Dec. 17, 2009 ---

Panhandling has grown to be a serious community concern, according the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors voted Dec. 17 to encourage the city to develop a plan of action regarding the panhandling problem, including education to the business community. The Chamber Board says it would like to partner with the City on outreach efforts.

This has been a hot-button issue for months, but the Chamber did not take a position until San Luis Obispo Police Department Capt. Ian Parkinson visited the Chamber’s Issues Evaluation Committee on Dec. 10 to discuss what efforts are taking place to combat the problem.

“What we’ve found and want to emphasize is that behavior is the problem, not people,” Parkinson said. “We have a lot of homeless people who behave appropriately, and we’re not taking action against a particular group of people.”

In recent months, the committee and Chamber board has kept up-to-date on issues affecting local business. This was one of those main issues. So, Parkinson, who is running for San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, worked with the SLO PD to identify when and where the problems are most prevalent.

The police department added extra shifts with overtime to identify people violating the law.

“After about two weeks, we saw that the problem was being addressed,” Parkinson said. “The officers had a harder time trying to find people violating the law.”

While this program will be extended through Christmas, Parkinson said, the police department plans to reassess the situation.

Parkinson said he hopes to initiate a partnership with the SLO Police Department, the Chamber and the Downtown Association to figure out what we can all do to solve this problem.