This was a crazy tweet coming from a Sioux Falls Mayoral candidate:
A couple years ago my youngest son and I were leaving Target on the east side of town. We drove by a young woman with a baby in her arms holding a sign saying “help for food.”
I turned the car around and went back. I got out of my car and asked her what happened. She… pic.twitter.com/Y8pYOfaXQe
— Taneeza For Sioux Falls (@taneezaforsf) October 24, 2021
Sioux Falls Mayoral Candidate Taneeza Islam is critical of the City of Sioux Falls for encouraging people to support programs that help to alleviate the root causes of panhandling, because she wanted to give someone money out of her pocket instead of helping them to a women’s shelter or other welfare agency?
So what is her purpose in wanting to be mayor? Because she thinks Sioux Falls needs more beggars?
I think we all want to help people and prevent homelessness. But as noted by one university study:
Contrary to common belief, panhandlers and homeless people are not necessarily one and the same. Many studies have found that only a small percentage of homeless people panhandle, and only a small percentage of panhandlers are homeless.26, ‡
The City of Sioux Falls has an absolute interest in encouraging people to support social supports and related charities, and to discourage people standing on the corner holding a cardboard sign by WalMart, downtown, or Interstate off-ramps in Sioux Falls.
Because if they don’t, how long until aggressive panhandlers end up being a quality of life negative, as we’ve seen in many larger cities across the nation? Literally, San Francisco and Portland are as infamous for crime and people pooping in the street as they are for being tourist destinations. Islam claims in a follow-up tweet that she wants more taxpayer paid supports.. but how has that worked in other major cities? Because they still have the same problems.
Sioux Falls Mayoral Candidate Taneeza Islam encourages panhandling instead of charities?
Unless her platform is that Sioux Falls needs to be more like Portland, she needs to figure out that her vision is not anything like the citizens of Sioux Falls want.
While I agree that her position on this issue misses the mark and is unwise, it’s probably not fair to immediately react by claiming she wants it to be like Portland. That’s beyond unfair; it’s misleading. Paul will easily win and doesn’t need this kind of obfuscation to advance his cause.
As a investor in downtown I find it amazing how quickly people forget how bad our downtown was in Sioux Falls in the 1990’s & early 2000. Many buildings for sale and almost no retail. People left at 5 and didn’t come back. Crime was everywhere. Very little in tourism and few living downtown. The loop dominated the night life and adults stayed away.
The hard work of Mayor Munson and many others including Carol P with DTSF (formerly Mainstreet) and other investors brought it back along with the renovation of The Pavillion, the closing of “THE Loop” and re opening of Falls Park (Phillips to Falls) made a huge impact.
The hardest thing to do is NOT give a homeless person money. Its the last thing they need as your just feeding a drug habit or a alcohol addiction. Our community offers multiple shelters and options for free food that are all free.
The easy thing is to give them money, the hard thing is to not and get them the treatment they need. Our city is giving and very compassionate. Our mayor is a good man with a strong moral compass. But using this issue to gain political points is low and beneath what it takes to lead a city like Sioux Falls.
Give to charities and encourage homeless people to go to our many shelters and food options. Don’t give them money. Your more then likely feeding a addiction.
Mental health issues far outnumber the alcoholic and drug issues among homeless. It’s just a lot easier to talk smack about them when you consider them all to be addicts and not people suffering from a litany of mental health issues. Why is that that Republicans always go to the extremes when trying to classify thinking? Oh, you support the Fire dept, what do you want this place to be socialist Venezuela? You support mandating vaccines, you must be a communist. You want to help a homeless person financially, why do you want us to be Portland? Everything to them is Communism or Socialism or anti-American because it’s just easy to write it off then rather than creating a logical argument.
So refute the above?
Giving money to an individual won’t help mental illness. Getting them in a safe environment with resources and food will. That’s what was said above. I want the same thing as you described but giving people money will not help the person. It makes the giver feel good but doesn’t help the individual.