QuickTake:

The City Council is considering an ordinance that would ban motorists and passengers from handing objects to pedestrians from a vehicle unless it’s legally parked. Supporters say it would increase safety but some say it needs to be paired with education about other ways to help people.

A proposed Eugene ordinance would make it illegal for motorists to hand cash or food to people while either stopped in a roadway or slowly driving by. 

The Eugene City Council held a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday, Jan. 20, and haven’t yet taken action on it. Technically, the ordinance is titled “Unlawful Transfer on Vehicular Portion of Right-of-Way.”

Under the proposal, any driver or passenger of a vehicle who hands anything to a pedestrian could face a fine of up to $50 — unless the vehicle is legally parked.

The proposal would effectively ban panhandling from street curbs, highway medians, entrances and exits to parking lots and on street corners. This is the second time in the past decade that the Eugene council has considered the concept. In 2019, councilors rejected a similar ordinance. 

“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” Eugene resident Tai Pruce-Zimmerman told the council during public testimony. “This is a panhandling ban. That is the only phrase used for it in any community conversation that’s going on.”

Pruce-Zimmerman opposes the proposal. He said the city cannot directly ban panhandling, since that would be unconstitutional, but that this proposal would “bypass that.”

Pruce-Zimmerman said he understands that one argument is that money handed over to someone would be put to better use by a nonprofit agency that serves people in homelessness. He said he tends to agree, “but I do not believe the city should be making that decision.”

He also said he’s concerned the ordinance, if enacted, could have unintended consequences and encourage people to migrate to other parts of the city, including downtown, where they can legally ask pedestrians for money.

“What’s the impact going to be on downtown if we pass this?” Pruce-Zimmerman said. “I believe there will be a significant influx of people coming downtown.”

Scott Rogers, a Eugene resident, said he supports the proposal and how it would improve safety.

“This ordinance is not about criminalizing poverty,” he said. “It’s about preventing harm.”

He told councilors he was turning right onto a street while exiting a parking lot in south Eugene when a person started striking his car window after he declined to give money. 

“The situation escalated quickly and was dangerous not only for me but for the individual,” he said.

Robb Evans, a Eugene resident, encouraged the city to provide public education about how people can give to organizations that seek to help people in homelessness, and that trusted providers can have “far greater impact” in getting people long-term help.

“I believe that roadside giving comes mostly from a place of genuine compassion, but compassion alone does not always lead to progress,” he said, adding that such actions may “unintentionally keep people stuck in survival mode” rather than get connected to services that help with housing or recovery.

“If panhandling is their only means of survival, we are failing them,” Evans said.

He said he supports the ordinance, “but only as a tool and only as part of a broader, more thoughtful approach towards helping.”

The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce also urged the council to not stop with the ordinance but also to provide public education and outreach to help people.

“The chamber is deeply committed to serving unhoused individuals and helping to build a system where people can access stability, treatment, employment and welfare,” Tiffany Edwards, the chamber’s vice president of policy and community development, told councilors. “For that reason, we support this ordinance, but only as one tool, and only if paired with complementary efforts that drive real outcomes.”

No date is set yet for the council to vote on the ordinance. The earliest a vote could come is February.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.