Amendment challenges, said City Atty. Marsha Moutrie.

Santa Monica, which already prohibits soliciting near bus stops and ATMs, will join other cities imposing restrictions on panhandling. Medford, Ore., enacted an ordinance this year banning solicitation at busy intersections, on public transportation vehicles and in public parking lots. Under a new law in Roseburg, Ore., motorists can be ticketed for giving money to panhandlers.