Sioux Falls Panhandling signs are being covered up

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I’ll say it again, those who are panhandling are NOT doing it because of food insecurity, they are doing it to get drunk. I have watched this activity for several years in my neighborhood. But I disagree with the signs instructing people to give to charity. I have often said the signs should say something like, ‘GIVING TO PANHANDLERS WHILE THEY OBSTRUCT TRAFFIC IS AGAINST THE LAW’ SD CL 22-18-40

Codified Laws § 22-18-40. Unless otherwise directed by law enforcement or other emergency personnel or to seek assistance for an emergency or inoperable vehicle, no person may stand upon the paved or improved or main-traveled portion of any highway with intent to impede or stop the flow of traffic.

Panhandling is a protected 1st Amendment freedom, what is NOT legal is for the drivers to hand them money from the window of their cars while they impede traffic. I have said we need to change city ordinance so that the panhandler isn’t charged but the driver for luring them into traffic.

Posted in: Downtown Sioux Falls, Homeless, Sioux Falls

One Thought on “Sioux Falls Panhandling signs are being covered up”

  1. Very Stable Genius on October 30, 2021 at 12:53 pm said:

    The irony that this sign is in front of the South Dakota Trust Company. Aren’t there a lot of “good paying” trust jobs there for the panhandlers? I see that there are some campaign jobs available, however.

    Panhandling and trusts, boy, what a historic district that is. It’s living history like the Pope. I also noticed that they want everyone to keep to the right, while the people seem to want to go to the left.

    In 2013, when crime started to take-off in this town, many claimed it was just a sign, or reality, of a growing and prosperous city. Well, isn’t the growth of panhandling, too?

    Also, I guess cannabis, legal or not, is available to panhandlers, but if panhandlers’ existences are primarily because of alcohol and drugs, which I don’t refute, how can we be the champions of fighting to end drug and alcohol abuse if we are also making it easier to get it through cannabis legalization?

    ( and Woodstock adds: “Say, do any of the panhandlers know about the Chick-fil-A drive-thru lanes?”… “Oh, and how are those mental illness lanes coming along anyhow?”… “Does it still take two hours to get a chicken sandwich?”…)

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