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REPORT OF THE <br /> COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT <br /> <br /> DATE: January 23, 2008 RE: Bi11218/Comm. 9l5 <br /> <br /> PLACE: Councilroom <br /> Ben Franklin Bldg., 2"d Floor <br /> 333 Kilauea Ave. <br /> Hilo, Hawaii <br /> TIME: 1:00 p.m. <br /> Council Chair and Members <br /> Hawaii County Council <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 <br /> Your Committee on Human Services and Economic Development, to which was referred <br /> Bill No. 218, reports as follows: <br /> Bill No. 218, transmitted by Councilmember Emily I. Naeole, via Communication <br /> No. 915, dated January 2, 2008, amends Chapter 14, Article 13 of the Hawaii County <br /> Code 1983 (2005 Edition, as amended), relating to a ban on soliciting for money or <br /> objects of value. <br /> Bill 218 adds "any public place" to the list of areas designated to be prohibited from <br /> soliciting for money or objects of value. <br /> There were two testifiers on the bill, Fred Blas and Madie Greene, both expressing <br /> support for the bill and the fact that it will make panhandling illegal in the town of Pahoa. <br /> Councilmember Angel Pilago, of North Kona, made the motion to approve Bi11218 and <br /> Councilmember Brenda Ford, of Central and South Kona, seconded it. <br /> Council Chairman Pete Hoffmann suggested that the language in the bill stating <br /> panhandling is "soliciting for money or objects of value" is not really panhandling. He <br /> doesn't have a problem with leaving that definition, or changing it to state something <br /> stronger. Council Chairman Hoffmann also suggested that, instead of adding "any public <br /> place" to the list of places where panhandling is illegal, state panhandling is illegal <br /> "islandwide." <br /> Councilmember Bob Jacobson, of Puna, Ka`u, and South Kona, said he has been doing <br /> research on panhandling and recalled the fact that what is currently on the books <br /> regarding panhandling dates back to 1999 when it was first introduced by former <br /> Councilmember Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd. He maintained that panhandling is free <br /> speech. Although he likes the idea of dealing with the problem of people hitting up other <br /> people for money, he believes a law forbidding it is unconstitutional. He doesn't believe <br /> that what is currently stated in the Hawaii County Code is constitutional. <br /> Councilmember Ford suggested that it might be appropriate to tailor the bill to address <br /> '`aggressive panhandling" and suggested that there be a definition of aggressive <br /> panhandling included in the bill. <br /> HSEDC REPORT NO. 8 <br /> <br />