Wakulla County voters may require county commission to pass panhandling law

Elena Barrera, Tallahassee Democrat
Wakulla County debates a charter amendment requiring an amendment that would regulate activities such as panhandling.
Wakulla County debates a charter amendment requiring an amendment that would regulate activities such as panhandling.

Wakulla County voters in November will decide whether to require their county commission to adopt an ordinance that would regulate "interactions between pedestrians and motorists, such as panhandling."

On June 3, the county's board of commissioners is holding a public hearing on the proposed charter amendment, but Wakulla County Commissioner Chuck Hess said the initiative will be on the November ballot regardless.

Wakulla County Commissioner Chuck Hess speaks regarding the acquisition of 717 acres of land by Florida Forever within the Wakulla Springs Protection Zone during a Florida Cabinet meeting Thursday, July 25, 2019.
Wakulla County Commissioner Chuck Hess speaks regarding the acquisition of 717 acres of land by Florida Forever within the Wakulla Springs Protection Zone during a Florida Cabinet meeting Thursday, July 25, 2019.

"This is not something we can turn down unless there's a legal question," Hess said.

Commissioners will look to adopt the ballot language at their upcoming meeting, but it is unclear why the amendment was brought to question in the first place.

"This is a solution searching for a problem," Hess said. "We don't have a problem with panhandling in the county."

Some of the people on the charter review committee felt that because Tallahassee has a problem with it that Wakulla County should do something, he said.

"Tallahassee has intersections where you have tons of people stopped," he said. "We don't have that problem."

Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas

Citizens on the committee spent the past year looking into different issues that they were interested in bringing forward, Wakulla County Commissioner Ralph Thomas said.

If the proposed amendment wins voters' approval, then the board of commissioners will be tasked with drafting an ordinance, he said, but only after "we find out if the citizens are interested in that or not."

Thomas said he hasn't heard much conversation on the issue of panhandling since the charter review, but the potential ordinance would be more concerned with public safety rather than specifically targeting the act of panhandling. The Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce said they wouldn't comment on political issues.

Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Wakulla County voters may require commission to pass panhandling law

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