The latest attempt to curb panhandling in Springfield will get a vote May 3. An ordinance to restrict people from being in the street or median was to have been heard Tuesday until the ACLU objected, and the corporation counsel wanted time to study the issue. Jim Zerkle said the letter did not reach his office until 4 p.m., an hour and a half before the council meeting.
While objections have been on First Amendment grounds, Mayor Jim Langfelder says this ordinance is about, he said, “safety on the roadways, We don’t want distracted driving, we don’t want people in the medians, we don’t want people near the roadway. Otherwise tragic incidents can happen like it had.”
A panhandler was struck and killed on MacArthur Boulevard last fall.