Recently a new city ordinance has taken place in Fresno, CA. This city ordinance is a ban on homeless people from standing on medians and asking for money. The Fresno City Council gave tentative approval to the measure at it’s meeting. Yet nonprofit communities can go and receive a permit which validates them to do the same. The Council passed a 6-1 vote that made this ordinance valid. Under the new ordinance, upscale fundrasiers like “Kids Day,” would be allowed to continue, and issued a permit. This was passed as a “public safety” measure. If the ordinance was based on a median safety ordinance it wouldn’t be viewed so negatively. But it has discriminatory intent towards poor people. Basically saying if you could afford this permit you can ask for money, which obviously homeless people don’t have. Also a 2005 Brookings Institute report showed that Fresno has the highest concentration of poverty in the country. The “official” unemployment rate is currently 16.8%
Source: “War on the Poor… Continues in Fresno” Mike Rhodes, Indybay,
Feb. 5, 2010. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/05/18637084.php
Student Researcher: Garret West
Faculty Instructor: Peter Phillips
Faculty Evaluator: Shepard Bliss, Humanities/Psych Department
Sonoma State University