To provide context: I am a retired FBI Agent. The City of Saratoga Springs has a vagrant crisis, and it has become the elephant in the room that city leaders are pretending not to notice. Last month, a local man testified, in front of city council, how a vagrant viciously attacked him. As I stated at the recent public hearing, the number one priority of any government is to keep its citizens safe.
The City Council is revisiting the Aggressive Panhandling Ordinance, which was originally rejected by City Council members; Jason Golub, Minita Sanghvi, and Dillon Moran. This ordinance, in substance, states a panhandler cannot physically contact or verbally assault a person. It also prohibits panhandling at ATMs and schools. There are no current penal laws that prohibit this type of activity. With a new homeless shelter bordering school property, this is a crucial component of the ordinance. Jason Golub, Minita Sanghvi and Dillon Moran are fine individuals, but will their ideology keep you and your family safe?
The true homeless deserve our kindness and we should provide them with the dignity they deserve. However, the fraudulent and aggressive panhandlers are committing crimes. We need reasonable and sensible laws to solve this issue. City leaders must keep their constituents safe at all costs and commit to public safety as their guiding moral principle as leaders.
Respectfully, - Tim Coll
