The Sugar House Community Council is getting tough on panhandlers.
Community leaders this week will launch a campaign designed to drive panhandlers out of the area by encouraging people not to give handouts.
"A lot of people are tired of the panhandling that has just exploded in the Sugar House area," said Sugar House Community Council member Tina Ottesen. "Curiously enough, they decrease in Pioneer Park and increase in Sugar House, so you wonder how they got their bus pass."
Ottesen and the Community Council have gained support from many Sugar House businesses. Those businesses soon will begin mounting 200 posters on shop windows warning people not to give to panhandlers.
The posters say "Please don't give money to panhandlers." They also say most panhandlers are not homeless or destitute and money given to them often ends up supporting drug and alcohol abuse.
The posters also encourage people to give to legitimate organizations that help the poor and homeless. The posters list an information number — 211 — people can call for a list of service organizations they can donate to or for ways to gain help for the destitute.
With all the services available in Salt Lake City, anyone can get three free meals a day and access free rides for health care, Ottesen said.
Sugar House Community Council Chairwoman Helen Peters said the council is not paying for the posters but is supporting the effort.
While it stopped short of putting up posters, the Downtown Alliance — along with the Salt Lake Chamber and Salt Lake City — launched
a similar public campaign warning people that most panhandlers spend their money on drugs and alcohol.
"It worked pretty well downtown, so we'll see how it works in Sugar House," said City Councilman Dale Lambert, whose district includes Sugar House.
One Sugar House panhandler, who goes by the name "Count," said police now try to force panhandlers away from downtown so he no longer panhandles there. State Street, he said, is too crowded with panhandlers. But in Sugar House, which is near his home, he can make about $20-30 a day.
That cash, the 65-year-old said, goes to pay his medical bills and the utility bill at his house, which he can't afford on his Social Security check.
He's used to not being wanted, he said. People yell racial slurs at him, call him a bum and tell him to get a job, something he says he can't get.
"At 65 years old, who's going to hire me?" he asked.
Ottesen said she's not trying to be mean but figures most people who give to panhandlers are supporting a drug or alcohol problem. There are better ways for people to give and help the poor rather than being enablers, she said.
"There are scammers out there wanting to make money by pulling at the heart strings," she said. "It's unfortunate that the people who do need it aren't getting it."
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com